Champions League VI: Dinamo Zagreb

Champions League VI
GNK Dinamo Zagreb
~~ Official TC Match Preview ~~

Nicholas Kuhn scored twice against RB Leipzig in Celtic's most recent Champions League outing


Stadion Maksimir, Zagreb
Tuesday, 10 December 2024
17.45 GMT

Celtic's attention returns to the Champions League on Tuesday evening, as the Bhoys travel to take on the reigning Croatian champions, Dinamo Zagreb, knowing that a win this week will all but make certain of at the very least progressing to the knockout phase.

The Hoops are coming into this on the back of another League win, with the manager once again taking the opportunity to rotate his starting XI, making 5 changes from midweek’s 1-0 win over Aberdeen. This did lead to some disjointed defending that Hibs were not able to capitalise on, and the Bhoys were perhaps not at their polished best, but thanks to Kasper Schmeichal and to a fluid attack at home, the Hoops eased to a relatively comfortable 3-0 final score.

Having now played 5 matches in this newly configured Champions League, the picture is gradually becoming clearer about what teams require in order to progress to the knockout phase, and with 8 points already banked, a win on Tuesday could be enough to qualify for that stage with 2 matches left to be played.​

October 2014: Kris Commons' early strike was enough to secure a 1-0 win against Dinamo Zagreb

Who are GNK Dinamo Zagreb?

Founded in 1911, Gradanski Nogometni Klub Dinamo Zagreb are historically the most successful club in Croatian football, having secured the Priva HNL title 25 times overall, including 18 of the past 19 seasons, and are currently on a run of 7 titles in a row.

On the European stage, Dinamo Zagreb's biggest truimph was lifting the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup (the predecessor of the UEFA Cup) in 1967 - the same year as Jock Stein's Bhoys won the European Cup.

Celtic have only previously come up against Dinamo in 2014/15, during the Group Stages of the Europa League, when each side won their respective 'home' game.

This season the Croatian club has had its struggles, including having endured the ignomy of a 9-2 defeat by Bayern Munich, but have recovered to take a share of the spoils with Monaco, before picking up wins against RB Salzburg and Slovan Bratislava, accounting for their 7 points to date.

However a 3-0 loss to Borussia Dortmund and, most recently, being held to a 1-1 draw at home against Slaven Belupo on Friday have come amid a run of 5 straight games without a win for the hosts, coming into this match against the Hoops.


Striker Sandro Kulenovic has scored 3 goals in 4 Champions League appearances this season

By the Numbers​

• The Hoops have scored 30 goals and conceded just 3 in their past 11 games across all competitions.​

• Celtic are still searching for a first ‘Away’ win in the Champions League since 2018.​

• The hosts are currently on a 5 game winless run (D3 L2) overall, and in fact have not won at ‘home’ since September.​

Team News

Brendan Rodgers will again have close to a full squad to choose from, with the exception of Odin Thiago Holm (calf). Expect there to be a few changes once again to the starting XI from the side that started the 3-0 win over Hibs on Saturday.

As for the hosts, Petar Sucic, Bruno Petkovic and Takura Ogiwara all remain sidelined, while injuries to Arijan Adami and Raul Torrente picked up on Friday evening will also likely rule them out, but contrary to some reports in the media, they are not reduced to just ‘14 fit players’, and even as recently were able to name a full substitute bench with 12 players listed, which in fact was one more than the team they played had available to them.a

Referee: Felix Zwayer (GER)

With more than 230 Bundesliga and 32 Champions League games under his belt and having taken charge of one of the Euro 2024 Semi-Finals earlier this year, the 43y.o. has plenty of experience to call upon for whatever might come up.

This will be his 3rd time officiating Celtic - the most recent of which was the 2-2 draw with Atletico Madrid in last season’s Champions League group stage.

Celtic's Overall Record
M:2 W:0 D:1 L:1

VAR: Sasha Stegemann (GER)​

~~~~ Head to Head ~~~~

Overall
P:2 W:1 D:0 L:1

~~~~ 2024/25 Form ~~~~ ​

Overall
W W W D W ~ D L L D D​