Dinamo Zagreb are headed to Europe!
But will it be Europa League or the prestigious Champions League?
Dinamo downed Norwegian champions Rosenborg 2-0 Wednesday night at Maksimir to put them 90 minutes away from the Champions League group stage. Bruno Petković banged in a penalty kick in the 8′ and Mislav Oršić ‘nutmegged’ the keeper after a long run up the field in the 28′. Dinamo could have easily scored more but they will take a healthy 2-0 home leg victory to Norway next week. Both sides hit the crossbar in this match.
Dinamo-Rosenborg Highlights
The reigning Croatian champions defeated Hungary’s Ferencvaros 5-1 (agg.) in the previous round to set up a date with Norway’s best: Rosenborg. Rosenborg easily took care of business against Maribor 6-2 on aggregate in the previous round.
Dinamo will be the favorites to get past Rosenborg and enter the Champions League group stage, but who will be there wearing Dinamo blue? Star 21 year-old Spanish midfielder Daniel Olmo has been rumored to be out the door in a huge transfer fee that could make Dinamo a pretty penny. Manchester United were linked with Olmo but it looks like Ajax are the new frontrunners, CaughtOffside reports.
On the other hand, Dinamo picked up 20 year-old Croatian U-21 Luka Ivanušec from Lokomotiva; possibly preparing for Olmo’s departure. Dinamo are loading up for another run at a Croatian title and another solid showing in Europe. In regards to Europe, it is better for Dinamo to play in Champions League or Europa League?
Good work Zagreb
Yea, €25-30 million is probably the peak point that a HNL player can be sold for (due to the league being ranked just barely in the top 15).
I don’t have a problem with HNL teams selling players for high amounts like this, because it applies pressure for the buying team to ensure the player does well.
Nothing worse than selling a solid young talent for well under 10 million, and watch him ride the pine.
Only other reason to sell for less, is if you know the player is crap (like Jozo Šimunović) and you wanna sucker a team for cash.
Maminjo, thanks for laying out the financial details of the CL in comparison to the Europa League.
I’m now overwhelmingly in favor of going into the CL–even if we finish in dead last. As these funds can be utilized for youth development.
The reality is given the overall quality Croatian football….Croatia really should be sending one team to the Champions League every year.
Furthermore, if all goes according to plan, Dinamo will be in Pot 3 for the CL. This gives them a fighting chance of finishing 3rd in the group.
Also, what’s great about making into a Euro competition, is that we will be seeing prospects such as Majer, Invanusec, and Marin play in league games.
As Dinamo, often plays it’s prospects in games before a Euro competition–in order to rest its starters.
Dinamo knows to sell early and often, don’t get stuck with a box of rocks like Juventus with Pjaca or Inter with Vrsaljko (for the loan period.)
Imagine if Pjaca didn’t get his Juventus money, before that unfriendly game. Both Dinamo and Pjaca would be screwed.
HNL players will never get much more than $30 mill, cause nobody will be sure if the guy can perform vs better competition. Some can, and some cannot (ie Rog)
Truth, why does Wolfsburg sit Brekalo so much, lack of defensive hustle or LGBTQ pressure? Glad to hear things are picking up. Would be happy to get another tour of the office building, that was a real treat.
If they keep the team intact, they will squeeze another few million with some points in the group stage as well as possibly finishing third (and continuing Europa play).
But I understand why they would still want to sell Olmo prior to the end of this transfer window.
25-30 million euro offers don’t come in the winter transfer window, and things can change in a year. The additional millions from Europa are small potatoes compared to the offers received for Olmo, and giving more minutes to Majer and Ivanušec would slightly offset Olmo’s impact (and greatly increase their value as well).
So long as they can continue to progress, and focus on developing Croatian players (like they’ve been doing with these guys like Moro, Majer, Ivanušec, Marin) then I’m happy.
Ideally, I would want them to hold off on selling until players are 22 or 23 (unless they get offers for at least €20 million)… But it seems like are going in that direction.
I really was happy with today’s game. The crossbar right before halftime was unfortunate, Dinamo could have had 3-0 lead at half time. Good result though, a little sloppy in the second at times. I like the score line going on the road for the 2nd leg. A single away goal forces Rosenborg to massively open up and force offence. Which will leave them exposed. I like Dinamo’s chances, and that 15m euro payout would be sweet.
@Maminjo
Appreciate the insight! Champions League it is! Let’s hope they at least end up 3rd so they can make it to Europa
2-0 is a tricky score line be it with 30 minutes left in a game or one more leg to play….momentum shifts incredibly with that one goal against.
I have to say Petkovic’s hold up play was excellent vs Roseborg. He was winning his duels in the air, and caused all sorts of havoc. He’s the closest thing we got to filling Mandzukic’s boots–in a big man type role.
There was a sense of excitement every time Olmo or Orisic gotta hold of the ball. As if anything can happen, they are arguably Dinamo’s two most creative players.
Maminjo – yeah, interesting. I read an article a few months ago about a more under-the-radar game that in fact has the highest financial implications of any game in the world, by a very large margin. And that’s the final playoff game for the English Championship contenders to be the last team promoted to the Premier League. Given the huge sums of money shared among the 20 EPL teams, the financial implications for the the winner of that game game dwarf the Super Bowl winner, World Cup winner, Champions League winner, etc. When you also see that the loser of that game gets nothing more as a second place prize, they just return back to the the Championship with the same financial windfall, it’s the highest leverage game in the world on financial terms
Petkoviiiiiiiiić!
Prize money for Champions League…
€15.2M participation
€1M for every group stage point
€10M-12M for every knockout round progress
Prize money for Europa…
€3M participation
€200k for every group stage point
€500k-€1.5M for every knockout round progress
It’s better to qualify for Champions League and finish dead last with zero points (and still collect €15.2M)…
than it is for Dinamo to do what they did last season in Europa.
Last season, Dinamo topped their group and went to the Round of 16 (and were awarded with a total of €7M in prize money).
Essentially, Dinamo will make more than DOUBLE the prize money if they beat Rosenborg and qualify for CL this year (even if they humiliate themselves).
It’s insane, but that’s just how big the prize money gap is.
What’s the financial difference between making it to CL and losing every game compared to making it to Europa League and making it out of the group stage? Otherwise, I’d say CL if we have a good shot at 3rd place so we can at least get kicked back to Europa after the group stage.
I’d say hold on to our talented players as long as possible. Hopefully, this translates to wins in Europe which would allow us to pay our players more money. Helps create more credibility for the club and the HNL as well. Although, I don’t care for the development of a foreigner (Olmo), I’m glad that we aren’t selling teenagers anymore and allowing our guys to develop within the HNL. Obviously this is different for poor clubs like Hajduk.
I watched Ivanusec with the U21s; this guy looks like the real deal! I think he has gone over Majer in the pecking order.
6. Rinse and Repeat
1. Qualify for CL and collect 15 million Euro
2. Sell Dani Olmo for 25+ million Euro
3. Slot Ivanušec into the rotation and increase his exposure (and value)… same as the rest of their young players
4. Try to do as well as you can in CL and Europa (if possible)
5. Sell Moro and any others who have peak value in the next transfer window (and promote the next wave of youngsters like Marin, into the rotation)
Croatian word of the day. This one is a toungue twister but one my father loved because he said it so much. Ok guys ready, good here it is and no It’s not a Serbian Tennis player.
******pametnjaković******