Champions League second qualifying round second leg brought drama: Dinamo trailed 0-2, but goals from Beljo, Kačavenda, and Valinčić secured the third qualifying round, their 100th European home win at Maksimir, and a minimum of €3.7 million.
GNK Dinamo secured a place in the third qualifying round of the Champions League after defeating Swiss side Thun 3-2 in extra time on Tuesday evening at Maksimir. The first leg in Switzerland ended 1-1. The visitors took the lead in the 4th minute through Brighton Labeau, and Marco Bürki doubled their advantage in the 22nd minute. The turning point came when the same player was sent off in the 67th minute following a VAR review. Dion Drena Beljo (74') and Lukas Kačavenda (78') restored hope, and Moris Valinčić scored the winning goal in the 112th minute.
Thun coach Gian-Luca Privitelli did not hide his disappointment. According to Slobodna Dalmacija, he particularly criticized the behavior of Dinamo's players just before the red card in comments to Swiss media: 'Before the red card, they were extremely unsportsmanlike. They gave us the ball back for fair play, and then immediately started pressing. After that, we didn't play well, but still... That wasn't gentlemanly, was it?'
Although the referee initially showed a yellow card, the VAR overturned the decision to a red because Bürki stopped an opponent in front of the penalty area as the last defender. Privitelli believes he was not the last man: 'He gave him a red card even though Justin Roth was very close, a truly brave decision. If the match had been played at our home, he probably wouldn't have shown the red card.'
While Croatian viewers on RTL were left without graphics and replays, Swiss broadcaster SRF experienced a complete broadcast outage. According to Slobodna Dalmacija, citing Blick, the signal from Maksimir was lost for 15 minutes at the start of the second half, and the programming was filled with a concert by pop singer Stefanie Heinzmann. Commentator Calvin Stettler, who was following the match from Zurich, said: 'I've never experienced anything like this before.' When the connection was restored, the Swiss saw their captain's red card, and the momentum had completely swung in Dinamo's favor.
According to Net.hr, the victory over Thun was Dinamo's 100th home win in European competitions at Maksimir, and the club also secured its ninth consecutive group stage appearance in European competitions. Dinamo also became the first Croatian club this season to guarantee European participation, at least in the Conference League.
Index.hr Gastro provides the calculation: from UEFA fixed prizes alone, Dinamo has already earned a minimum of €3,695,000. This includes €175,000 per qualifying round played and €3.17 million for participation in the Conference League. If they lose in the third qualifying round of the Champions League and go to the Europa League, fixed prizes rise to at least €4.66 million. If they go through to the Champions League play-offs and then to the Europa League, combined earnings without bonuses would reach €8.6 million. Entry into the Champions League league phase would bring a basic prize of €18.62 million.
Dinamo's opponent in the next round will be the winner of the tie between KÍ Klaksvík (Faroe Islands) and Lithuanian side Kauno Žalgiris, managed by Croatian coach Željko Sopić. The first leg ended 0-0, with the return match played on Wednesday at 6 PM.
After the match, Dinamo tweeted a series of posts. '...so that you forever remember who Dinamo is and where the city of Zagreb is!' read one, accompanied by a blue heart emoji. A bit later, along with the traditional night-time photo from the pitch, the club said: 'You didn't really think we'd forget the traditional night photo, did you?' and before the match had asked: 'Did you miss Dinamo...?'
