Firecracker Explodes at Ramljak! Dinamo Juniors Rout Brugge
The young 'Blues' bounced back from their defeat to Juventus with a convincing 5:1 victory, keeping their hopes of reaching the final alive, with the decider coming against Benfica.
The young 'Blues' bounced back from their defeat to Juventus with a convincing 5:1 victory, keeping their hopes of reaching the final alive, with the decider coming against Benfica.
Dinamo's juniors put on a goal fest at the Mladen Ramljak international tournament. In the second round of Group A, they dismantled Belgian side Club Brugge 5:1, getting back into contention for a place in the final. After losing their opening match to Juventus 2:3, Milan Badelj's side delivered a near-flawless performance.
Dinamo came out aggressively from the first minute, and their pressure paid off as early as the 2nd minute. Club Brugge's defense cracked under the home side's onslaught, and Jona Benkotić capitalized to make it 1-0. Just eight minutes later, in the 10th minute, Luka Radić doubled the lead. Roko Ban then added a third in the 30th minute, effectively sealing the win before halftime.
In the second half, Ban picked up where he left off, scoring in the 48th minute to make it a commanding 4-0. The only lapse in concentration came in the 58th minute when Matteo Soria pulled one back for the Belgians. Radić then completed the scoring with his second goal of the match in the 61st minute.
With this victory, the young Dinamo side made amends for their dramatic defeat in the opening round. Against Juventus, the Italians had raced to a 3-0 lead by the 27th minute through goals from Giacomo Urbano and Dembe Salla Samba. However, Dinamo refused to give up, pulling two goals back before halftime through Ban and Karlo Zirdum to make it 2-3, but they couldn't complete the comeback.
Interestingly, Juventus failed to maintain that momentum. In the second round, they suffered a heavy 5:0 defeat at the hands of Benfica.
Benfica, after drawing 1-1 with Club Brugge in their opener, now sit top of Group A with four points. Dinamo are second with three points. Their head-to-head clash in the final round will directly determine who advances to the tournament final.
The math is simple: Dinamo must win to progress, while a draw would be enough for the Portuguese side to secure top spot in the group.
In other matches on the second day of the Ramljak tournament, Athletic Bilbao beat Bologna 3:2, while Hajduk and Ajax played out a 2:2 draw.
