Sevilla vs Dinamo Zagreb could see Sevilla advance to the round of 16 with two matches to spare. At the same time, Dinamo Zagreb look likely to finish the Champions League group stage positioned in last place.
With matchday 4 approaching, Dinamo are last in Group H with zero points. They were defeated 4-0 by Juventus, 3-0 by Olympique Lyon, and 1-0 by Sevilla on matchday 3. Perhaps the only positive thing, coming out of the results, is the fact that Dinamo still have a small chance to qualify for the round of 32 of the UEFA Europa League.
But a 3-0 defeat to Lyon on matchday 1, which gives the French a huge advantage for when the two teams meet on matchday 5, means that Dinamo would not only have to beat Lyon in order to advance, but would also have to either deliver a result that is equal to or greater than a 4-0 victory, or finish the group with more points than the French.
There was some hope that Dinamo could finally overcome its Champions League group stage tribulation by qualifying for at least the round of 32 of the Europa League. Now, however, it seems likely that Dinamo will finish fourth once again—the result predicted by Futbolgrad before the campaign kicked off.
In many ways, Dinamo have gone backwards this season, as the club has not just struggled in the Champions League, but also in domestic competitions. For the first time in five years, Dinamo lost a home game (0-1 to Osijek) and they have now fallen significantly behind HNK Rijeka who, despite heavy budget cuts, have put together a young and exciting team.
Dinamo Zagreb recently hired Ivaylo Petev, who is already their fourth coach this season, and who is supposed to stabilize the club that suffered greatly from scandals last season that saw the end of the regime of the Mamić Brothers at the club (more on this here).
Against Sevilla on matchday 3, Petev seemed to stabilize the Zagreb ship somewhat and, with a little luck Dinamo could have walked away with a draw. The club will need to gain a result in order to keep their Europa League dreams alive, and that performance, in particular, may give some hope to Dinamo supporters.
Futbolgrad’s prediction: Sevilla vs Dinamo Zagreb 2-1
Possible Line-ups
Sevilla:
Formation: 4-3-1-2
Rico – Escudero, Mercado, Pareja, Mariano – Nasri, N’Zonzi, Vitolo – Vázquez – Vietto, Ben Yedder
Manager: Jorge Sampaoli
Dinamo Zagreb:
Formation: 4-2-3-1
Livaković – Privarić, Sigali, Benković, Stojanović – Machado, Jonas, Antolić – Fernandez, Ćorić, Soudani
Manager: Ivaylo Petev
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