Fantastic Dinamo secured a place in UEFA competitions

Stadium Maksimir, 8.8.2012.

UEFA Champions league, 3. qualifying round, second leg (first leg Sheriff - Dinamo 0:1)

GNK Dinamo - FC Sheriff  4:0 (2:0)

Referees: Leontios Trattou, Michael Soteriou, Charalambos Charalambous, Charalambos Skapoullis (all Cyprus)

Spectators: 16000

Dinamo: Kelava - Vida, Tonel, Šimunić, Pivarić - Ademi, Badelj - Leko, Alispahić (64. Peko), Rukavina (85. Ibanez) - Beqiraj (77. Čop)

Sheriff: Stoyanov - Metoua, Samardžić, Pereira (37. Pajović), Apatič - Onica - Georgijev, Marjanović  (66. Ivanov), Stanojević, Henrique (46. Balima) - Pešić

Yellow card: Onica (68.)

Goals: 1:0 Vida (16.), 2:0 Beqiraj (34.), 3:0 Čop (78.), 4:0 Ibanez (87.)

Dinamo will play in UEFA competitions for the next four months! After a great display and a marvelous 4:0 victory against Sheriff Dinamo secured their place in the play-off.

From the beginning of the game against Sheriff it was obvious that Dinamo players have only one thing on their mind - going to the next round. For the first couple of minutes Dinamo couldn't quite connect their passes like they wanted but after ten minutes Modri started to dominate and very soon came the first goal.

After just 16 minutes Fatos Beqiraj earned a free kick and made a shot towards Stoyanov who reacted very poorly, dropped the ball to Domagoj Vida who calmly placed it in the open net. Of course, this goal made things a lot easier for Dinamo and Modri dominated till the end of the game. Milan Badelj and Mehmed Alispahić played a very good game; especially captain Badelj who once again showed his great skill and quality.

Beqiraj earned and miss his chance after 25 minutes but only nine minutes later the same player demonstrated excellent strength and speed to extend the lead. Alispahić won the ball in the midfield and found Beqiraj who ran away from defenders and nicely placed the ball in the net. Dinamo had couple of chances until the break but the result stayed the same.

In the second half everything stayed the same: Dinamo dominated the play, created chances and scored goals while Sheriff had couple of long shot attempt which were easily stopped by Ivan Kelava. Coach Ante Čačić proved to have excellent feeling about players who enter the game because all three subs, Peko, Čop and Ibanez, gave a huge contribution to the game.

After 78 minutes Peko made a run on the right side and crossed to the middle where Čop reacted very well and took advantage of uncertain defenders to make it 3:0. Couple of minutes from time another substitute, Luis Ibanez, converted on a pass from Pivarić and placed the ball in the net after a fierce shot.

With this 5:0 win on aggregate Dinamo secured a spot in UEFA competitions until December. Will six group matches be played in Europa league or the Champions league it will be determined in the two matches of the play-off stage. Dinamo will find out their opponent on Friday, 10. August when the draw is made in Nyon, Switzerland.