Jerko Leko before the strongest edition of Ramljak's tournament: 'We are ready, looking forward to the start'

Dinamo in a group with Juventus, Manchester United, and Vienna's Rapid, while in the other group Paris Saint-Germain, Benfica, Shakhtar, and Bologna will compete. From Thursday to Sunday, from August 7th to 10th, the most powerful edition of the international junior memorial tournament Mladen Ramljak is ahead of us.

The competitions on the auxiliary fields of the Maksimir stadium will start on Thursday, with the last pair of the first day being the match between Dinamo and Juventus at 7:15 pm.

The strength and significance of the tournament are confirmed by just looking at the participants of this year's 22nd edition, in which we will once again experience a football festival, a kind of parade of great teams and talented young players who will compete in an extremely demanding competition.

Dinamo's juniors will be led by coach Jerko Leko, who assembled the team exactly a month ago.

- I can say that we are well prepared for the tournament, looking forward to the start, we are in a tough group, we will play against strong opponents, and all of this is, of course, a good motivation for our players. It is also an opportunity for them to see where they currently stand in relation to the strong competition of European clubs. The tournament will, of course, also be a preparation for the start of the championship. But before those league competitions, we have four appearances at Ramljak and we are eagerly awaiting them - emphasized coach Leko.

What kind of squad are you entering the competition with?

- The guys are ready and we really have a wide and good squad. There are also Mislav Ćutuk and Patrik Horvat who were at the training camp with the first team after which they were again "dropped" to us and now we are starting new challenges. This is a squad that will also carry the league season to the end. We believe that we will show good football already now at Ramljak.

We said that Ramljak's tournament also has a strong competitive character considering the strength of the opponents and the long tradition. Players want to leave the best impression. How important is that to them, but also to you as coaches?

- It is a big stage and also additional pressure on the players. But it is also part of the preparations for the first team. We will see what their potential is at this moment, after which we will analyze what was good and what may need to be corrected. Ramljak's tournament gives us a special motivation, both because of the tradition and the big names, but also because we want to defend the title of last season's winner.

Youth players have the opportunity to face different teams and different playing styles. How does this help them in their development?

- In our group, we have opponents from Italy, England, and Austria. I believe it will be interesting to see how they do certain things and how we adapt to them. This is part of growing up. We will, of course, try to maintain our game, impose our rhythm, and see how successful we will be. Football is a dynamic game, you can prepare for everything, but sometimes the match takes a completely different direction, maybe because of a sudden goal, because of an unpredictable situation.

You took over the team a month ago, how are these initial days? The atmosphere and the first outlines of the game in the preparatory period seem encouraging.

- They are encouraging. From the start, we emphasized that our goal is to prepare players for the first team, the boys came motivated, it is visible that they want to show themselves. I immediately told them that they are all "on display": what they demonstrate in training will determine how much they will play. But I am satisfied with the discipline, attitude towards training. They are maximally focused and responsible. I believe they will show that at the tournament.

Of course, our desire is to invite the fans...

- Certainly, their support means a lot to us. I hope there will be many fans, there are big names of European club football which guarantees good play. I invite fans to come and support us in as large numbers as possible - concluded coach Leko.