Marko Pjaca back at Dinamo after almost eight years

Among Dinamo's fans, the echo of his emotional message still resonates: "Dinamo will forever be my club, which is the only normal thing for a guy from Zagreb. I dreamed of playing for Dinamo, I will always support them and follow their matches." That's what he said shortly after leaving Zagreb, shortly after leading Dinamo to a second consecutive Champions League qualification with two goals and then signing for Juventus in a big transfer... Just two months later, he played in the Champions League with Juventus against – Dinamo at Maksimir. Now, eight years later, he is back in his favorite jersey. Former blue wonderkid, darling of the Maksimir fans, Marko Pjaca, is once again a Dinamo player. He signed a multi-year contract with the blues, thus opening his third overall term in the blue club, the second in the first team. Pjaca concluded his ten-month episode in Rijeka, where he was a challenging opponent for Dinamo in the previous season, both in the league and in the Cup.

He returns to Maksimir at the age of 29, with the regained status of a Croatian national team player, and will strengthen Dinamo's offensive arsenal...

As a native of Zagreb, he took his first football steps under the arches of Maksimir, where he arrived as a nine-year-old boy and five years later, at the age of 14, he started in the surrounding neighborhoods of Zagreb, first in the lower league ZET, and then in Lokomotiva where he went through the cadet and junior ranks and jumped into senior football. Brilliant performances in two full seasons among the Lokomotiva players brought him back to Maksimir in a big way.

He was one of the key players in the great team that won two double crowns, both the championship and the Cup in 2015 and 2016, and in addition to that, also secured a place in the group stage of the Europa League, and then in the group stage of the Champions League.

Štoviše, if we rewind the recording nine years back and extract frames from the unforgettable match against the Norwegian Molde in the 3rd qualifying round of the Champions League from the fall of 2015, we will notice three key players who were teammates back then, and will be - now. After a 1:1 draw at Maksimir, Dinamo led in the return match in Norway with an impressive 3:0, with goals scored by Marko Pjaca, Arijan Ademi, and Marko Rog. For 3:0 in the 22nd minute... In the end, it was 3:3 in a hectic match where the home team scored one, but missed converting two penalties. Pjaca scored the first goal and initiated the action for Dinamo's third goal... In the play-offs, they defeated the Albanian Skënderbeu, and then in a memorable match in the Champions League, they beat Arsenal at Maksimir with 2:1...

A season later, Pjaca led the match into calm waters in the 2nd round of the Champions League against Skopje's Vardar. He scored two goals, waved to the audience, and - left Maksimir. It was his last appearance in the blue jersey. Dinamo defeated Vardar 3-2, so with a 2-1 victory in the first match away, they convincingly advanced to the next round. Pjaca scored twice from the penalty spot, both times to equalize, first for 1-1, and then for 2-2. In the continuation of the competition, Dinamo once again secured a place in the group stage, but Pjaca continued his career at Juventus. The draw also played a bit with the actors because only two months later, Pjaca played with Torino, in tandem with Mario Mandzukic, against Dinamo in Maksimir in the Champions League. The Blues were then led from the bench by Pjaca's former coach in Rijeka, Zeljko Sopic. During these eight years, his career has been intertwined with impressive results, most notably winning silver with the national team at the World Cup, but also with difficulties due to injuries that slowed him down just when he was at his peak.

A serious ligament injury in a friendly match on a bad pitch away to Estonia in March 2017 kept him out of football for a full eight months. He suffered a similar injury in March 2019 while on loan at Fiorentina, but this time on the other leg... He returned after almost nine months. He played on loan for Schalke, Fiorentina, Anderlecht, Genoa, Torino, and Empoli until he signed for Rijeka in September last year.

In his previous spell in the first team of the Blues, he played 92 official matches and scored 28 goals.

He was always known for his brilliant dribbling, penetration, strength in duels, precise shot... Many sequences from his rich playing repertoire are remembered, such as a hat-trick in the final Europa League group stage match in a 4-3 victory over Celtic in Zagreb in the autumn of 2014 when he dazzled defenders with effective dribbles and tore the net from different angles...

What Marko said in a big interview after returning to Dinamo, watch below.

Welcome back to Dinamo, dear Marko!