You saw our players after the goal, you saw how much this win meant to them, said Dinamo coach Mario Kovačević after the Blues beat Anderlecht 1-0 with a penalty deep into stoppage time.

– We showed the lads at half-time where we were going wrong and pointed out what we needed to do better. In our preparation, we also highlighted that Anderlecht are a good, young and powerful team. If you are even slightly late, they can punish you. As I say, you saw after the match how much that goal meant to us. Once again, I congratulate my players – added coach Kovačević.

How did the Maksimir coach feel when Anderlecht hit the crossbar twice in the same move in the first half, and how did he feel in the sixth minute of stoppage time?

– After those crossbar hits, I was somehow convinced that we would win. You know yourselves how in earlier matches we tended to be punished straight after our first mistake. Sometimes you need a bit of luck too. It favours the brave, and we deserved it. Especially when you have a goalkeeper who can make the save when it's needed... We thought our moment would come. And it did. It was an open match at both ends. We could have scored earlier too, and Anderlecht had their chances. This is only the second match in Europe in which we haven't conceded a goal. We are even happier about that goal in the last minute, because we keep saying that we need to stay persistent until the end. And that's what we showed. Thank you all.

Before the match you also said you needed a win like this to lift the team. Will it help Dinamo get better?

– It can and it must. It will make things easier for us. Even before this match, I didn't doubt us for a single moment. Some people perhaps did, but I didn't. Last year was much harder, and yet we achieved everything we set out to do. Now we have secured the Europa League. Last season, for example, we entered the league phase directly, whereas this time we really had to earn it. Fine, we wanted the Champions League, but “weak” Viking knocked us out. We saw on Wednesday just how “weak” they are. We dipped a little after Viking, and some players joined us later. I keep saying that we will get better. I'm not afraid that we won't start winning consistently again. We will and we want to, and that is also my job as coach. I believe it will be so. Some people are laughing, but I believe we will be even better. I feel the club's support. Besides, in the city I have never had anyone come up to me and say something bad. Quite the opposite, people offer their support. I'm glad for them, for our fans. We are all one. We are trying to be better and to win, because that is what Dinamo deserves.

One of the heroes of the match was goalkeeper Dominik Kotarski.

– He is a great goalkeeper, and you have to have one like that in your team. I'm pleased for him. We have to be a team in every part of the pitch, and a goalkeeper gives us security and in doing so makes us better – concluded coach Kovačević.