It seemed like complete collapse after the first leg, but the Blues made a brilliant start to the return fixture and quickly got back into the tie, igniting hopes of reaching the final. Dinamo welcomed Fiorentina to Maksimir Stadium for the second leg of the Cup Winners' Cup semi-final, following the Italians' convincing 3-0 victory in the first encounter on home soil. This was the inaugural edition of the Cup Winners' Cup, and Fiorentina would go on to win that maiden tournament by defeating Glasgow Rangers in the final. The development of events reminds us of the legendary victory against Eintracht, played six years later in the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup: it was also a semi-final, the opponents also came to Zagreb for the return leg with a 3-0 advantage from the first match, and the Blues also led 2-0 after around twenty minutes in that return leg, quickly getting back into the fight for the final... The difference, however, is that in 1967 they managed to completely overturn the result and triumph 4-0 in extra time, while against Fiorentina they ultimately fell short. It was a match where both teams were led by legendary Hungarian figures – Marton Bukovi and Nandor Hidegkuti. Moreover, Bukovi had once been the coach of the Hungarian national team during the era when Hidegkuti was also playing. Dinamo played open, attacking football from the start, the Blues created chances, pressured the defense, and crafted appealing moves, but the magic lasted only the first 20 minutes or so. True, in that period they scored two goals which meant they were back in contention. With just one more goal they would have cancelled out the Italians' big advantage from the first leg. Željko Matuš found the net with a spectacular effort in the 15th minute, striking a free kick from 25 meters that went through the wall and into the goal. Already in the 18th minute it was 2-0, Ivica Cvitković raced down the right wing, crossed into the middle, Matuš headed the ball down, and Zlatko Haraminčić rushed in to score for a complete return to the tie and now realistic hopes of the final. Fiorentina were groggy, but Dinamo suddenly calmed their play, didn't continue at the same pace and thus allowed their opponents to pick themselves up off the floor and get back into the fight. And the Italians ultimately took advantage of this. In the 50th minute, the famous Swedish midfielder Kurt Hamrin went down the right flank, crossed in front of goal, Brazilian Dino da Costa let the ball through, and Gianfranco Petris ran onto it and slammed it home from the edge of the six-yard box.