When the referee showed that four minutes of stoppage time remained, Dinamo's fans applauded, believing it was enough time to hunt for an equaliser. The situation on the pitch was such that the crowd believed in an equaliser! And it was close... In the end, however, the visitors celebrated. Real Madrid defeated Dinamo in Zagreb 1-0 at the start of the Champions League group stage.

The Maksimir players looked solid, strong, and parried Real with dignity. Dinamo's intense pressing on every opposing player near the ball resulted in thunderous applause from the crowd. Unfortunately, Dinamo couldn't manage to win, it was 1-0 to the Spaniards, who at the end of that season reached the semi-finals where Bayern defeated them on penalties, with Bayern going on to win the trophy.

Dinamo's hopes at Maksimir were extinguished by Angel di Maria in the 53rd minute after just one seemingly harmless mistake by Ivan Tomečak. The young Maksimir footballer found himself playing as a right winger rather than in the defensive line. However, just one careless touch of the ball proved fatal. The ball bounced off him around the centre circle, Marcelo picked it up, played it to Cristiano Ronaldo, who passed it to Di Maria who found the back of the net.

Dinamo didn't give up, and their confidence was restored by the dismissal of Real's left-back, Brazilian Marcelo, in the 73rd minute. He simulated a foul in Dinamo's penalty area and earned a second yellow card for simulation.

The Blues knew how to launch a series of serious attacks that created problems for the opposition defence, but in the continuation of the European season they weren't quite as competitive. Dinamo played under difficult circumstances. Coach Krunoslav Jurčić was forced by circumstances to field players who had never played together before, he fielded players who found themselves in positions they had practically never played before. It was a risky but somewhat understandable attempt. Jurčić's biggest success was having Jerko Leko play in defence, in the role of right-back. And he played brilliantly. He strictly marked Cristiano Ronaldo, never let him out of his sight, intercepted almost every attempt to get the ball to him. Of course, it's impossible to expect that a player of Ronaldo's quality won't get on the ball at all - after all, he did assist for the goal.

However, the way Leko played the ball forward in the 33rd minute, with Ante Rukavina breaking clear in front of goalkeeper Iker Casillas, was perhaps the most beautiful moment of the match. Leko played a brilliant long ball, but Casillas managed to stop Rukavina's imprecise shot.

Maksimir goalkeeper Ivan Kelava was among the best players that evening. He miraculously stopped two consecutive shots, first from Angel di Maria, then from Mesut Özil. Real, meanwhile, came close to taking the lead in the 11th minute when Karim Benzema, after a defensive error, got to the ball and hit the crossbar.