Dinamo Zagreb vs Olympique Lyon will be the final chance for Croatia’s record champion to somewhat salvage this season’s Champions League season. Dinamo have been already eliminated from the round of 16 of the Champions League, but a victory on November 22 at the Maksimir Stadium could put them within reach of the third spot, which would qualify the team for the round of 32 of the Europa League in the spring.
Sports Livestream ⚽ JOIN NOW for FREE
Instant access to the BT Sport, Sky Sports and Eurosport
Given Dinamo’s Champions League record this season, however, it seems unlikely that the Croatians can carve out a victory against Olympique Lyon. Furthermore, Lyon still has a slim chance to reach the round of 16 if they manage to collect all three points.
The two clubs met last on matchday 1, and Olympique beat the Croatians 3-0 in what was a convincing victory. Dinamo then lost 4-0 at home to Juventus Turin on matchday 2, and then lost 1-0 at the Maksimir and then 4-0 away to Sevilla in what has been a group stage to forget for the club. Dinamo’s record is four defeats, with a goal differential of 0-12, which makes them the only club in the Champions League without a goal this season.
With this in mind it would be difficult to imagine Dinamo securing a much-needed victory at home against Olympique. Especially as the club is also struggling in the domestic Prva HNL where they tied NK Istra 1961 1-1 on Friday, a result that puts them 6 points behind league leaders HNK Rijeka (more on this here).
In fact Dinamo are in real danger of not just crashing and burning out of this season’s Champions League group stage, but also their dominance in domestic football. A second place finish in the Prva HNL would mean that the club would lose out on a Champions League qualification place for next season.
Hence, the match on Wednesday against Olympique Lyon will be in the shadow of the general crisis that has gripped the club, which gives the game a unique underlying storyline.
Futbolgrad’s prediction: Dinamo Zagreb vs Olympique Lyon 0-1
Possible Line-ups
Dinamo Zagreb:
Formation: 4-2-3-1
Livaković – Privarić, Sigali, Benković, Stojanović – Machado, Jonas, Antolić – Fernandez, Ćorić, Situm
Manager: Ivaylo Petev
Lyon:
Formation: 4-1-4-1
Lopes – Morel, N’Koulou, Yanga-Mbiwa, Rafael – Gonalons – Valbuena, Tolisso, Cornet, Ferri – Lacazette
Manager: Bruno Génésio
Predict : over 2.5 goal
Full time 1-3
