Our first taste of Champions League action in 2025 comes against Dinamo Zagreb, a side who have dominated Croatian football since the country was formed.
They have won 18 of the last 19 league titles, and are the only club from the nation to win a major European trophy. That pedigree continues today, as they have made it into the Champions League proper on five occasions in the last 10 seasons.
Ahead of our clash at Emirates Stadium, here is everything you need to know about their past and present:
The history
Dinamo were founded in 1945 as an unofficial successor to HSK Gradanski, who had been wound up following World War II. They initially would play in the Yugoslavian top-flight, finishing runners-up in their first season before winning the first of four league titles in 1947/48.
Their crowning moment came in 1967 when they won the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, the precursor to the Europa League. Four years after losing in the final to Valencia, they beat Leeds United to become the first, and only, Croatian side to win a major European honour. They would also claim seven Yugoslav Cups before the breakup of the country and the creation of the Croatian football league system in 1993, when they became known as Croatia Zagreb.
In 2000 they adopted the prefix Dinamo, and have gone on to become the most successful club in Croatian football, having won 25 top-flight titles, including each of the last seven. They also reached the quarter-finals of the Europa League in 2020/21, while this is their ninth season in the Champions League group/league stage.
The stadium
Dinamo have been playing their matches at the Stadion Maksimir since 1948, which currently has a capacity of 25,912 after an earthquake that hit Zagreb in 2020 left its largest stand unusable. However, it still remains as one of the biggest stadiums in Croatia, and the usual home of the national side.
It was originally built in 1912, and was most recently renovated in 2011. It hosted matches at Euro 1978 and regularly stages concerts, but its future is uncertain with plans to try and either relocate Dinamo to a new venue, or rebuild Stadion Maksimir.
Last season
Things began turbulently for Dinamo as after they won the Croatian Super Cup, they were eliminated by AEK Athens in the Champions League qualifying stages and former Liverpool midfielder Igor Biscan was sacked after just four months in charge.
Bosnian Sergej Jakirovic was installed as his successor and while he couldn’t get them into the Europa League, he did help them reach the last-16 of the Conference League before being beaten 5-1 in Greece in PAOK to see a 2-0 first leg advantage slip away.
Domestically, Dinamo cruised to the league title for the seventh successive season, finishing eight points clear of Rijeka, whom Jakirovic had swapped for the Dinamo job. He also beat his former side in the Croatian Cup final to clinch Dinamo’s first double since 2020/21.
The manager
However, Jakirovic is no longer at the helm, with Fabio Cannavaro appointed in December, to become the club’s 10th manager in four-and-a-half years. Deemed to be one of greatest defenders ever, Cannavaro represented Parma, Inter Milan, Juventus and Real Madrid with distinction, and captained Italy to the 2006 World Cup, the year he also won the Ballon d’Or.
Since his retirement in 2011, Cannavaro has coached Chinese club Guangzhou on two occasions, as well as Tianjin Tianhai and the country’s national team. He was also at Al Nassr in Saudi Arabia before returning to his homeland in 2022 with Serie B club Benevento, while he helped Udinese steer clear of relegation last term during a brief six-game stint.
The squad
Sandro Kulenovic has been their main source of goals this season, with 12 to his name including three in the Champions League. The top markman role is usually reserved for striker Bruno Petkovic - he was a member of the Croatia team that finished third at the 2022 World Cup and was Croatian Footballer of the Year last term.
He has missed the recent friendlies through injury, as has promising defensive midfielder Petar Sucic who recently broke into the national side. Another youngster making waves though is playmaker Martin Baturina [above] - the 21-year-old was named the top-flight’s best under-21 talent in 2023/24 to earn a spot in Croatia's Euro 2024 squad.
Winger Marko Pjanka won a double with Juventus in 2016/17 and played in the 2018 World Cup final. A summer signing from Rijeka, he was included in Croatian top-flight Team of the Year last season alongside Petkovic, Baturina, Macedonia right-back Stefan Ristovski and midfielder Josip Misic.
Captain Arijan Ademi is the most decorated player in the club's history with 12 league titles and six Croatian Cups, while another veteran in Kevin Theophile-Catherine has Premier League experience, having played for Cardiff City in 2013/14.
The season so far
Jakirovic began the campaign brightly with four straight wins, and reached the Champions League league stage with a convincing 5-0 win over Qarabag. However, after a draw against Riejka and a humiliating 9-2 loss against Bayern Munich - the club’s heaviest-ever defeat - he was dismissed.
Nenad Bjelica returned as manager four years after departing, but he would only last until December after only winning five of 15 matches, and one of his final seven, which was their last competitive match back on December 22 - a 3-2 success over Varazdin. The winter break saw Cannavaro installed as his successor, and he has overseen two friendly matches to prepare for their trip to north London.
Despite that mauling in Munich, Dinamo head into this matchweek clinging onto the 24th and final qualifying spot in the table with eight points to their name. Only a last-minute penalty denied them a win against Monaco, before victories on their travels to Salzburg and Slovan Bratislava. A 3-0 loss to Borussia Dortmund followed, before holding Celtic to a goalless draw in their last continental outing.
The previous meetings
We have twice been drawn against Dinamo in the Champions League. Our first encounters came in 2006/07 qualifiers, and we secured a 3-0 success in Croatia with Cesc Fabregas bagging a brace, either side of a Robin van Persie goal. In the first-ever European game at Emirates Stadium, future Gunner Eduardo pulled one back before Freddie Ljungberg and Mathieu Flamini turned things around against a Zagreb side boasting a young Luka Modric.
Nine years later we met in the group stages, and Dinamo beat an English side for the first time in the competition with a 2-1 home win, on a night when Olivier Giroud was sent off. But we came back with a 3-0 success two months later when Alexis Sanchez netted twice and Mesut Ozil also got on the scoresheet.
Copyright 2025 The Arsenal Football Club Limited. Permission to use quotations from this article is granted subject to appropriate credit being given to www.arsenal.com as the source.
