Dinamo Zagreb knows it facing an uphill battle against Bayern Munich in the Champions League on Tuesday, but that does not mean that the squad is just going to roll over and take an “L.”
Head coach Sergej Jakirović does not want to tip his hand ahead of the big game
“Today we rotated many variants and positions. Tomorrow we will decide which formation we will choose so that we suffer as little as possible without the ball, and that we can do something with the ball. There are few weaknesses in Bayern’s game. Harry Kane has a lot of freedom in their game. He drops deep, and then the other attackers run into the space. We have to communicate well to close down the players in the spaces, but also in the penalty box because Kane is a natural finisher,” said Jakirović (as captured by @iMiaSanMia). “We have a great game ahead of us against a great opponent. Bayern is a formidable, well-organized team. We analyzed them yesterday, you don’t even know where to start with how much quality they have. Our ambition must not end with just qualifying for the Champions League. We have to be brave and decisive. We’ll have to suffer for most of the game. We know how powerful Bayern are. I hope we can match them in some phases of the game. It will be interesting to see if we can threaten them in transition. It’s important that we enjoy the game and not hide”
For striker Bruno Petković, just showing up to compete is not enough.
“We are not satisfied with just being in the Champions League. Bayern is one of the best teams in the world. They started the season very well. We’re aware of their qualities. But we also have our qualities. We have to play our cards tomorrow and try to get a point or all three points,” Petković remarked.
When asked about potentially scoring against the Bavarians, the striker said some other things were more important: “Scoring against Bayern? Tomorrow I would rather the team gets at least a point, rather than me assisting or scoring. A good result is important to me because I’m a team player. If I score, I would be glad. I would like to score 100 goals if possible. But the most important thing is the team and getting a positive result.”
Looking for a more in-depth preview of the game? Curious about the formation Vincent Kompany has been using lately? We discuss all that and more in the latest episode of our podcast! Listen to it below, on Patreon, or on Spotify.
