2008–09 NK Dinamo Zagreb season

Dinamo Zagreb

2008–09 season
Chairman	Mirko Barišić
Manager	Branko Ivanković (until 24 November 2008) Marijan Vlak (until 5 March 2009) Krunoslav Jurčić
Prva HNL	1st
Croatian Cup	Winners
UEFA Champions League	Third qualifying round
UEFA Cup	Group stage
Top goalscorer	League: Mario Mandžukić (16) All: Mario Mandžukić (24)
Highest home attendance	27,000 - v Slaven Belupo, 17 May, Prva HNL
Lowest home attendance	400 - v Zadar, 23 November, Prva HNL
← 2007–08 2009–10 →

This article shows statistics of individual players for the football club Dinamo Zagreb It also lists all matches that Dinamo Zagreb will play in the 2008–09 season.

• 26 April: Midfielder Luka Modrić agrees to a five-year contract with Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur in a transfer worth €21m, meaning he will leave Dinamo after the last game of the 2007–08 season, the Croatian Cup second leg final on 14 May.^[1]
• 9 May: Dinamo board of directors hold a press conference concerning the Zagreb Mayor Milan Bandić's announcement that the Maksimir stadium could be torn down and replaced by a new stadium built at a different location. Club's chairman Mirko Barišić, club's legends Slaven Zambata and Igor Cvitanović as well as the current vice-captain Igor Bišćan and Bad Blue Boys spokesman all express the view that the new stadium should be built in Maksimir.^[2]
• 14 May: Immediately after the cup final game against Hajduk Split at Poljud stadium, manager Zvonimir Soldo resigns, citing "bad atmosphere at the club".^[3]
• 20 May: Branko Ivanković appointed as manager again, only five months after being sacked and replaced by Zvonimir Soldo.^[4]
• 21 May: Defender Hrvoje Čale signs a four-year contract with the Turkish club Trabzonspor in a transfer worth €2.2m.^[5]
• 23 May: Goalkeeper Tomislav Butina signs a two-year contract with Dinamo on a free transfer after being released from Greek club Olympiacos. Butina returns to the club after spending five years playing abroad, and 15 years after his first top-flight debut for the Blues in 1993.^[6]
• 25 May: Defensive midfielder Ognjen Vukojević signs a five-year contract with Ukrainian club Dynamo Kyiv on a transfer worth €6m.^[7]
• 4 June: Attacking midfielder Guillermo Suárez signs for Dinamo from Argentina's Tigre for an undisclosed fee.^[8]
• 5 June: Defender Etto agrees to a new four-year contract with Dinamo.^[9]
• 5 June: The 6th edition of the annual Mladen Ramljak Memorial Tournament hosted by Dinamo begins, featuring youth squads from Croatia and abroad. Dinamo youngsters beat Bulgarian side Litex Lovech 3–1.^[10]
• 6 June: UEFA commission inspect all venues expected to host the following Prva HNL season games and assigns Maksimir stadium a category 3 rating, declaring it fit to host European games.^[11]
• 6 June: Dinamo youth squad beats Osijek 4–1 and secures a place in the tournament final.^[12]
• 6 June: Forward Davor Vugrinec agrees to leave the club for local rivals NK Zagreb on a free transfer.^[13]
• 8 June: Dinamo youngsters win the Mladen Ramljak Memorial by beating Hajduk Split 1–0.^[14]
• 12 June: Dinamo sign midfielder Pedro Morales from Universidad de Chile for €1.6m.^[15]
• 13 June: Dinamo sign defender Luis Ibáñez from Boca Juniors on a five-year contract in a transfer worth for €650,000.^[16]
• 15 June: Goalkeeper Georg Koch is released and joins Austrian club Rapid Vienna on a free transfer.^[17]
• 3 July: Fearing hooliganism, Austrian organisers cancel the already scheduled pre-season friendly with Polish side Lech Poznań.^[18]
• 4 July: Two months after Newcastle United offered €2m for Josip Tadić, West Ham also expresses interest in bringing in the young striker.^[19]
• 5 July: Defender Marijan Buljat is released and joins rivals Hajduk Split on a four-year contract.^[20]
• 8 July: Forward Dario Zahora's loan to Domžale expires and agrees to a new loan to another Slovenian club Interblock Ljubljana.^[21]
• 15 July: Defender Tomislav Mikulić leaves the club and signs a two-year contract with Belgian club Standard Liège.^[22]
• 16 July: Dinamo start their European campaign by defeating Linfield 2–0 in the first leg of their UEFA Champions League 2008–09 First Qualifying Round.^[23]

Updated 5 March 2009 Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK  CRO Tomislav Butina 2 DF  CRO Ivan Tomečak 3 DF  ARG Luis Ibáñez 4 DF  CRO Robert Kovač 5 MF  ARG Adrián Calello 6 DF  CRO Dejan Lovren 7 DF  BRA Etto 8 MF  CRO Ante Tomić 10 MF  BRA Sammir 11 FW  CRO Josip Tadić 12 GK  CRO Ivan Kelava

No. Pos. Nation Player 13 MF  CMR Mathias Chago 16 MF  CRO Milan Badelj 17 FW  CRO Mario Mandžukić 18 MF  BIH Mirko Hrgović 19 DF  CRO Tomislav Barbarić 20 FW  CZE Miroslav Slepička 21 MF  CRO Ivica Vrdoljak 22 DF  CRO Igor Bišćan (captain) 24 FW  CRO Ilija Sivonjić 30 GK  CRO Filip Lončarić 77 MF  CHI Pedro Morales

Midfielder Luka Modrić agreed to a five-year contract with Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur in a transfer worth €21m in late April, meaning his last game for the Croatian Cup second leg final on 14 May. On 22 May defender Hrvoje Čale signed a four-year contract with the Turkish side Trabzonspor for €2.2m, and four days later defensive midfielder Ognjen Vukojević joined Ukrainian giants Dynamo Kyiv in a €6m transfer. During the summer transfer window, a group of players were released, including 33-year-old forward Davor Vugrinec who joins city rivals NK Zagreb, Georg Koch who signs a deal with Rapid Vienna and Tomislav Mikulić who signs a two-year contract with Standard Liège. Marijan Buljat and Dario Jertec were also released after failing to break into the first team squad under Branko Ivanković, and join biggest local rivals, Hajduk Split.

As for the arrivals, goalkeeper Tomislav Butina signed a two-year deal after being released by Olympiacos. Butina signed a two-year deal after being released by the Greek powerhouse, in a transfer which marked his return to the club after spending five years playing abroad, and 15 years after his first top-flight debut for the Blues in 1993. Heart of Hajduk Award winner Mirko Hrgović also joined the club from Japanese side JEF United, in a transfer which stirred some resentment by supporters of both Hajduk and Dinamo. Three South American players also joined the club in the summer transfer window: Luis Ibáñez and Guillermo Suárez came from Argentina's Boca Juniors and Tigre for €650,000 and €1m respectively, while Chilean international Pedro Morales joined from Universidad de Chile in a €1.6m transfer.

Did'dy Guela also left the club in late August amid heavy criticism by Ivanković and a publicized conflict with Ante Tomić in training. Two months after his contract was terminated he joined Greek side Larissa.

In

Date	Pos	Player	From	Fee
	GK	Tomislav Butina	Olympiacos	Free
	MF	Mirko Hrgović	JEF United	Free
	DF	Luis Ibáñez	Boca Juniors	00€650,000
11 June 2008	MF	Pedro Morales	Universidad de Chile	€1,600,000
	MF	Guillermo Suárez	Tigre	€1,000,000

Out

Date	Pos	Player	To	Fee
	MF	Dario Jertec	Hajduk Split	Free
	DF	Marijan Buljat	Hajduk Split	Free
	GK	Georg Koch	Rapid Vienna	Free
	GK	Tomislav Vranjić	Larissa	Free
	FW	Davor Vugrinec	NK Zagreb	Free
	DF	Tomislav Mikulić	Standard Liège	Undisclosed
	MF	Ognjen Vukojević	Dynamo Kyiv	0€6,000,000
	DF	Hrvoje Čale	Trabzonspor	0€2,200,000
	MF	Luka Modrić	Totenham Hotspur	€21,000,000
	MF	Did'dy Guela	Larissa	Free

On 15 December 2008, Dinamo executive Zdravko Mamić and sports director Zoran Mamić agreed on a 5+1⁄2-year deal with Adrián Calello signed from Argentina's Independiente. The following two signings were confirmed a few days later, in the form of forwards Miroslav Slepička, who signed from Sparta Prague a 3+1⁄2-year deal worth €1.5m, and the 21-year-old Ilija Sivonjić from the local side Inter Zaprešić. In late December it was announced that Mihael Mikić left the club to join the Japanese side Sanfrecce Hiroshima for €800,000. The last player to arrive in the winter transfer window was the 34-year-old Croatian international Robert Kovač, who signed from Borussia Dortmund for €500,000.

Six youth players also signed their first senior contracts, out of which only Ivan Tomečak joined the first team squad, while the rest were loaned to NK Lokomotiva, Dinamo's feeder club.

Additionally, Dario Zahora, the 26-year-old Croatian forward who spent the last couple of seasons on loan spells at Slovenian sides Domžale and Interblock Ljubljana, joined Norwegian powerhouse Rosenborg for €280,000 in March 2009.

Defender Dino Drpić, a product of Dinamo's youth academy and a permanent member of the first team squad since 2000, was abruptly suspended in January 2009, for "poor disciplinary record". He was removed from the first team and soon loaned out to German side Karlsruher SC. It was announced on 21 May 2009 that Karlsruhe bought Drpić's contract for €900,000, with the German side trailing at the bottom of the league table with just one match left to play.

In

Date	Pos	Player	From	Fee
15 December 2008	MF	Adrián Calello	Independiente	€2,200,000
18 December 2008	FW	Miroslav Slepička	Sparta Prague	€1,500,000
18 December 2008	FW	Ilija Sivonjić	Inter Zaprešić	00€450,000
29 January 2009	DF	Robert Kovač	Borussia Dortmund	00€450,000

Out

Date	Pos	Player	To	Fee
23 December 2008	MF	Mihael Mikić	Sanfrecce Hiroshima	00€800,000
13 March 2009	FW	Dario Zahora	Rosenborg	00€280,000
	FW	Tomislav Šokota	Lokeren	Free transfer
	FW	Boško Balaban	Panionios	Free transfer
21 May 2009	DF	Dino Drpić	Karlsruhe	00€900,000

Position	Staff
Manager	Krunoslav Jurčić
Assistant manager	Hrvoje Braović
Assistant manager	Boris Kubla
Goalkeeping coach	Mario Jozić
Fitness coach	Miljenko Rak

Supplier: Diadora
Sponsor(s): INA, Privredna banka Zagreb, Večernji list

Domestic Home

Domestic Away

European Matches

Last updated: 13 April.
Source: Sportnet.hr

Source: Prva HNL 2008–09 article

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		UDI	TOT	NEC	SPA	DZ
1	Udinese	4	3	0	1	6	4	+2	9	Advance to knockout stage		—	2–0	—	—	2–1
2	Tottenham Hotspur	4	2	1	1	7	4	+3	7			—	—	—	2–2	4–0
3	NEC	4	2	0	2	6	5	+1	6			2–0	0–1	—	—	—
4	Spartak Moscow	4	1	1	2	5	6	−1	4			1–2	—	1–2	—	—
5	Dinamo Zagreb	4	1	0	3	4	9	−5	3			—	—	3–2	0–1	—

Match	Date	Tournament	Round	Ground	Opponent	Score	Attendance	Dinamo Scorers	Report
1	16 July	Champions League	QR1	A	Linfield	2 – 0	4,000	Mandžukić, Drpić	uefa.com
2	23 July	Champions League	QR1	H	Linfield	1 – 1	2,000	Mandžukić	uefa.com
3	27 July	Prva HNL	1	H	Rijeka	2 – 0	6,000	Badelj, Balaban	sportnet.hr
4	30 July	Champions League	QR2	A	Domžale	3 – 0	2,500	Vrdoljak, Sammir, Tadić	uefa.com
5	3 August	Prva HNL	2	H	Inter Zaprešić	3 – 1	2,000	Sammir, Tadić, Tomić	sportnet.hr
6	6 August	Champions League	QR2	H	Domžale	3 – 2	8,000	Bišćan, Hrgović, Drpić	uefa.com
7	9 August	Prva HNL	3	AR	Croatia Sesvete	1 – 0	7,500	Morales	sportnet.hr
8	13 August	Champions League	QR3	A	Shakhtar Donetsk	0 – 2			uefa.com
9	17 August	Prva HNL	4	H	Cibalia	6 – 0	2,000	Mandžukić (3), Tadić, Sammir, Badelj	sportnet.hr
10	23 August	Prva HNL	5	A	Zadar	3 – 2	4,000	Balaban (2), Mandžukić	sportnet.hr
11	27 August	Champions League	QR3	H	Shakhtar Donetsk	1 – 3	18,000	Balaban	uefa.com
12	31 August	Prva HNL	6	H	Varteks	2 – 1	1,000	Morales (2)
13	14 September	Prva HNL	7	A	NK Zagreb	2 – 2	2,000	Balaban, Mandžukić
14	18 September	UEFA Cup	R1	H	Sparta Prague	0 – 0
15	21 September	Prva HNL	8	H	Hajduk Split	0 – 2	8,000
16	26 September	Prva HNL	9	A	Slaven Belupo	0 – 2	3,000
17	2 October	UEFA Cup	R1	A	Sparta Prague	3 – 3		Morales, Lovren, Badelj
18	5 October	Prva HNL	10	H	Osijek	1 – 0	1,500	Lovren
19	8 October	Croatian Cup	1st round	A	NK Gaj Mače	5 – 1		Balaban, Sammir, Badelj, Šokota, Bišćan
20	19 October	Prva HNL	11	A	Šibenik	2 – 2	5,000	Tadić, Ibáñez
21	23 October	UEFA Cup	Group stage	H	NEC Nijmegen	3 – 2	15,000	Mandžukić, Balaban, Vrdoljak
22	29 October	Croatian Cup	2nd round	A	Hrvatski Dragovoljac	6 – 0	2,000	Balaban (3), Ibáñez, Sammir, Tadić
23	2 November	Prva HNL	13	A	Inter Zaprešić	3 – 1	2,500	Mandžukić, Vrdoljak, Morales
24	6 November	UEFA Cup	Group stage	A	Tottenham Hotspur	0 – 4	16,295
25	9 November	Prva HNL	14	H	Croatia Sesvete	6 – 1	1,000	Morales (3), Tadić, Mandžukić, Etto
26	12 November	Croatian Cup	Quarterfinal	A	Zagora Unešić	2 – 1	6,000	Šokota, Mikić
27	16 November	Prva HNL	15	A	Cibalia	1 – 1	5,000	Sammir
28	19 November	Prva HNL	12*	A	Rijeka	0 – 1	3,500
29	23 November	Prva HNL	16	H	Zadar	2 – 0	400	Hrgović, Šokota
30	27 November	UEFA Cup	Group stage	H	Spartak Moscow	0 – 1	15,000
31	30 November	Prva HNL	17	A	Varteks	1 – 0	2,000	Balaban
32	3 December	UEFA Cup	Group stage	A	Udinese	1 – 2	15,000	Bišćan
33	7 December	Prva HNL	18	H	NK Zagreb	3 – 1	758	Balaban, Sammir, Mandžukić
34	10 December	Croatian Cup	Quarterfinal	H	Zagora Unešić	5 – 1	1,000	Tomić, Lovren, Tadić (2), Šokota
35	22 February	Prva HNL	19	A	Hajduk Split	0 – 2	35,000
36	1 March	Prva HNL	20	H	Slaven Belupo	1 – 0	2,500	Sammir
37	4 March	Croatian Cup	Semifinal	A	NK Zagreb	2 – 0	2,500	Sivonjić, Morales
38	8 March	Prva HNL	21	A	Osijek	2 – 0	8,000	Sammir, Vrdoljak
39	15 March	Prva HNL	22	H	Šibenik	3 – 0	5,000	Sivonjić, Vrdoljak, Mandžukić
40	18 March	Croatian Cup	Semifinal	H	NK Zagreb	4 – 1	1,000	Mandžukić (3), Morales
41	22 March	Prva HNL	23	H	Osijek	0 – 0	7,000
42	5 April	Prva HNL	24	A	Cibalia	4 – 3	6,000	Tomečak (2), Sivonjić (2)
43	11 April	Prva HNL	25	H	Inter Zaprešić	1 – 0	9,000	Mandžukić
44	19 April	Prva HNL	26	AR	Croatia Sesvete	4 – 0	3,000	Slepička (3), Tomečak
45	22 April	Prva HNL	27	H	Zadar	2 – 0	6,000	Bišćan, Mandžukić
46	26 April	Prva HNL	28	A	Varteks	6 – 1	6,000	Mandžukić (2), Slepička (3), Hrgović
47	3 May	Prva HNL	29	H	Rijeka	4 – 0	9,000	Badelj (2), Sammir, Chago
48	10 May	Prva HNL	30	A	Šibenik	2 – 0	5,000	Mandžukić, Tomečak
49	13 May	Croatian Cup	Final	H	Hajduk Split	3 – 0	20,000	Mandžukić (2), Sammir
50	17 May	Prva HNL	31	H	Slaven Belupo	2 – 0	27,000	Sammir, Mandžukić	sportnet.hr
51	24 May	Prva HNL	32	H	NK Zagreb	0 – 1	12,000		sportnet.hr
52	28 May	Croatian Cup	Final	A	Hajduk Split	0 – 3 (4 – 3 p)	18,000
53	31 May	Prva HNL	33	A	Hajduk Split	2 – 2	10,000	Chago, Mandžukić	sportnet.hr

Last updated 31 May 2009
Sources: Sportske novosti, Sportnet.hr

Match	Date	Tournament	Round	Ground	Opponent	Score	Dinamo Scorers
1	29 June	Friendly	N/A	N	Interblock Ljubljana	0 – 0
2	2 July	Friendly	N/A	A	Mura 05	0 – 1
3	8 July	Friendly	N/A	HR	Olimpija Ljubljana	4 – 1	Morales, Chago, Tadić, Tomić
4	3 September	Friendly	N/A	A	Zagorec	4 – 2	Balaban, Šokota, Krpić, Ibáñez
5	8 September	Friendly	N/A	A	Hrvatski Dragovoljac	3 – 1	Šokota (2), Tadić
6	18 January	Friendly	N/A	A	Junak Sinj	3 – 0	Vrdoljak, Balaban, Sivonjić
7	23 January	Gabela Tournament	Semifinal	A	GOŠK Gabela	3 – 1	Šokota, Sivonjić, Tadić
8	24 January	Gabela Tournament	Final	N	NK Osijek	0 – 0
9	27 January	Friendly	N/A	HR	Fehérvár	1 – 0	Šokota
10	1 February	Friendly	N/A	N	Bełchatów	2 – 2	Bišćan, Tomić
11	4 February	Friendly	N/A	N	Teplice	1 – 0	Tadić
12	7 February	Friendly	N/A	N	Sanfrecce Hiroshima	4 – 3	Morales (2), Mandžukić (2)
13	9 February	Friendly	N/A	N	Litex Lovech	0 – 0
14	14 February	Friendly	N/A	A	Red Bull Salzburg	4 – 3	Sammir (2), Slepička Mandžukić
15	17 February	Friendly	N/A	A	NK Lučko	5 – 2	Šokota (2), Badelj Tadić, Morales
16	25 March	Friendly	N/A	A	NK Ivančica	15 – 0	Slepička (5), Vrdoljak, Etto, Chago, Ibáñez, Tomić (2), Tadić (2), Tomečak (2)
17	7 April	Friendly	N/A	A	NK Križevci	8 – 2	Slepička (4), Mandžukić, Tomečak, Bišćan, Sivonjić

(All games played at Krešimir Ćosić Arena in Zadar.)

Competitive matches only. Updated to games played 31 May 2009.

Key

Rank	Name	League	Cup	Europe	Total
1	Mario Mandžukić	16	5	3	24
2	Boško Balaban[1]	6	4	2	12
	Sammir	8	3	1	12
4	Pedro Morales	7	2	1	10
5	Josip Tadić	4	3	1	8
6	Miroslav Slepička	6	–	–	6
	Milan Badelj	4	1	1	6
8	Ivica Vrdoljak	3	–	2	5
9	Ilija Sivonjić[3]	3	1	–	4
	Tomislav Šokota[1]	1	3	–	4
	Igor Bišćan	1	1	2	4
	Ivan Tomečak	4	–	–	4
13	Dejan Lovren	1	1	1	3
	Mirko Hrgović	2	–	1	3
15	Dino Drpić[2]	–	–	2	2
	Luis Ibáñez	1	1	–	2
	Ante Tomić	1	1	–	2
	Mathias Chago	2	–	–	2
19	Mihael Mikić[4]	–	1	–	1
	Etto	1	–	–	1

Source: Competitive matches

• Dinamo Zagreb official website