LIVE Dinamo Zagreb – FCSB, an all-or-nothing match in the Europa League

The champion of the last two seasons is going through a difficult time in the Super League: it is out of the play-off places, with only eight stages left in the regular season. Paradoxically, in the Europa League things have been reactivated. What seemed like a simple illusion, qualification in the European spring, took shape after the miraculous victory with Feyenoord.

FCSB is currently 27th in the Europa League single group with 6 points. Two complicated duels follow, with Dinamo Zagreb and Fenerbahce. The Croatians are, in turn, under pressure: they are in 25th position, with 7 points, also outside the play-off places. Thus, for both teams, every point counts decisively in the fight for qualification.

LIVE at 22:00 » Dinamo Zagreb – FCSB

Dinamo Zagreb – FCSB, likely teams:

Dinamo Zagreb (4-3-3): Filipovic – Galesic, Dominguez, McKenna, Goda – Stojkovic, Misic, Zajc – Bakrar, Beljo, Hoxha
reserves: Rajic, Nevistic – Mikic, Ljubicic, Soldo, Topic, Varela, Kulenovic, Vidovic, Mudrazija, Theophile-Catherine
Coach: Mario Kovacevic

FCSB (4-2-3-1): Târnovanu – Crețu, Dawa, Graovac, Radunovic – Lixandru, Fl. Tănase – Miculescu, Olaru, Cisotti – Bîrligea
reserves: Zima, Udrea – Ngezana, Toma, Alhassan, Oct. Popescu, Thiam, Pantea, Politic, Miculescu, Alibec
Coach: Elias Charalambous

• Andre Duarte and Ofri Arad, the two transfers of the red-blues this winter, do not have the right to play in UEFA competitions. FCSB can change the list only after the end of the group stage.

Referee: Sander van der Eijk (Netherlands)
ASSISTANT: Rens Bluemink and Stefan De Groot (both Netherlands)
Book: Joey Kooij (Netherlands)
VAR referee: Clay Ruperti (Netherlands)
Assistant VAR: Jan Boterberg (Belgium)

• The Dutchman Sander van der Eijk (34 years old) will referee the two teams for the first time. He has been leading Eredivisie matches at center since 2019. He also refereed in this European season Ferencvaros – Viktoria Plzen 1-1, Celta Vigo – Nice 2-1 and Young Boys – Lille 1-0.

What the two technicians said:

We know that opponents often change the first 11. We have to be very careful with their offensive players. They are very dangerous! Both teams have to win to hope to qualify, so it's a decisive game, an important game. We trained and prepared to win this game. It's our first official game since 2026.

We expect an open game and the weather may be an issue as it is very cold and probably will be at game time.

– Mario Kovacevic, Dinamo Zagreb coach

We know that football is a collective game and that each team has individual quality, but we focus on ourselves. We analyze the opponent, they are a good team, we have similar goals and similar points. It will be like a derby for both teams tomorrow because we need points.

We are ready and I think we are a team that has shown consistency and shown that we can beat any opponent whether we are playing at home or away. It is a crucial match. If we win tomorrow, we have a great chance to qualify. All Europa League games have quality and I expect tomorrow to be the same. For two or three years since we have been playing in Europe, we know which opponents we are facing and we also know tomorrow which opponent we are facing. It doesn't matter how, but we have to get the three points.

I analyzed many matches of the opponent. They mostly play the same, they are an attacking team with a mix of young and experienced playersbut the most important thing is how we prepare tomorrow, because we have to win.

– Elias Charalmbous, FCSB coach

The Croatians debut in 2026, FCSB started the year with the left

In the last duel with a team from Croatia, FCSB prevailed in a double leg against Hajduk Split, in the third preliminary round of the Europa League, season 2018-2019. After 0-0 in Croatia, the red-blues won 2-1 in Bucharest.

For Dinamo Zagreb, the duel with FCSB will be the first game of 2026, while FCSB has already started the new year in Mioveni, being defeated by FC Argeș with 0-1.

In the mercato chapter, we note two important departuresgiven that teams cannot register new players until the end of the groups. Adrian Șut left FCSB for the United Arab Emirates, and Dinamo Zagreb will lose the young stopper Leon Jakirovic, whose transfer to Inter, a team trained by Cristi Chivu, is imminent.

40 million eurossum up the red-blue lot.

64 million eurosworth the Croatian lot, according to the transfermarkt specialist portal, Ismael Bennacer, on loan from Milan and unavailable for today's duel, being the best rated – 9 million euros.

How the standings in the Europa League look like: