Dinamo Zagreb vs Legia

Stadion Maksimir plays host to this crunch match between Dinamo Zagreb and Legia, the first of two legs to determine who will enter the play-off round to make the UEFA Champions League group stage.

Dinamo Zagreb made light work of their opening Champions League qualifying tie versus Valur, claiming a 5-2 aggregate win (3-2 H, 2-0 A) before ousting Omonia Nicosia 3-0 on aggregate last time out (2-0 H, 1-0 A). A victory here would see the reigning Croatian champions put together five wins in the Champions League qualifiers for the first time since 2012. If they manage to shut Legia out, it will be the first time since 2013 that they have kept four straight clean sheets in the tournament’s qualifiers. Despite their modest Champions League group stage record, the ‘Blues’ have been quite impressive at home in the competition, having lost just once in their last eight such contests (W5, D2, L1). What’s more, the hosts are unbeaten in their previous ten home Champions League qualifiers (W7, D3 – play-offs excluded).

On the other hand, Legia’s Champions League journey began with a comfortable 5-2 aggregate triumph over Norwegian outfit Bodo/Glimt (3-2 A, 2-0) before two one-goal margin wins over Estonian side Flora in both legs last time out (2-1 H, 1-0 A). Legia have been a force to be reckoned with in the Champions League qualifiers over the past few years. They have lost just once in their last 11 such affairs (W9, D1, L1), eight of which yielded a clean sheet. Despite going down 3-1 to domestic rivals Radomiak in their most recent competitive road trip, the Polish heavyweights are on a run of four straight away victories in the Champions League qualifiers, all of which came by a narrow one-goal margin.