UEFA Champions League - 2019/20 SeasonMatch press kits

Dinamo Zagreb must win and hope for help from elsewhere as they round off their Group C campaign at home to section winners Manchester City looking to join their visitors in the UEFA Champions League round of 16.

• While City have an unassailable five-point lead at the top of the standings, Dinamo are third on five points – one behind Shakhtar Donetsk and one ahead of Atalanta. Dinamo will therefore go through if they beat City and Shakhtar do not win at home against Atalanta.

• On Matchday 2, in what was City's first fixture against a Croatian club, second-half goals from Raheem Sterling (66) and Phil Foden (90+5) gave the home side the points in Manchester, inflicting a sixth defeat in seven visits to England on Dinamo, who have beaten English opposition only once in UEFA competition.

Form guide
Dinamo
• Dinamo have not won since a 4-0 home success against Atalanta on Matchday 1, achieved thanks to Mislav Oršić's hat-trick, which made him the first player to hit three goals for a Croatian club in a UEFA Champions League group encounter.

• After losing at City in their second game, Dinamo then drew 2-2 at Shakhtar and 3-3 at home to the Ukrainian side – Shakhtar scoring twice in added time to deny Dinamo victory – before a 2-0 defeat at Atalanta in their fifth fixture.

• Dinamo have won only five of their 41 matches in the UEFA Champions League group stage (D7 L29); they suffered six defeats in their most recent participation, in 2016/17. They had lost 11 successive matches, and won only one of 27 (D2 L24) – a 2-1 defeat of Arsenal in Zagreb in September 2015 that ended a 16-year wait for a victory in the competition proper – before beating Atalanta on Matchday 1.

• That defeat of Arsenal is Dinamo's only win against an English club in 12 previous fixtures, home and away (D2 L9). At home their record is W1 D1 L3, with three successive defeats preceding the victory against Arsenal.

• Dinamo claimed their 13th Croatian league title in 14 seasons in 2018/19 – and 20th in all – but their UEFA Champions League campaign came to an early end with a play-off defeat against Young Boys. Moving into the UEFA Europa League, the Zagreb club finished first in their section before getting the better of Viktoria Plzeň in the round of 32, then bowing out after extra time against Benfica in the last 16 (1-0 h, 0-3 a).

• Nenad Bjelica's side started this season's UEFA Champions League in the second qualifying round, easing past Georgia's Saburtalo 5-0 on aggregate (2-0 a, 3-0 h) before a 5-1 victory over two games against Ferencváros of Hungary (1-1 h, 4-0 a). They then overcame Rosenborg in the play-offs, winning 2-0 at home before a 1-1 draw in Norway.

• Dinamo are unbeaten in ten home European fixtures (W7 D3). A second-leg loss to Young Boys in last season's UEFA Champions League play-offs (1-2) is their only defeat in the last 15 such matches (W10 D4).

• This is Dinamo's seventh UEFA Champions League group campaign overall, and fifth in nine seasons. They have failed to qualify from the group stage in all six previous attempts. In fact, 2018/19 marked the first time in 14 UEFA club competition group stage campaigns – including eight in the UEFA Cup and UEFA Europa League – that the Croatian club had made it through to the next phase.

Manchester City
• City won their first three games in Group C – at Shakhtar (3-0) and at home to Dinamo and Atalanta (5-1) – before their four-game winning streak in the UEFA Champions League ended with a 1-1 draw in Italy. City were then also held 1-1 at home by Shakhtar on Matchday 5.

• City have scored 26 goals in their last nine UEFA Champions League matches; since losing at home to Lyon on Matchday 1 last season (1-2) their record is W10 D3 L1 with 41 goals scored and 13 conceded.

• In 2018/19, City recovered from that defeat at home to Lyon to finish first in Group F ahead of the French club, Shakhtar and Hoffenheim, picking up 13 points. They brushed aside Schalke 10-2 on aggregate in the last 16, but for the second year running lost to English opposition in the quarter-finals, Tottenham eliminating them on away goals after a dramatic 4-4 aggregate draw (0-1 a, 4-3 h).

• Guardiola's side have won 11 of their last 20 European matches, home and away, losing six. Away from home it is five wins in nine matches (D2 L2), both defeats coming in England; the last game they lost abroad was at Shakhtar (1-2) on Matchday 6 of the 2017/18 UEFA Champions League.

• This is the Citizens' ninth UEFA Champions League campaign; they have been involved in the group stage every season since 2011/12 and have now reached the round of 16 in seven successive campaigns.

• City's best UEFA Champions League performance was reaching the 2015/16 semi-finals.

• Champions of England for the second season running and sixth overall – four of those titles having come in the last eight years – City also lifted the FA Cup and League Cup in 2018/19, becoming the first English club to win all three domestic trophies in one season.

Links and trivia
• Have played in England:
Kevin Théophile-Catherine (Cardiff 2013/14)
Ivo Pinto (Norwich 2016–19)

• Nikola Moro provided an assist in Croatia's 3-3 draw against England in the UEFA European Under-21 Championship on 24 June; Foden played 90 minutes for England.

Latest news

Dinamo
• Dinamo have lost only one of their last 12 games in all competitions (W8 D3), the Matchday 5 defeat at Atalanta.

• Dinamo have won eight of their last nine league games (D1), most recently the 2-1 victory at Istra 1961 on 30 November and Friday's 1-0 home defeat of Varaždin.

• Dinamo are unbeaten in the league since a 1-0 loss at Varaždin in the eighth round of matches on 21 September. That was Dinamo's second league defeat of the season, as many as they suffered in the whole of 2018/19.

• Dinamo Zagreb have lost only one home game since April 2018 (W36 D6), the 2-1 loss to Young Boys in the UEFA Champions League play-off second leg in August 2018.

• Damian Kądzior gave Dinamo the lead at Istra and has seven goals in his last 12 matches for Dinamo.

• Mislav Oršić got the winner at Istra, his 17th goal in all competitions for Dinamo this season in his 24th appearance, including 13 in his last 14 matches. He has scored three hat-tricks, and was an unused substitute against Varaždin on Friday.

• Amer Gojak returned as a second-half substitute on Matchday 5, his first appearance since suffering an ankle injury against Osijek on 27 October. He has started both league games since that Atalanta match.

• Dinamo kicked off the new season with a 1-0 win against Rijeka in the Croatian Super Cup on 13 July.

Manchester City
• Claudio Bravo is, at 36 years 207 days, the oldest player to have appeared in this season's UEFA Champions League – though his substitute appearance against Atalanta on Matchday 4 ended prematurely as he was sent off.

• City have won just two of their last seven matches in all competitions (D3 L1); the 4-1 Premier League success at Burnley on 3 December ended a run of three away games without a victory (D2 L1).

• The English champions lost 2-1 at home to neighbours Manchester United on Saturday, and are in third place, 14 points behind Premier League leaders Liverpool.

• That was only City's second defeat in 12 matches in all competitions (W7 D3), having also gone down 3-1 away to Liverpool on 10 November.

• City have lost four games in this season's Premier League, the same total as in the whole of 2018/19.

• City have still suffered only four defeats in their last 32 matches in all competitions (W23 D5).

• Thirty-two points after 16 games represents Josep Guardiola's lowest total as a manager at this stage of a season.

• Kevin De Bruyne has provided nine assists in this season's Premier League – the most in the division – with David Silva joint third on six.

• English League Cup winners in the last two seasons, and four of the last six campaigns, City reached this season's quarter-finals with a 3-1 home win against Southampton on 29 October. They will visit third division Oxford in the last eight on 18 December.

• City were 8-0 winners at home to Watford in the Premier League on 21 September, their biggest win in the English top flight. They led 5-0 after 18 minutes, the fastest any side has established that scoreline in a Premier League match.

• Sergio Agüero found the net in City's first six league games of the season, eight goals in all, but has scored only once in seven matches since. He has not played since suffering a groin injury in the 2-1 home win against Chelsea on 23 November.

• Guardiola's side have scored 63 goals in their 24 matches this season, and 44 in their 16 league games.

• Raheem Sterling has scored 15 goals in 22 club games this season, and has 19 goals and nine assists in 27 games for City and England in 2019/20, although he has scored only once in his last six City matches.

• John Stones limped off early in the second half on Saturday.

• Oleksandr Zinchenko has not played since 14 October and subsequently underwent knee surgery.

• Aymeric Laporte damaged the cartilage and lateral meniscus in his right knee during a 4-0 home win against Brighton on 31 August and is expected to be sidelined for around six months.

• Leroy Sané is also facing a lengthy spell on the sidelines after suffering an anterior cruciate ligament injury to his right knee during the FA Community Shield against Liverpool on 4 August.

• City won the Community Shield for the sixth time overall – and second year in a row – with a 5-4 shoot-out defeat of Liverpool at Wembley, Sterling scoring City's goal in a 1-1 draw.

Date of birth: 20 August 1971

Nationality: Croatian
Playing career: Osijek (twice), Albacete, Real Betis, Las Palmas, Kaiserslautern, Admira, Kärnten

Coaching career: Kärnten, Lustenau, Wolfsberg, Austria Wien, Spezia, Lech Poznań, Dinamo Zagreb

• Aged 19, Bjelica made his professional debut for home-town club Osijek, scoring seven goals in 23 games in his first full season. In 1992 the Croatian joined Spanish club Albacete where he spent four successful years before spells at Betis and Las Palmas. In summer 1999 he rejoined Osijek for a year, prior to closing out his career in Germany and Austria.

• The playmaker, voted Croatia's player of the year in 2000, was awarded his international debut against Austria in 2001 and was capped nine times by his country. He made two appearances at UEFA EURO 2004 in Portugal.

• Bjelica started life in the dugout in autumn 2007 as player-coach at Kärnten – registering 29 Austrian second division outings that season. Then hung up his boots but remained in charge until early 2009, subsequently taking over at Lustenau and Wolfsberg, whom he guided from the third tier to the Austrian Bundesliga.

• During his final campaign with Wolfsberg, in 2012/13, Bjelica's side missed out on UEFA Europa League qualification by a solitary point. Bjelica left his post to replace Peter Stöger at Austria Wien and soon led his new employers to the UEFA Champions League group stage, overcoming Dinamo Zagreb in the play-offs, but nevertheless only lasted in the post until February 2014.

• Took charge of Italian Serie B side Spezia between June 2014 and November 2015, before two seasons in Poland with Lech. Appointed Dinamo coach on 15 May 2018, within days the club had won both the Croatian league and cup; retained the league title in 2018/19, Bjelica also taking the club to the UEFA Europa League round of 16.

Date of birth: 18 January 1971
Nationality: Spanish
Playing career: Barcelona, Brescia (twice), Roma, Al-Ahly Club, Dorados de Sinola
Coaching career: Barcelona B, Barcelona, Bayern München, Manchester City

• Known as 'Pep', he came up through Barcelona's youth ranks to win six Spanish Liga titles, one European Champion Clubs' Cup, a UEFA Cup Winners' Cup and two Copa del Rey trophies from 1990 to 2001. Also had spells with Brescia, Roma, al-Ahly in Doha and Mexico's Dorados de Sinola before ending his playing career in 2006. Won 47 caps and Olympic footballing gold with Spain in 1992, but missed the 1998 and 2002 FIFA World Cups through injury.

• Having coached Barcelona's B team, he took charge of the senior side in 2008 and won the UEFA Champions League, Spanish Liga and Copa del Rey in his first season. That was just the beginning of a glorious four-season spell which yielded 14 trophies. In his second campaign, Guardiola steered Barcelona to a second Liga title as well as the Spanish and UEFA Super Cups and the FIFA Club World Cup. Even more sucess followed in 2010/11 as Barcelona completed a hat-trick of Spanish titles and, for the second time under Guardiola, got the better of Manchester United in the UEFA Champions League final.

• In his final season, 2011/12, Guardiola's team won the UEFA Super Cup and FIFA Club World Cup once more before he signed off his reign with a second Copa del Rey triumph. After a year's break, Guardiola took charge of Bayern in June 2013, replacing Jupp Heynckes.

• Collected the UEFA Super Cup, FIFA Club World Cup, German Cup and, with a record seven games to spare, the Bundesliga title in his first season in Germany. Secured his second successive Bundesliga title the following season, and Bayern again dominated domestically in 2015/16, but all three of Guardiola's UEFA Champions League campaigns in Bavaria ended in the semi-finals.

• Opted for a new challenge at Manchester City in summer 2016 and, though the first year in charge produced Guardiola's first trophy-less campaign as a coach, he and City delivered in style in 2017/18, racking up 100 points in winning the Premier League and adding the English League Cup; the following season, City became the first English club to win the domestic treble of league – holding off a remarkable Liverpool effort – FA Cup and League Cup.

UEFA Champions League: Did you know?

Overall records
• In 2012/13, Chelsea became the first defending champions to fail to get through a group stage since the UEFA Champions League began. (This record, like the others, includes the seasons between 1999/2000 and 2002/03 that featured a second group stage). In 1992/93, Barcelona were the reigning European Champion Clubs' Cup holders and lost 4-3 on aggregate in the second round to CSKA Moskva.

• In 2016/17 Real Madrid became the first team to successfully defend the UEFA Champions League trophy, with AC Milan (1989, 1990) the previous club to win consecutive European Cups. Milan (1994, 1995), Ajax (1995, 1996), Juventus (1996, 1997) and Manchester United (2008, 2009) have all returned to the UEFA Champions League final as holders only to lose.

• Real Madrid then made it three wins in a row in 2017/18, becoming the fourth club to win three or more successive titles in European Cup history, and the first to do it twice.

• Only two teams have ever won the UEFA Champions League on home soil: Borussia Dortmund (1997, final in Munich) and Juventus (1996, final in Rome), while Manchester United lost the 2011 final in London and 12 months later Bayern were beaten in the showpiece in their own stadium, the Fußball Arena München.

Group stage
• Barcelona have finished as group winners on 20 occasions, four more than Real Madrid and five more than Bayern München and Manchester United. Barça also hold the record for the most unbeaten group stage campaigns with 12, four more than Real Madrid.

• Bayern München (2 April 2013 to 27 November 2013) and Real Madrid (23 April 2014 to 18 February 2015) jointly hold the record for successive wins in the UEFA Champions League proper with ten. Bayern surpassed the previous mark of nine, set by Barcelona between 18 September 2002 and 18 February 2003.

• Six teams have recorded six successive victories in a UEFA Champions League group stage: Milan (1992/93), Paris Saint-Germain (1994/95), Spartak Moskva (1995/96), Barcelona (2002/03, first group stage) and Real Madrid (2011/12 and 2014/15).

• Twenty-one teams have gone through a UEFA Champions League group stage without picking up a single point, most recently AEK Athens in 2018/19.

• In 2017/18, Paris Saint-Germain set a new group stage record by scoring 25 goals, with Liverpool (23) also eclipsing the old mark of 21 set by Borussia Dortmund in 2016/17. Manchester United (1998/99), Barcelona (2011/12, 2016/17) and Real Madrid (2013/14) all managed 20.

• Only Deportivo La Coruña (2004/05), Maccabi Haifa (2009/10) and Dinamo Zagreb (2016/17) have failed to score in a group stage.

• BATE Borisov conceded 24 goals in 2014/15, a new group stage record which was matched by Legia Warszawa in 2016/17. The previous mark, 22, was held by Dinamo Zagreb (2011/12) and Nordsjælland (2012/13); Malmö shipped 21 in 2015/16.

• No team has ever gone through a UEFA Champions League group stage without conceding a goal. Milan (1992/93), Ajax (1995/96), Juventus (1996/97 and 2004/05), Chelsea (2005/06), Liverpool (2005/06), Villarreal (2005/06), Manchester United (2010/11), Monaco (2014/15), Paris Saint-Germain (2015/16) and Barcelona (2017/18) all let in just one.

• Matchday six of the 2013/14 marked FCSB's 23rd successive game in the competition without a victory, surpassing the previous record of 22 set by Spartak Moskva between December 2000 and November 2006.

• Anderlecht hold the unwanted record for successive defeats in the competition, group stage to final, having lost 12 in a row between December 2003 and November 2005. Dinamo Zagreb are next with 11 consecutive losses on two occasions, from September 2011 to November 2012 and ongoing since September 2015.

• The lowest total for a team qualifying from the group stage is six points: Zenit in 2013/14 and Roma in 2015/16. Since three points for a win was introduced in 1995/96, nine teams have made it through with seven points: Legia Warszawa (1995/96), Dynamo Kyiv (1999/2000), Liverpool (2001/02, second group stage), in 2002/03 Lokomotiv Moskva (first group stage) and eventual finalists Juventus (second group stage), Rangers and Werder Bremen (2005/06), Galatasaray (2013/14) and Basel (2014/15).

• Napoli failed to qualify from their group with 12 points in 2013/14, the highest total of any team not to reach the next stage when the top two in each section progressed. Dynamo Kyiv (1999/2000, second group stage), Borussia Dortmund (2002/03, second group stage), PSV Eindhoven (2003/04), Olympiacos and Dynamo Kyiv (both 2004/05), Werder Bremen (2006/07), Manchester City (2011/12), Chelsea and Cluj (both 2012/13), Benfica (2013/14) and Porto (2015/16) all missed out with ten points.

Goalscoring records
• Lionel Messi became the first player to score five goals in a match in Barcelona's 7-1 win against Bayer Leverkusen on 7 March 2012, a feat matched by Shakhtar Donetsk's Luiz Adriano at BATE Borisov on 21 October 2014. Eleven more players, also including Messi, have scored four times in a game, most recently Cristiano Ronaldo for Real Madrid on matchday six in 2015/16.

• Cristiano Ronaldo set a new record for a UEFA Champions League group stage with 11 goals in 2015/16, eclipsing his own mark of nine in 2013/14, which Luiz Adriano matched in 2014/15 and Ronaldo himself equalled in 2017/18. Lionel Messi got ten goals in 2016/17; Zlatan Ibrahimović (2013/14), Ruud van Nistelrooy (2004/05), Filippo Inzaghi, Hernán Crespo (both 2002/03) and Robert Lewandowski (2018/19) managed eight.

• Messi's hat-trick against PSV Eindhoven on matchday one of the 2018/19 competition was his eighth in the competition, a mark Ronaldo matched against Atlético Madrid in that season's round of 16 second leg.

Oldest and youngest players
• Lazio goalkeeper Marco Ballotta is the oldest player to compete in the UEFA Champions League having featured against Real Madrid on matchday six in 2007/08 aged 43 years and 252 days. Alessandro Costacurta is the oldest outfield player; the Milan defender was 40 years and 211 days when he played against AEK Athens in 2006/07.

• Francesco Totti is the oldest player to score in the competition, aged 38 years and 59 days, in Roma's 1-1 draw at CSKA Moskva on 25 November 2014. Ryan Giggs (37 years 290 days) was the previous record holder.

• Celestine Babayaro is the youngest player to have appeared; he was 16 years and 87 days when he started for Anderlecht against Steaua Bucureşti on 23 November 1994. He was sent off in the 37th minute.

• Peter Ofori-Quaye is the youngest player to have scored in the UEFA Champions League, aged 17 years and 195 days. He found the net in Olympiacos's 5-1 defeat at Rosenborg on 1 October 1997.

GNK Dinamo Zagreb
Formed: 1911
Nickname: Modri (Blues)

UEFA club competition honours (runners-up in brackets)
• None

Domestic honours (most recent triumph in brackets)
League title: 30 (2019)
Yugoslavian/Croatian Cup: 22 (2018)

Ten-year European record (UEFA Champions League unless indicated otherwise)
2018/19: UEFA Europa League round of 16 (having transferred from UEFA Champions League play-offs)
2017/18: UEFA Europa League play-offs
2016/17: group stage
2015/16: group stage
2014/15: UEFA Europa League group stage (having transferred from UEFA Champions League third qualifying round)
2013/14: UEFA Europa League group stage (having transferred from UEFA Champions League play-offs)
2012/13: group stage
2011/12: group stage
2010/11: UEFA Europa League group stage (having transferred from UEFA Champions League third qualifying round)
2009/10: UEFA Europa League group stage (having transferred from UEFA Champions League third qualifying round)

Records
UEFA club competition
• Biggest home win
6-0 twice, most recently v Zalaegerszeg
19/09/02, UEFA Cup first round first leg

• Biggest away win
0-5 three times, most recently v Fola Esch
16/07/13, UEFA Champions League second qualifying round first leg

• Heaviest home defeat
1-7: Dinamo Zagreb v Lyon
08/12/11, UEFA Champions League group stage

• Heaviest away defeat
5-0: Bayern München v Dinamo Zagreb
29/09/15, UEFA Champions League group stage

UEFA Champions League (group stage to final)
• Biggest home win
4-0: Dinamo Zagreb v Atalanta
19/09/19, group stage

• Biggest away win
0-1: Ajax v Dinamo Zagreb
25/11/98, first group stage

• Heaviest home defeat
1-7: Dinamo Zagreb v Lyon (see above)

• Heaviest away defeat
5-0: Bayern München v Dinamo Zagreb (see above)

Manchester City FC
Formed: 1894
Nickname: The Citizens

UEFA club competition honours (runners-up in brackets)
• UEFA Cup Winners' Cup (1): 1970

Domestic honours (most recent triumph in brackets)
League title: 6 (2019)
FA Cup: 6 (2019)
League Cup: 6 (2019)

Ten-year European record (UEFA Champions League unless indicated otherwise)
2018/19: quarter-finals
2017/18: quarter-finals
2016/17: round of 16
2015/16: semi-finals
2014/15: round of 16
2013/14: round of 16
2012/13: group stage
2011/12: UEFA Europa League round of 16 (having transferred from UEFA Champions League group stage)
2010/11: UEFA Europa League round of 16
2009/10: did not take part in UEFA club competition

Records
UEFA club competition
• Biggest home win
7-0: Manchester City v Schalke
12/03/19, UEFA Champions League round of 16 second leg

• Biggest away win
0-5: Steaua Bucureşti v Manchester City
16/08/16, UEFA Champions League play-offs, first leg

• Heaviest home defeat
1-3: Manchester City v Bayern München
02/10/13, UEFA Champions League group stage
0-2: Manchester City v Barcelona
18/02/14, UEFA Champions League round of 16 first leg

• Heaviest away defeat
4-0: Barcelona v Manchester City
19/10/16, UEFA Champions League group stage

UEFA Champions League (group stage to final)
• Biggest home win
7-0: Manchester City v Schalke (see above)

• Biggest away win
0-4 twice, most recently v Basel
13/02/18, round of 16 first leg

• Heaviest home defeat
1-3: Manchester City v Bayern München (see above)
0-2: Manchester City v Barcelona (see above)

• Heaviest away defeat
4-0: Barcelona v Manchester City (see above)