Salzburg vs GNK Dinamo facts

Two clubs with ground to make up in the league phase of the UEFA Champions League meet in Austria on Matchday 3 as Salzburg take on GNK Dinamo.

The teams have a point between them after two fixtures apiece, Salzburg going down 3-0 at Sparta Praha and 0-4 at home to Brest while Dinamo became the first team to concede nine goals in a Champions League game with a 9-2 loss at Bayern München on Matchday 1 before holding Monaco 2-2.

Previous meetings

Matches 8
Salzburg wins 4
Dinamo wins 1
Draws 3
Salzburg goals 16
Dinamo goals 9

2022/23 Champions League group stage
Salzburg 1-0 Dinamo
Dinamo 1-1 Salzburg
Noah Okafor's penalty was the only goal in Austria and Matthias Jaissle's Salzburg also struck first in Zagreb through Nicolas Seiwald but Robert Ljubičić's equaliser earned a draw for a Dinamo team coached by Ante Čačić.

2016/17 Champions League play-offs
Dinamo 1-1 Salzburg
Salzburg 1-2 Dinamo (aet)
Marko Rog's penalty earned Dinamo a first-leg draw after Valentino Lazaro had headed Salzburg in front. Lazaro again gave Salzburg the lead in the home second leg, but three minutes from time Junior Fernandes levelled and Hillal Soudani scored the decisive goal five minutes into extra time.

2014/15 Europa League group stage
Salzburg 4-2 Dinamo
Dinamo 1-5 Salzburg
Alan scored a hat-trick in Austria and Jonathan Soriano did likewise in Croatia as Salzburg claimed two emphatic victories.

2009/10 Champions League third qualifying round
Salzburg 1-1 Dinamo
Dinamo 1-2 Salzburg
Dinamo came from behind in both games before Robin Nelisse's late winner in Zagreb.

Form guide

Salzburg

Record vs Croatian clubs: W4 D5 L1 F17 A10
Home record vs Croatian clubs: W2 D2 L1

Their eight games against Dinamo aside, Salzburg's only other meetings with a Croatian club came in the 2017/18 Champions League third qualifying round, when they lost on away goals to Rijeka (1-1 h, 0-0 a).

The Matchday 3 win against Dinamo in 2022 is Salzburg's only success in six games against Croatian clubs (D4 L1).

The 2016 extra-time defeat by Dinamo is Salzburg's sole loss at home to Croatian visitors.

Having not featured in the Champions League group stage between 1994 and 2019, Salzburg are making their sixth successive appearance in the competition proper.

The Austrian side were fourth in Group D in 2023/24, picking up four points from six games (W1 D1 L4) in a section that also included Real Sociedad, Inter Milan and Benfica.

A 2-1 Matchday 5 loss to Chelsea in 2022/23 ended the Austrian club's seven-match unbeaten home run in the Champions League (W4 D3). The loss to Brest on Matchday 2 this season made it five defeats in a row.

Salzburg started this season's Champions League campaign in the third qualifying round, beating Twente 2-1 at home before a 3-3 away draw to progress 5-4 on aggregate. They then overcame Dynamo Kyiv in the play-offs, winning 3-1 over two legs (2-0 a, 1-1 h).

The Austrian side have two wins and four defeats in their last six home European games.

Salzburg, who appointed Pep Lijnders as head coach in May, had their run of ten successive Austrian Bundesliga titles ended by Sturm Graz in 2023/24, finishing two points behind.

GNK Dinamo

Record vs Austrian clubs: W7 D6 L8 F27 A28
Away record vs Austrian clubs: W3 D3 L5

Dinamo have one win in their last four games against Austrian clubs (D1 L2) having recorded three successive victories before a 2-1 loss at Rapid Wien in the 2021/22 Europa League group stage.

Defeat at Salzburg on their last visit made it successive losses in Austria for Dinamo. They had won on their previous two visits having managed only one victory in their first seven (D3 L3).

Dinamo have reached the Champions League proper for a ninth time and a first since 2022/23, when they finished fourth on four points behind Chelsea, AC Milan and Salzburg.

The Zagreb club kicked off this season in the play-offs, where they eased past Qarabağ, winning 3-0 at home and 2-0 away.

Dinamo lost 3-4 on aggregate to AEK Athens in last season's Champions League third qualifying round and were then beaten 4-5 over two legs by Sparta Praha in the UEFA Europa League qualifying play-off. They went on to reach the UEFA Europa Conference round of 16 before losing an eventful tie against PAOK (2-0 h, 1-5 a).

The Croatian club have won two of their last four European away games (L2), as many as in their previous ten (D1 L7).

Dinamo claimed a record 25th Croatian league title in 2023/24, their seventh successive triumph, to make it 35 overall. They also lifted the Croatian Cup to win a 13th domestic double.

Links and trivia

Bruno Petković scored Dinamo's first goal in a 3-1 Matchday 4 win at home to Austrian side Rapid Wien in the 2021/22 UEFA Europa League group stage.

Petković was also on target in a 3-0 win away to Wolfsberg at the same stage of the 2020/21 Europa League.

Latest news

Salzburg

On Saturday Salzburg scored twice in the final six minutes, through Karim Konaté and substitute Edmund Baidoo, to come from behind and beat Altach 2-1 at home. That was only their third win in nine games in all competitions (D2 L4).

Pep Lijnders' side went down 5-0 at champions Sturm Graz on 6 October – their heaviest Austrian Bundesliga loss since a 0-7 home defeat by Rapid Wien on 23 March 2008.

Salzburg's unbeaten start to the season was ended by a 3-2 loss at Rapid Wien on 1 September, starting their winless run. Their record in all competitions prior to that defeat was W6 D2.

Maurits Kjærgaard (out since 1 September, ankle) and Aleksa Terzić (17 September, hamstring) both started on Saturday.

Forwards Petar Ratkov (out since 28 September) and Dorgeles Nene (1 October) have hamstring injuries while Moussa Yeo has an ankle problem.

Summer signing Takumu Kawamura (knee) is yet to play this season.

GNK Dinamo

Dinamo are unbeaten in five games in all competitions, winning three. On Saturday they twice came from behind to draw 2-2 at Istra.

Juan Córdoba's first goal for the club earned a 1-0 win at Varaždin on 6 October.

Coach Sergej Jakirović was dismissed following their 9-2 loss at Bayern on Matchday 1, Dinamo's record defeat. Nenad Bjelica was his replacement.

The Croatian champions' unbeaten league run of 23 matches (W19 D4), stretching back to 23 January, was ended by a 0-1 home loss against great rivals Hajduk Split on 13 September.

Dinamo lost 4-1 at Slaven Belupo on 21 September – the first time they had suffered successive league defeats since March 2023.

Petar Sučić scored his first international goal in Croatia's 3-3 UEFA Nations League draw in Poland on 15 October.