Four-goal Dinamo too strong for Sheriff

GNK Dinamo Zagreb booked their place in Friday's UEFA Champions League play-off draw with a 4-0 victory against FC Sheriff in Zagreb.

The Croatian champions are now one step away from securing back-to-back group stage appearances in Europe's elite club competition after goals from Domagoj Vida, Fatos Beqiraj, Duje Čop and Luis Ibáñez ensured their progress.

The home fans did not have too long to wait for the opener, as Vida profited when goalkeeper Vladislav Stoyanov fumbled Beqiraj's 20-metre shot on 16 minutes. The Sheriff No1 redeemed himself less than ten minutes later, though, standing firm to deny Beqiraj as the Montenegrin striker bore down on goal. Bequiraj was a constant threat and doubled the advantage on 34 minutes.

Sheriff began throwing players forward after the break, leaving plenty of space for Ante Čačić's charges to exploit. Inside the first ten minutes both Beqiraj and Milan Badelj passed up good chances to score, but Čop made no mistake on 78 minutes and Argentina defender Ibáñez rounded off the scoring nine minutes later to a standing ovation.

Coach Milan Milanović can take some comfort from the knowledge that Sheriff will now transfer to the UEFA Europa League play-offs. Dinamo will learn their play-off opponents in Friday's draw at 12.00CET.