GNK Dinamo vs Monaco facts

GNK Dinamo must regroup when they face Monaco on UEFA Champions League Matchday 2 after becoming the first team to concede nine goals in a match in the competition's history in their opening encounter.

The Croatian champions went down 2-9 at Bayern München on Matchday 1 – despite pulling the score back to 2-3 five minutes into the second half – and now face a Monaco side who were 2-1 winners at home to ten-man Barcelona in the first round of fixtures thanks to a second-half strike from 18-year-old substitute George Ilenikhena.

This is the teams' first meeting, and Monaco's first game against a club from Croatia.

Form guide

GNK Dinamo

Record vs French clubs: W3 D3 L11 F15 A37
Home record vs French clubs: W2 D0 L6

Dinamo lost 0-3 away and 0-1 at home against Lyon in the 2016/17 Champions League group stage, their most recent games against a Ligue 1 side.

That made it six successive defeats against French opponents, and ten in the last 12 (D2), after Dinamo had won three of their first five games (D1 L1).

The Croatian club have lost their last five matches against French visitors having won two of the first three.

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

The Zagreb club kicked off this season in the play-offs, easing past Qarabağ of Azerbaijan (3-0 h, 2-0 a).

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. That took them into the UEFA Europa Conference League group stage, where they finished second in their section behind Viktoria Plzeň having won three games and lost three; they edged out Spain's Real Betis in the knockout round play-offs (1-0 a, 1-1 h) before losing an eventful last-16 tie against PAOK (2-0 h, 1-5 a).

The Croatian club have won five of their last seven home European matches (D1 L1).

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

Monaco

This is Monaco's tenth appearance in the Champions League proper – and a first since 2018/19.

Runners-up to Porto in 2003/04, Monaco have lost twice in Champions League qualifying since that last group stage appearance, going out to Shakhtar Donetsk in the 2021/22 play-offs (2-3 aggregate) and PSV Eindhoven in the third qualifying round a year later (3-4 agg).

That 2022/23 campaign is Monaco's most recent in European football. Having lost to PSV, they moved across to the Europa League group stage, finishing second in their section, before losing to Bayer Leverkusen in the knockout round play-offs (3-2 a, 2-3 h aet, 3-5 pens).

Les Monégasques have won four of their last 18 away European matches (D7 L7) – but two of the last four (D1 L1).

Adi Hütter's side sealed a return to the Champions League proper by finishing second in Ligue 1 in 2023/24, nine points behind champions Paris Saint-Germain. It was Monaco's highest final league placing since 2017/18, when they were also runners-up to Paris.

Links and trivia

Dinamo defender Ronaël Pierre-Gabriel made four Ligue 1 appearances for Monaco in 2018/19, when he also featured six times for the club's B team.

Pierre-Gabriel was born in Paris and has had spells at St-Étienne (2014–18), Brest (2020–22), Strasbourg (2022/23) and Nantes (2023/24).

Have also played in France:
Ivan Filipović (Paris FC 2021–24)
Maxime Bernauer (Rennes 2013–19, Concarneau 2019/20, Le Mans 2020/21, Paris FC 2021–23)
Kévin Théophile-Catherine (Rennes 2005–13, St-Étienne 2014–18)
Nathanaël Mbuku (Reims 2017–23, St-Étienne 2024 loan)

Dinamo forward Marko Pjaca and Monaco defender Wilfried Singo were team-mates at Torino in 2021/22.

Latest news

GNK Dinamo

Dinamo were 5-1 winners at home to Lokomotiva Zagreb on Saturday, defender Raúl Torrente scoring twice.

Dinamo's three-game losing run ended with a 3-1 Croatian Cup round of 32 win at Banjole on 25 September.

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

Dinamo's tally of 16 points after eight games matches their total at the same stage in 2023/24.

Sandro Kulenović has five goals in seven league games this season.

Bruno Petković has scored in four of Dinamo's last six matches and got the second on Saturday.

Monaco

Monaco have won five of their six Ligue 1 matches this season, drawing the other. They have scored 12 goals and conceded three.

On Saturday a 98th-minute goal from substitute Lamine Camara earned a 2-1 comeback win against Montpellier in a match that celebrated the centenary of Monaco's foundation.

Monaco won 3-1 at home against Le Havre on 22 September, Jordan Teze scoring his first Monaco goal.

Folarin Balogun was also on target, his first ASM goal since 30 March.

Monaco's Ligue 1 record in 2024 is W15 D5 L3 – the second best record in the French top flight behind champions Paris Saint-Germain (W15 D7 L1).

Goalkeeper Radoslaw Majecki suffered an ankle injury on 1 August and has not played since.

Edan Diop has been out with a stress fracture in his foot.