Slovan Bratislava vs GNK Dinamo facts

Slovan Bratislava welcome GNK Dinamo to Slovakia on Matchday 4 still looking for their first UEFA Champions League points.

The Slovakian debutants are one of six teams to have lost their first three games following defeats at Celtic (1-5) and Girona (0-2) either side of 0-4 loss at home to Manchester City, while their Croatian visitors have regrouped swiftly after losing 9-2 at Bayern Münhen on Matchday 1, the first time a team had conceded nine in a Champions League match. Dinamo then held Monaco 2-2 in Zagreb before a 2-0 victory at Salzburg.

Previous meetings

Matches 4
Slovan wins 0
Dinamo wins 2
Draws 2
Slovan goals 1
Dinamo goals 7

1969/70 European Cup Winners' Cup first round
Dinamo 3-0 Slovan
Slovan 0-0 Dinamo
Dinamo ended Slovan's defence of the trophy at the first hurdle, Ivica Miljković, Marijan Novak and Josip Gucmirtl all on target in the Zagreb first leg.

2000/01 UEFA Cup first round
Slovan 0-3 Dinamo
Dinamo 1-1 Slovan
Again Dinamo did the damage in the first leg, this time in Bratislava where Edin Mujčin, Igor Cvitanović and Renato Pilipović all scored. Mujčin also struck in Zagreb after Pavol Sedlák's fifth-minute opener had given Slovan hope.

Form guide

Slovan Bratislava 

Record vs Croatian clubs: W2 D2 L2 F7 A7
Home record vs Croatian clubs: W1 D1 L1

Slovan's only other fixtures against Croatian opponents came in the 1995/96 UEFA Cup preliminary round, where they beat Osijek 4-0 at home and 2-0 away.

This is the first time Slovan have featured in the Champions League proper. Indeed, they are only the fourth Slovakian club to appear, after Košice (1997/98), Petržalka (2005/06) and Žilina (2010/11).

Slovan made their 12th appearance in Champions League qualifying – and a sixth in succession – this season, coming through four qualifying rounds. They beat Struga of North Macedonia in the first (4-2 h, 2-1 a), Slovenian side Celje in the second (1-1 a, 5-0 h) and APOEL of Cyprus in the third (2-0 h, 0-0 a). That set up a play-off against Midtjylland, and after a 1-1 first-leg draw in Denmark, Slovan triumphed 3-2 in Bratislava thanks to late goals from Marko Tolić (82) and Tigran Barseghyan (86).

Slovan are one of five clubs to be making their Champions League debuts in 2024/25, along with Aston Villa, Brest, Bologna and Girona.

In 2023/24, the Bratislava side came through two Champions League rounds before losing to Maccabi Haifa in the third (2-5 aggregate) to move into the UEFA Europa League qualifying play-offs, where they went out 4-7 on aggregate against Aris Limassol. That sent them into the UEFA Europa Conference League, where they eventually lost to Sturm Graz in the knockout round play-offs (1-5 agg).

Slovan won their first four home European matches this season – scoring 14 goals – as many as in their previous 13 games (D6 L3) before losing to City.

The Sky Blues claimed their 30th league title overall in 2023/24, finishing 15 points clear.

GNK Dinamo

Record vs Slovakian clubs: W4 D2 L0 F12 A3
Away record vs Slovakian clubs: W2 D1 L0

Dinamo's only other experience of a team from Slovakia is also the most recent, beating Spartak Trnava 2-1 away and 3-1 at home in the 2018/19 Europa League group stage.

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, easing past Qarabağ (3-0 h, 2-0 a).

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

The Croatian club have won three of their last five European away games (L2), as many as in their previous 11 (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

Marko Tolić was a youth player at Dinamo from 2006 to 2010 and scored six goals in 47 league appearances for the first team between 2020 and 2023.

Tolić also had spells at Lokomotiva Zagreb (2012–20), Sesvete (2015 loan, 2017–19 loan), Hrvatski Dragovoljac (2015/16 loan), Lučko (2016 loan, 2017 loan) and Gorica (2016/17 loan) in his native Croatia.

Has also played in Croatia:
Matúš Vojtko (Gorica 2022/23 loan)

Róbert Mak scored as PAOK lost 2-1 at Lokomotiva, and then got two more in a 6-0 home win, in the 2015/16 Europa League second qualifying round.

Latest news

Slovan

Slovan have won ten of their 12 league games in 2024/25 (D1 L1), coming from behind for a 3-1 victory at Podbrezová on Saturday.

Tigran Barseghyan has ten goals in 12 league appearances including the final goal on Saturday and the winner in a 3-2 victory at Skalica on 30 October.

David Strelec got the other two goals at Skalica and has four in his last five league games.

Slovan were 2-0 winners at Spišská Nová Ves in the Slovakian Cup fourth round on 26 October, and will be at home to Trenčín in the last 16.

Slovan have lost just four times in 26 games in all competitions this season, but conceded 16 goals in those defeats.

Juraj Kucka started on 26 October having been out since Matchday 1 although he was not involved on Saturday.

Róbert Mak has not played since Matchday 2 due to an ankle injury.

GNK Dinamo

Sandro Kulenović scored twice in Dinamo's 4-0 victory at Šibenik on Friday, making it four goals in as many games.

Dinamo's six-game unbeaten run in all competitions (W4 D2) was ended by a 2-4 loss at home to Osijek on 27 October.

Marko Pjaca scored both goals – his first in the league this season.

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.

The Zagreb club have already lost three league games this season – one less than in the whole of 2023/24.