A stressful match and an emotional “roller coaster”, from tension, elation and a seemingly secure victory to shock and disbelief at points dropped in an incredible finish. The Maksimir clash against Shakhtar is one of those episodes that stir heavy emotions, uncomfortable memories and gloomy faces among Dinamo supporters. Dinamo entered deep stoppage time leading 3-1, only to concede two goals in an unbelievable turn of events. Those two dropped points ultimately cost the Blues a place in the next round of the competition.

Shakhtar took the lead in the 13th minute, as Moraes lost out to Alan Patrick, who found the back of the net. The Blues got back into the game 12 minutes later: Kevin Theophile delivered a precise cross from the right to the far post, and Bruno Petković superbly headed the ball over the goalkeeper and into the goal.

The Blues came close to taking the lead in the 59th minute, when Marin Leovac rattled the crossbar. As the match neared its end, both teams were left with ten men. First, Nikola Moro received a second yellow card in the 73rd minute, and for the same reason Marlos had to leave the pitch for the opposition six minutes later.

The match boiled over in the closing stages: from the 83rd minute to the final whistle, as many as four goals were scored – first Dinamo scored twice, then the visitors did the same. Petković, with his back to goal, laid the ball off at the top of the penalty area for Luka Ivanušec, who controlled it deftly at full pace, raced into the box and sent it into the net from the right side to make it 2-1.

Maksimir erupted in the 89th minute. Dani Olmo dribbled past the opposition defence on the right and whipped in a sharp ball that flew across the six-yard box, and at the far post captain Arijan Ademi was waiting to score for 3-1.

The Blues held a two-goal lead deep into stoppage time, right up to the 3rd added minute, which makes it almost unbelievable that the match ended in a draw. First Viktor Kovalenko delivered a cross and Moraes headed in to make it 3-2. Then, in the 5th minute of stoppage time, after a lengthy VAR review, German referee Felix Brych pointed to the penalty spot for Shakhtar. What is more, he had first awarded a penalty after Marko Đira allegedly fouled Taison, but VAR determined that there had been no foul. However, the footage simultaneously revealed that Theophile had struck goalkeeper Andriy Pyatov in a mutual jostle – the goalkeeper having come up into Dinamo’s penalty area in the final moments – so the referee pointed to the spot anyway. After more than three minutes of deliberation and VAR replays, the penalty was awarded, and Tete converted it for the final 3-3.