It was Dinamo's last spring in Europe 49 years ago... The Blues defeated Slovan from Bratislava, the then Cup Winners' Cup holders, immediately afterwards outplayed Olympique Marseille only to be stopped by Schalke.

Dinamo opened the new European season in the Cup Winners' Cup by defeating – the defending champions. Slovan had won their previous European match, in the final itself, beating Barcelona 3-2.

Within just five days, Zagreb witnessed two football spectacles. First, on September 12th, the famous Brazilian Santos visited for an exhibition match with perhaps the greatest world star of all time, Pelé. In front of more than 60,000 spectators at Maksimir Stadium the match ended 1-1, and immediately afterwards came the then exceptionally strong Slovan. But the stands were disappointing – only around 6,000 spectators gathered.

The media wrote that it was "another evening in blue, one of those extra performances that are remembered for years" and that it was "sad that such a fireworks display of skill, dynamics and efficiency was played out in front of only 6,000 or 7,000 spectators".

The net was bulging already in the 2nd minute when Ivica Gegi Miljković struck with a powerful volley. In the 51st minute Krasnodar Rora crossed the ball, and Marijan Novak met it with his head, after which the ball bounced off the ground into the net. The story was concluded in the 57th minute by Josip Gutzmirtl with a header after Branko Gračanin's cross.

Journalists noted that Slovan's brilliant goalkeeper Alexander Vencel was more in flight and falling than firmly on his feet. Rudolf Belin, Marijan Novak, Josip Gutzmirtl, Krasnodar Rora, Branko Gračanin all had shots... But the hero of the evening was Marijan Čerček. In the newspapers he received a rating of 10 for his performance. A shade lower, with a nine, were rated Filip Blaškovic, Ivica Gegi Miljković, Krasnodar Rora and – Alexander Vencel.

Čerček received a somewhat more "modest" rating of 9.5 in some media. The reports read: "That's how Garrincha used to hypnotize his markers and tie them into helpless knots. As it came to his mind, in a whirlwind, laying them on the grass, he bewildered his shadow in every way possible. But that's not where the mastery ended. Equally extraordinary shots, amazing persistence even in his own half of the pitch..." Others added: "He dribbled past two, three players, crossed brilliantly and employed his teammates, returned to his own penalty area, won balls and again rushed towards the opponent's goal..."