The renowned and charismatic coach who led the Blues to a European title, our celebrated Branko Zebec, left us forever on September 26, 1988, at the age of 60.

One of the most popular experts in Dinamo's history took over the team at the end of spring 1966 and then conceived, formed and executed the hunt for the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup trophy, a competition that evolved into the UEFA Cup, today's Europa League. In the actual final matches against Leeds United, it was true that the Blues were led by his successor on the bench, Ivica Horvat, as Zebec had left the club in the meantime.

Born on May 17, 1929, in Zagreb, he took his first football steps in Građanski's youth team and became arguably the best left winger in the history of Croatian football. Towards the end of his career, he even played in the center of defense. He played for Zagreb's Poštar, then Borac which was later merged with Zagreb, then Belgrade's Partizan, Red Star and German club Alemannia Aachen. With the national team, he played at the World Cups in 1954 and 1958, as well as in the European Championship final in 1960, where they were stopped by Italy.

He took over Dinamo's bench at the age of 37, and despite his youth and inexperience, he discovered a formula that many world coaches had unsuccessfully sought throughout their entire careers: he was simultaneously an extremely authoritative coach with a firm hand, but also beloved among the players.

The Blues defeated Juventus with masterful play in the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup quarterfinals, then eliminated the equally great Eintracht with a miraculous comeback, and in the same season in the Mitropa Cup they overcame Milan, and in a friendly match in the heart of Glasgow defeated Celtic, who became European champions four months later. Unfortunately, the national championship title slipped away in the very end of the season, with the trophy going to Sarajevo. Due to disagreements with the club management, Zebec resigned in the summer of 1967. This was before the two final matches against Leeds United.

Just two years later, he took over the famous Bayern. And immediately secured the Bavarians their first championship title in 37 years. Moreover, they simultaneously won the German championship and Cup as well as the Cup Winners' Cup trophy. He also won the championship in 1979 with HSV, and a year later reached the European Cup final, today's Champions League, where they were defeated by English side Nottingham Forest. He returned to Dinamo at the end of the 1983-84 season, and sat on the Blue bench for the first seven rounds of the new season as well.