The London club, which spent nearly 300 million euros in the summer transfer window, failed to bend the defense of the Croatian champion despite the presence of its recruits Aubameyang, Fofana or Sterling.

After having made the round back in a first quarter of an hour totally dominated by the Blues, Dinamo Zagreb scored from their first opportunity on a lightning counter-attack in the 13th minute.

Served by a deflection from Petkovic, Croatian Mislav Orsic opened the scoring with the outside of the right foot after beating French defender Wesley Fofana, another Blues rookie during the offseason.

Deprived of the ball by Chelsea, Dinamo continued to be dangerous in the first period, still on the counter, especially on a strike from Croatian captain Ademi (30th) well repelled by London goalkeeper Kepa.

No more effective offensively in the second period, the men of Thomas Tuchel, authors of a sluggish start to the season in the Premier League (6th with 10 points), even almost conceded a second goal in the 56th on a strike from Ristovski, repelled by a spectacular Kepa parade.

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The London club's best chance came in the 86th minute, with full-back Reece James finding the right post.

The 8 minutes of added time were not enough for the Blues to deceive the vigilance of Croatian goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic.

With this victory Zagreb take the lead in the group, awaiting the match between Salzburg and AC Milan later in the evening.

© 2022 AFP