While winning championships in Croatia haven’t been a problem for Dinamo Zagreb over the last 7 years, finding success in the Champions League is. They’ve been terrible over the last two years, but not bad enough to find themselves being part of two very humiliating records: The 0 points, 0 goals club and losing 12 consecutive group stage matches.
What saved them? Ivan Krstanovic scoring a penalty kick in the 95th minute of their snowy encounter with Dynamo Kiev, although no penalty kick should have been awarded. The substitute striker was the one who also won the foul by diving, with only 3500 fans in the stands to see the team grab its first point in the competition after 11 consecutive defeats.
So now, only Anderlecht are left as a team with 12 consecutive group stage losses, which actually spans three campaigns between 2003-2005. Maccabi Haifa remains the only club to finish the group stage with 0 points and 0 goals from their 2009-2010 appearance with Bayern Munich, Juventus and Bordeaux. There have been teams with a much worse goal difference over the years, including Zagreb setting a record -19 last season; there have been teams with 0 goals in the past; even Deportivo. But the double zero carries on as the lowest of the low for one more season. Zagreb are saved, for now.