The Maksimir Stadium (or, as the locals would put it, Stadion u Maksimiru), lies to the east of the city centre in a district of town called, er, Maksimir.

The ground is home to NK Dinamo Zagreb, four times champions of the former Yugoslavia, and is the former stamping ground (quite possibly literally) of Mark Vodka and Igor Biscan.

It’s not a new ground, having been opened in 1912, and the planned refurbishment which is due to be completed in 2008 has yet to have a real impact.

So while when it’s finished it’ll boast an all-seater capacity of 55,000 and a retractable roof, for the purposes of our game this week it will hold 37,000 and be entirely open to the elements.

Directions

The Maksimir stadium lies to the east of the city centre. It’s definitely possible to do it on foot, a walk of about twenty minutes, maybe half an hour if you’re as nimble on your feet as we are.

The police recommend setting off in good time, couple of hours before kick-off. If you do want to travel by tram, it’s still likely to take twenty minutes, and the police have warned that if the streets get congested, then the tram service is likely to be suspended. However, they’re not expensive; tickets bought on the tram are 8HRK each (about 80p), but you can save yourself some money by buying them for 6.5HRKat the Tisa newspaper kiosks on the south side of the main square.

If you do opt to take the tram from the main square, then you want either number 1 or number 17, from the south side of the square going east; they’ll be displaying the direction of Borongaj, or even possibly the name of the stop you want for the stadium itself, which’s Svetice.

The car park is described by the police as a “sterile zone”, i.e., there shouldn’t be any locals around when you’re boarding the buses after the game.