Damir Krznar

Managerial career

Career as assistant In the period between 2010 and 2021, Krznar worked as an assistant coach to Ilija Lončarević at Inter Zaprešić, to Krunoslav Jurčić, Ante Čačić, Branko Ivanković and Zoran Mamić at Dinamo Zagreb, and to Mamić at Al Nassr, Al Ain and Al Hilal.

He served as Dinamo interim manager on two occasions; from August to September 2013, and from July to September 2015.

Dinamo Zagreb After Zoran Mamić was sentenced to five years in prison on 15 March 2021, he resigned on the same day and was succeeded by Krznar, who made his debut as Dinamo head coach on 18 March in a 3–0 victory over Tottenham Hotspur at Stadion Maksimir, thus qualifying for the quarter-finals of the 2020–21 UEFA Europa League for the first time in the history of the club. Furthermore, Krznar became the first ever manager to eliminate Spurs head coach José Mourinho from the Europa League (the Portuguese took part in the competition two more times before–in 2002–03 coaching Porto, and in 2016–17 coaching Manchester United–winning both editions). However, Dinamo went on to lose their quarter-final fixture against Villarreal 3–1 on aggregate.

On 9 May 2021, Dinamo secured its 22nd Croatian First League title with a 5–1 victory over Rijeka, and the 32nd national league title in total. Ten days later, Dinamo also won the Croatian Cup title, with a victory against Istra 1961 by a scoreline of 6–3.

Krznar left Dinamo on 1 December 2021 after being eliminated by Rijeka in the quarter-finals of the Croatian Cup. However, the next month, he took over the reserve team of Dinamo, playing in the Croatian Second League, where he stayed until the team was dissolved following the 2021–22 season.

Maribor On 16 August 2022, Krznar took charge of the reigning Slovenian PrvaLiga champions Maribor, signing a two-year contract. At the time of his arrival, Maribor was sitting in last place in the league with only three points out of five games. However, after a poor start to the 2023–24 season, Krznar terminated his contract by mutual consent and left the club on 2 October 2023. In total, he led Maribor in 55 matches and achieved 28 wins, 13 draws and 14 defeats.

Celje On 11 October 2023, Krznar was appointed manager of another Slovenian PrvaLiga side, Celje, after Albert Riera left the club to manage Girondins de Bordeaux. With Celje, he won the 2023–24 Slovenian PrvaLiga title, but left the club on 28 July 2024 along with his staff after his contract was terminated by mutual consent when Riera became available again following Bordeaux's financial collapse.

Újpest On 5 May 2025, he was appointed as the manager of Nemzeti Bajnokság I club Újpest. He replaced Swedish manager Bartosz Grzelak.

Managerial statistics

+ Managerial record by team and tenureClubFromToRecordDinamo Zagreb (interim) 22 August 2013 2 September 2013 Dinamo Zagreb 15 March 2021 1 December 2021 Dinamo Zagreb II 7 January 2022 16 August 2022 Maribor 16 August 2022 2 October 2023 Celje 11 October 2023 28 July 2024 Total

Honours

Player Dinamo Zagreb Croatian First League: 1995–96, 1996–97, 1997–98, 1998–99, 1999–00, 2002–03 Croatian Cup: 1995–96, 1996–97, 1997–98, 2000–01, 2001–02, 2003–04 Croatian Super Cup: 2002, 2003

Manager Dinamo Zagreb Croatian First League: 2020–21 Croatian Cup: 2020–21

Celje Slovenian First League: 2023–24