The new season kicked off last night with an overture on the Maksimir stadium. Yes, it's the least worth trophy in Croatian football - the Supercup!
Dinamo-Hajduk 1:0 (Baturina 52')
Attendance: 17.707
A decent game. Dinamo was better, but Hajduk showed glimpses of competence. The season hasn't even kicked off properly, and there is already some drama. The loudest being - you've guessed it - Hajduk fans. The reason - Hajduk's coach Leko was sent off near half time for giving the referee a piece of his mind, but didn't stop there - his vocabulary got quite more vulgar later in the dressing room, for which Leko is looking to receive an suspension. Referees aren't exactly enjoying a good status here, and this game's referee, Bel, is in my opinion one of the worst there is. Hajduk's fans understood all of this as an sign of things to come, i.e. the treatment of their team in the upcoming league games.
A humble prediction of the upcoming season:
Dinamo - if you put 100€ on them winning the league, you'll ultimately be winning an astronomical sum of 100€. The machinery will be going strong, with only Hajduk being the potential threat in the race, but I think there should be no problems for the Blues. The team looks solid with some interesting names to look out for, especially Baturina, who was MOTM in the Supercup game.
Hajduk - by this point they might as well look as they have subscribed to winning 2nd place in the league. Always the bridesmade, never the bride, the team (and especially their fans) are longing for the title for 19th year straight. Cup titles are fine and all, but the fans will always demand that one thing, and be sure that they'll do their best to convince you that this is the year where Hajduk has what it takes to dethrone Dinamo. Are they onto something? Highly unlikely. I don't see Hajduk being that consistent, there simply has to be a series of games where Hajduk loses points and is ultimately out of the battle. Euphoria is the key word here, and if Hajduk enters the season well (especially with 3 hard games), that balloon is going to grow, but it's just that those balloons have a pesky habit of popping too easily. More of the same it is.
Rijeka - not exactly the type of team to spend even reasonable amounts of money on new players, but they get by just fine. Enough for them to be in top 3-4 every season. The team looks pretty interesting (the star player Frigan is still here), and the coach Jakirović seems competent, but it will take a miracle for Rijeka to do better than 3rd place.
Osijek - they will require some time to get back on their feet again budget-wise, as their new stadium took quite a toll on the club's finances. But most importantly, the Opus arena is here, it's gorgeous, and we can only hope that it will serve as the place where history will be made - maybe some day Osijek will break that curse and finally play one of the groups of one of the Euro competitions. But not now. They will be challenging Rijeka for 3rd place and hoping for a deep cup run.
Lokomotiva - this is where it gets tricky, because the first 4 teams are ridiculously easy to predict, but anything after that, you might as well be taking wild guesses. Lokomotiva is always full of promising players and decent play style, and I could always see them as being around 5th-6th place, but they showed to be prone to underperforming - even dancing around the relegation zone a couple of times. As long as they stay as far away from Europe as possible, the better it will be.
Gorica - just when everyone was slowly waving them goodbye, they quite literally rose from the ashes and ultimately left Šibenik packing their bags for the 2nd division. There's definitely something here, and I hope they can translate the recent string of events to return to being a mid-table team with no stress of battling relegation (but not exactly aiming for anything higher than that).
Slaven - I really don't know what to say here, 7th seems realistic but I doubt anyone would blink if they found themselves battling for survival. The team just screams "meh", and it's hard to predict anything.
Istra - after the last season's fairytale I have a feeling they will return to doing what they do best - winning 9th place trophies, but they seem to be just above Varaždin. Their coach, Garcia, who was responsible for recent success, left at the end of the season, and I just don't see them continuing that path.
Varaždin - should ultimately stay in the league, but wouldn't be surprised if teams mentioned above play like shit and Varaždin has a chance to finish higher.
Rudeš - last time they were here was in season 18/19, and even then they were dreadful. Let's see what they can do this time around, although my expectations are very low.
First round:
21.7. 20:00 Dinamo-Hajduk
Yep, it's another one! What a way to kick off the season, and I'll be attending the match to see first hand the (in)capabilities of these two teams.
One of the most boring leagues in Europe... I expect a similar season as the last one, the same champion and the same teams in top4. Lets hope cup can bring some surprises at least or maybe the relegation battle, but that will be difficult with Rudeš there. The play-offs return only in 2025, right?
My prediction:
1. GNK, the citizens association
2. Rijeka 1906 BC
3. Hajduk Sirio Ltd
4. Eszék
5. Dinamo II
6. Uljanik 1948
7. Polet Buševec
8. Varaždin Football School
9. Slaven from Belupo
10. Rudeš (sorry, no joke there)
krdel wrote: ↑Sun Jul 16, 2023 20:55
One of the most boring leagues in Europe... I expect a similar season as the last one, the same champion and the same teams in top4. Lets hope cup can bring some surprises at least or maybe the relegation battle, but that will be difficult with Rudeš there. The play-offs return only in 2025, right?
My prediction:
1. GNK, the citizens association
2. Rijeka 1906 BC
3. Hajduk Sirio Ltd
4. Eszék
5. Dinamo II
6. Uljanik 1948
7. Polet Buševec
8. Varaždin Football School
9. Slaven from Belupo
10. Rudeš (sorry, no joke there)
No, sadly.
The play-off was pushed back to at least the 26/27 season, confirmed after the season ended.
Also, the cup final is going back to a two-legged match. The team with the smaller coefficient having home advantage in the first match. This reduces hope for a surprise winner.
The beginning of the match was nothing special, Dinamo controlling possesion and waiting for an opportunity. The opportunity eventually came in the 35th minute from a counter from which Petković scored for 1-0 and it stayed that way for the rest of the half.
The second half started and it felt like the first one at first. Dinamo got a penalty but Lučić saved it and it basically changed the mindset. Livaja scored a scorpion kick in the 74th minute after the ball fell 2-3 meters from the goal and Livaković didn't manage to get it. After that Hajduk was rushing for the second goal, Livaković had a great save. Then in the 93rd minute Pukštas scored a header after a corner for a complete Hajduk comeback.
Just came back from the game, luckily the weather served us well (it is truly a state of chaos in Zagreb and its surroundings for the last couple of days). Some good moments, so I can't say the game was completely dull.
It seems to be a general opinion all of a sudden that Hajduk is a title challenger based off the first league game, and while beating Dinamo in their own home is no small feat, I wouldn't go that far. There are 35 games left to play, and Hajduk usually screws up in late fall & winter, especially against weaker teams. Also, this game could have ended differently if Petković scored the penalty for 2:0.
They did however show an improvement in some areas compared to previous seasons, but consistency is the key, and only time will tell if Hajduk can keep this rhythm up.
Oh viens je t'en prie
C'est ton amie aussi
C'est l'élixir de mes délires
Je t'aime mélancolie
Hajduk's ideal start to the new season, with victories in two derbies against Dinamo in Zagreb, somewhat fortunately, and now a dominant victory over Rijeka in a crowded Poljud 1:0. Osijek in Zagreb against Rudeš turned 0:3 at halftime, into a 4:3 victory and maintained 100% performance. Dinamo dominated Istra in Pula 0:3.
Josko Gvardiol's transfer from Leipzig to Man City brought Dinamo €13.2 million of additional revenue due to negotiated bonuses when he was transferring from Dinamo to Leipzig.
This is more than the entire annual budget of Rijeka and more than half of the annual budget of Hajduk.
nogomet wrote: ↑Sat Aug 05, 2023 12:56
Josko Gvardiol's transfer from Leipzig to Man City brought Dinamo €13.2 million of additional revenue due to negotiated bonuses when he was transferring from Dinamo to Leipzig.
This is more than the entire annual budget of Rijeka and more than half of the annual budget of Hajduk.
Don't know if your transfer window is still open, but if they're in trouble halfway, they'll surely use it and more, right? Especially if they also get CL money.
