Croatian League - Hrvatska nogometna liga

[slackovic]

I didn't see a thread about Croatian football league so I decided to create one. I know Croatia is more famous for their national team than for their football league. Let's see if this thread catches up. If not, it will die out and won't bother anyone

The competition started back in July. There are 10 clubs competing in the league and Dinamo is sitting in the first place. Many of you that are not from Croatia probably haven't heard of clubs other than Dinamo. Maybe Dinamo too is a little known to many of you, but I'm sure that most remember their win against Chelsea in September that resulted in Chelsea letting go Thomas Tuchel as a head coach.

Back to the league. The 10 teams that are competing in this league are:

• Dinamo Zagreb
• Hajduk Split
• Osijek
• Slaven Belupo
• Varaždin
• Istra 1961
• Lokomotiva
• Šibenik
• Rijeka
• Gorica

Interesting fact (that I too wasn't aware of) is that the League earlier this year signed a multi-year partnership with Sorare. That partnership resulted in all Croatian teams that compete in the 1. HNL being available in Sorare.

As for the teams, Dinamo is currently sitting on top and has finished on top for the last five years. I'm sure that they plan to continue their streak of winning the championship this year too.

[BitcoinGirl.Club]

I only heard about two teams from the list. Dinamo Zagreb and Lokomotiva 😂

I know Croatia is more famous for their national team than for their football league.

Yes, I think the same. The team Croatia was unbelievable in 1998 or 2002 world cup. They were one of the Semi finalist in one of the world cup, if I remember correctly. Your player Davor Suker was amazing to watch.

[slackovic]

I only heard about two teams from the list. Dinamo Zagreb and Lokomotiva 😂

Wow! You have heard of Lokomotiva? If someone asked me what are the two most famous Croatian football teams, I'd say Dinamo and Hajduk. I'd never think that someone outside Croatia have heard about Lokomotiva

I know Croatia is more famous for their national team than for their football league.

Yes, I think the same. The team Croatia was unbelievable in 1998 or 2002 world cup. They were one of the Semi finalist in one of the world cup, if I remember correctly. Your player Davor Suker was amazing to watch.

Actually Croatia didn't qualify for the next round in the World Cup 2002. We beat Italy, but was beaten by Mexico and Equador if I remember correctly. Maybe you meant that we did good in the World Cup 1998. (3rd place) and in the World Cup 2018. (2nd place). Interestingly, in both World Cups we were beaten by France - 1998 in semi-final and in 2018 in the final.

You haven't heard about Modric? I would say that Modric now is as famous as Suker was back in his days. The only difference is that Suker was a striker and Modric is midfielder. Strikers are usually more famous than midfielders.


But back to the HNL... Yesterday Istra beat Gorica 1-0. Gorica is sitting firmly at the last spot and in the last five matches they have one draw against Slaven Belupo and four losses.

Today we have Hajduk playing against Osijek. Osijek can come a little closer to Hajduk if they manage to win. Also today Slaven is playing against Lokomotiva (I'm still surprised that BitcoinGirl.Club heard of Lokomotiva ).

Tomorrow there are two more matches. In one match Varaždin is playing against Rijeka who is for me the biggest disappointment of this season. In the other match Dinamo is playing against Šibenik which should be an easy win for Dinamo. Interestingly, in the last game Dinamo suffered their first loss of this season against Osijek.

[BitcoinGirl.Club]

Wow! You have heard of Lokomotiva? If someone asked me what are the two most famous Croatian football teams, I'd say Dinamo and Hajduk. I'd never think that someone outside Croatia have heard about Lokomotiva

I never heard about Hajduk unless it has any other name in English 😂
Dinamo Zagreb are in UCL but not sure about Lokomotiva however I know the name. It could be from sports betting too.

Maybe you meant that we did good in the World Cup 1998. (3rd place)

Yes I was remembering this world cup and Davor Suker was outstanding at that time. Unfortunately in 2018, I did not watch many matches except English team.

You haven't heard about Modric?

From the UCL only in few matches.

Also today Slaven is playing against Lokomotiva (I'm still surprised that BitcoinGirl.Club heard of Lokomotiva ).

Let me know if they win LOL
I hope they are a good team who stay at the top end 😉

[Trofo]

Also today Slaven is playing against Lokomotiva (I'm still surprised that BitcoinGirl.Club heard of Lokomotiva ).

Let me know if they win LOL
I hope they are a good team who stay at the top end 😉

Lokomotiva is basically a second squad from Dinamo And they were quite ok in the last few seasons but this season they suck big time. Maybe you heard it even from me here on the forum, there was a time I was sharing tips from our league and Lokomotiva is one of my favorite both to score teams in the past and they were almost auto include on my tickets.

Big game today between Hajduk and Osijek. Hajduk is also one of my both to score clubs but not when playing against Osijek so I am skipping this one.

[slackovic]

Maybe you meant that we did good in the World Cup 1998. (3rd place)

Yes I was remembering this world cup and Davor Suker was outstanding at that time. Unfortunately in 2018, I did not watch many matches except English team.

Then you surely remember Croatia beating England in the semifinal of the World Cup

You haven't heard about Modric?

From the UCL only in few matches.

Well... If he was a striker and player at that level, you would have heard about him.

[yayayo]

It is good that attention has also been paid to this competition. I don't follow it closely, but in the CL they usually always have a participant in the form of Dynamo Zagreb. Have been able to make many beautiful competitions and trips. That's the best team, isn't it? Back in the day, way back when, Hajduk Split was a pretty strong team. Even in Europe they were still quite good. And what about players like Modric who all started in the league. And Prosinecki used to be a celebrity too, and Suker was also one of the best players in the world. I'm probably doing other players short by not mentioning them.

ya.ya.yo!

[slackovic]

It is good that attention has also been paid to this competition. I don't follow it closely, but in the CL they usually always have a participant in the form of Dynamo Zagreb. Have been able to make many beautiful competitions and trips. That's the best team, isn't it? Back in the day, way back when, Hajduk Split was a pretty strong team. Even in Europe they were still quite good. And what about players like Modric who all started in the league. And Prosinecki used to be a celebrity too, and Suker was also one of the best players in the world. I'm probably doing other players short by not mentioning them.

ya.ya.yo!

Croatian football league is by far less know than Croatian national football team. The reason is that most of our national players are playing for foreign clubs. Hajduk was way better in the past than it is now mainly because of pool management. Also Rijeka was pretty good in european competitions few years ago. But now the only team good enough to make a mark in Europe is Dinamo Zagreb. They too have their own problems but I don't see any other team besides Dinamo to become the champion this year. Maybe Dinamo Zagreb would do better in Europe this season if they have had a better coach. It looks like Ante Cacic (current Dinamo's coach) gets appointed every time when someone gets fired and there's no one to film the spot.

[Daniel91]

It is good that attention has also been paid to this competition. I don't follow it closely, but in the CL they usually always have a participant in the form of Dynamo Zagreb. Have been able to make many beautiful competitions and trips. That's the best team, isn't it? Back in the day, way back when, Hajduk Split was a pretty strong team. Even in Europe they were still quite good. And what about players like Modric who all started in the league. And Prosinecki used to be a celebrity too, and Suker was also one of the best players in the world. I'm probably doing other players short by not mentioning them.

ya.ya.yo!

Croatian football league is by far less know than Croatian national football team. The reason is that most of our national players are playing for foreign clubs. Hajduk was way better in the past than it is now mainly because of pool management. Also Rijeka was pretty good in european competitions few years ago. But now the only team good enough to make a mark in Europe is Dinamo Zagreb. They too have their own problems but I don't see any other team besides Dinamo to become the champion this year. Maybe Dinamo Zagreb would do better in Europe this season if they have had a better coach. It looks like Ante Cacic (current Dinamo's coach) gets appointed every time when someone gets fired and there's no one to film the spot.

You forgot about Rijeka, a club that in the last 10 years was a participant in the group stage of the European league several times and once the champion of Croatia 
Unfortunately, apart from Dinamo and Rijeka, the other Croatian clubs have not really shown themselves in European competitions in recent years and were mostly eliminated from the competition early, from clubs from Malta, Ireland, Kazakhstan...
Organizationally and financially, at this moment, only Dinamo has the necessary strength and quality to make a concrete result in Europe and pass to the group stage of a European competition.
As for the Croatian football league, the champion is known even before the start of the competition, so the interest in watching matches in the Croatian league is declining.

[slackovic]

You forgot about Rijeka, a club that in the last 10 years was a participant in the group stage of the European league several times and once the champion of Croatia  
Unfortunately, apart from Dinamo and Rijeka, the other Croatian clubs have not really shown themselves in European competitions in recent years and were mostly eliminated from the competition early, from clubs from Malta, Ireland, Kazakhstan...
Organizationally and financially, at this moment, only Dinamo has the necessary strength and quality to make a concrete result in Europe and pass to the group stage of a European competition.
As for the Croatian football league, the champion is known even before the start of the competition, so the interest in watching matches in the Croatian league is declining.

I wrote about Rijeka here:

Also Rijeka was pretty good in european competitions few years ago.

But yes, Dinamo has no competitors in Croatian league. They are financially far apart from other teams. I actually don't know what happened in the last match when they lost to Osijek. That was their first loss this season. It's a shame that other teams can't follow Dinamo in it's success in european matches. I remember few years ago when Dinamo played in the UCL and two other teams (I think they were Hajduk and Rijeka) played in the UEFA Europa League. That was really a great time and I thought that other teams will do better with every passing season but it was the other way around. They got worse and started losing in qualification rounds.


So Hajduk managed to win 3-1 against Osijek which took them only one point behind Dinamo Zagreb, but Dinamo have played two matches less than Hajduk. Slaven Belupo vs. Lokomotiva ended in a draw (sorry @BitcoinGirl.Club, Lokomotiva didn't win this one ).

In other news, Gorica's coach Igor Angelovski was let go following another defeat yesterday against Istra 1961. His career as Gorica's head coach lasted less than three months and ended without a single victory. So no surprise there.

[Pmalek]

I only heard about two teams from the list. Dinamo Zagreb and Lokomotiva 😂

The name Lokomotiva or Lokomotiv is a regular occurrence in Eastern Europe. I think you might be thinking of a different club from a different country. Some popular examples include Lokomotiv Moscow or Lokomotiv Sofia. Ice hockey clubs also use the name (Lokomotiv Yaroslavl, Lokomotiv Moscow). Here is just one list with some examples of everything that is out there.

Then you surely remember Croatia beating England in the semifinal of the World Cup

I still remember that overtime goal by Mandzukić. 

[Daniel91]

You forgot about Rijeka, a club that in the last 10 years was a participant in the group stage of the European league several times and once the champion of Croatia  
Unfortunately, apart from Dinamo and Rijeka, the other Croatian clubs have not really shown themselves in European competitions in recent years and were mostly eliminated from the competition early, from clubs from Malta, Ireland, Kazakhstan...
Organizationally and financially, at this moment, only Dinamo has the necessary strength and quality to make a concrete result in Europe and pass to the group stage of a European competition.
As for the Croatian football league, the champion is known even before the start of the competition, so the interest in watching matches in the Croatian league is declining.

I wrote about Rijeka here:

Also Rijeka was pretty good in european competitions few years ago.

But yes, Dinamo has no competitors in Croatian league. They are financially far apart from other teams. I actually don't know what happened in the last match when they lost to Osijek. That was their first loss this season. It's a shame that other teams can't follow Dinamo in it's success in european matches. I remember few years ago when Dinamo played in the UCL and two other teams (I think they were Hajduk and Rijeka) played in the UEFA Europa League. That was really a great time and I thought that other teams will do better with every passing season but it was the other way around. They got worse and started losing in qualification rounds.


So Hajduk managed to win 3-1 against Osijek which took them only one point behind Dinamo Zagreb, but Dinamo have played two matches less than Hajduk. Slaven Belupo vs. Lokomotiva ended in a draw (sorry @BitcoinGirl.Club, Lokomotiva didn't win this one ).

In other news, Gorica's coach Igor Angelovski was let go following another defeat yesterday against Istra 1961. His career as Gorica's head coach lasted less than three months and ended without a single victory. So no surprise there.

In fact, when I look at the table of the Croatian Football League, it is really strange to see Rijeka and Gorica at the bottom of the table.
Until recently, Rijeka was always among the 2-3 best Croatian clubs and regularly participated in European competitions, and Gorica was also very good in the last few seasons, fifth or sixth in the championship.
That is why I am really surprised by the poor placement of both clubs this season in the Croatian league.
It is not clear to me what happened with Rijeka, that they went from being a candidate for the champion of Croatia to fighting for survival in the league.
Slaven Belupo and Varazdin are the most positive surprises of this season in the Croatian league.

[BitcoinGirl.Club]

Lokomotiva is basically a second squad from Dinamo And they were quite ok in the last few seasons but this season they suck big time. Maybe you heard it even from me here on the forum, there was a time I was sharing tips from our league and Lokomotiva is one of my favorite both to score teams in the past and they were almost auto include on my tickets.

The name Lokomotiva or Lokomotiv is a regular occurrence in Eastern Europe. I think you might be thinking of a different club from a different country. Some popular examples include Lokomotiv Moscow or Lokomotiv Sofia. Ice hockey clubs also use the name (Lokomotiv Yaroslavl, Lokomotiv Moscow). Here is just one list with some examples of everything that is out there.

I really don't watch other football leagues like Serie A, LaLiga, Bundesliga or any other leagues. The only league I am too close is Premium league. But long time ago when I was heavily in sports betting, I used to bet almost in all teams and matches without checking league, recent performance or even sports type. May be Trofo and Pmalek is right too but anyway, somehow the name was in my mind LOL

[YOSHIE]

Interesting fact (that I too wasn't aware of) is that the League earlier this year signed a multi-year partnership with Sorare. That partnership resulted in all Croatian teams that compete in the 1. HNL being available in Sorare.

I have known and bet on scores for Croatian League HNL teams, there are several teams that are familiar to me such as: Hajduk Split, Istra 1961, Osijek, D. Zagreb, Slaven Belupo and many Croatian national teams that I know, flashscore is one of the score betting sites that I use to bet like what happened in the round of 16 here Hajduk Split vs. Osijek, these two national teams are great in the game, but unfortunately Osijek lost 3-1 by Hajduk Split.

I'm sure this thread will be a good place for discussion for the upcoming 22/23 Croatian League, I hope here to find the best Croatian national football teams in the future, but for the time being the strongest standings that many score bettors talk about are three teams. D. zagreb, Hajduk Split, Osijek, they can still maintain their respective rankings in the current Croatian League standings, I hope that in the future there will be interesting discussions to bet on in the Croatian League.

[slackovic]

I have known and bet on scores for Croatian League HNL teams, there are several teams that are familiar to me such as: Hajduk Split, Istra 1961, Osijek, D. Zagreb, Slaven Belupo and many Croatian national teams that I know, flashscore is one of the score betting sites that I use to bet like what happened in the round of 16 here Hajduk Split vs. Osijek, these two national teams are great in the game, but unfortunately Osijek lost 3-1 by Hajduk Split.

I'm sure this thread will be a good place for discussion for the upcoming 22/23 Croatian League, I hope here to find the best Croatian national football teams in the future, but for the time being the strongest standings that many score bettors talk about are three teams. D. zagreb, Hajduk Split, Osijek, they can still maintain their respective rankings in the current Croatian League standings, I hope that in the future there will be interesting discussions to bet on in the Croatian League.

I think that Dinamo Zagreb and Hajduk Split will have no problem maintaining their first two spots in the league. That goes especially for Dinamo who is in my opinion better than other teams. The only thing they lack is a better coach who I think should be responsible for losses against Red Bull Salzburg which in the end resulted in finishing at the last place in this year's group stage of the UCL.

As for Osijek, I hope they will manage to stay at the third place and maybe even challenge Hajduk's second place.

Actually the the biggest problem for Croatian football is lack of good teams that could challenge Dinamo's dominance and actually do something in the European competitions. This year Croatia had four clubs in the qualification rounds of the Europa League and Conference League but none of them, except Dinamo, made it to the group stage. If something like that repeats next year, Croatia will probably lose one or more spots that lead to the European competitions.

[Slow death]

It's very strange to see a league with only 10 teams, can someone explain to me why there are only 10 teams in the league? looking at the table dinamo has a better chance of winning the league, but they lost in the champions league against milan and then they lost in the league against osijek, they lost again in the champions league against chelsea and then they beat sibenik in the league local, they even managed to score 3 goals, but sibenik is a team that is at the bottom of the table, so maybe dynamo is not managing to beat strong teams, anyway I will follow this league

[slackovic]

It's very strange to see a league with only 10 teams, can someone explain to me why there are only 10 teams in the league? looking at the table dinamo has a better chance of winning the league, but they lost in the champions league against milan and then they lost in the league against osijek, they lost again in the champions league against chelsea and then they beat sibenik in the league local, they even managed to score 3 goals, but sibenik is a team that is at the bottom of the table, so maybe dynamo is not managing to beat strong teams, anyway I will follow this league

The answer to why Croatian league has only 10 teams is easy. Croatia is a small country and we don't have enough teams to have bigger eague. Ten is more than enough. Even in this league we have teams that are struggling with finance and organization.

Dinamo can play against strong teams, but they are simpy not good enough to beat teams like Milan and Chelsea. The win against Chelsea in September was a big surprise.

I would very glad if someone except Croatians follow our league, especially because I don't like talking to myself in this thread

[swogerino]

It's very strange to see a league with only 10 teams, can someone explain to me why there are only 10 teams in the league? looking at the table dinamo has a better chance of winning the league, but they lost in the champions league against milan and then they lost in the league against osijek, they lost again in the champions league against chelsea and then they beat sibenik in the league local, they even managed to score 3 goals, but sibenik is a team that is at the bottom of the table, so maybe dynamo is not managing to beat strong teams, anyway I will follow this league

The answer to why Croatian league has only 10 teams is easy. Croatia is a small country and we don't have enough teams to have bigger eague. Ten is more than enough. Even in this league we have teams that are struggling with finance and organization.

Dinamo can play against strong teams, but they are simpy not good enough to beat teams like Milan and Chelsea. The win against Chelsea in September was a big surprise.

I would very glad if someone except Croatians follow our league, especially because I don't like talking to myself in this thread

Another reason why a country would hold a league with only 10 teams is to improve their football quality.This is achieved that these teams will play each other at least 3 times and in some leagues 4 times rather than creating a league with more teams but those teams will not have any quality at all and thus all teams would be playing each other only 2 times but the problem with that would be that the league would be won by a good team with much point difference,while we see here in Croatia Hnl that there is not a big gap between the top two teams.

[slackovic]

Another reason why a country would hold a league with only 10 teams is to improve their football quality.This is achieved that these teams will play each other at least 3 times and in some leagues 4 times rather than creating a league with more teams but those teams will not have any quality at all and thus all teams would be playing each other only 2 times but the problem with that would be that the league would be won by a good team with much point difference,while we see here in Croatia Hnl that there is not a big gap between the top two teams.

True, that's a good reason to have small number of teams in a league. With Croatian league it's different. To someone who doesn't follow the league closely it could look like Dinamo Zagreb and Hajduk Split are close. But the reality is that Dinamo is way better team and in the end they will win the league. All other teams have similar quality. If I'm not mistaken, Dinamo played two matches less than Hajduk so there are six points that they will probably win and separate themselves from the rest of the league. Especially now when there's no more European matches so they will concentrate solely to the national league.

[slackovic]

It looks like Rijeka is sinking more and more. After a terrible start of the season, they are sitting at the seventh place out of ten teams. And if that's not enough, yesterday they have lost a cup match against Bijelo Brdo (the club is sitting in the last place of the second Croatian league). I really don't know what is going on with Rijeka and for how long will Rijeka's coach stay in the club.