March 4, 2019 - The Croatian First League’s 23rd round saw Hajduk, Rijeka and Gorica win, while Dinamo and Osijek pulled draws over the weekend. 

February 25, 2019 - The 22nd round of the Croatian First League was held from February 22 to 24, 2019, and featured the highly anticipated derby between Dinamo and Osijek. 

While the bura wind ripped through Croatia’s coast this week, there was no stopping the Croatian First League, which was held despite the blustery winds. The weekend saw some exciting matchups, like Hajduk and Gorica who are neck-and-neck on the table, Dinamo and Osijek who were first and second, and Belupo and Inter in 7th and 8th. 

Without further ado, here is our Croatian First League round 22 recap. 

Rudeš v. Rijeka (2:4)

Rudeš and Rijeka opened the 22nd round on Friday, February 22, 2019, at Kranjčevićeva street stadium in front of 279 fans. 

While Rudeš was the first to score with a penalty by Vuco in the 15th minute, Rijeka did not take long to come back. Gorgan nailed a penalty in the 41st minute, and just three minutes later, Acosty scored for 1:2 at the half.

In the second half, Gorgan hit another goal for 1:3 in the 60th minute and Puljić scored to make it 1:4 for the visiting team. Rudeš did come back to get one more goal after Juranović scored in the 81st. The game ended at 2:4. 

Rudeš remains in the last place on the table with 4 points, while Rijeka has now moved into second place with 41 points. 

Slaven Belupo v. Inter Zaprešić (0:1)

Belupo and Inter met in Koprivnica on Saturday, February 23, 2019, in front of 513 fans. 

The first half was quiet and went without goals - and the second half was not much more exciting. Serderov scored for Inter in the 68th minute, which is how the game ended. 

Belupo is currently in 7th place with 21 points, while Inter is in 8th with 21. 

Hajduk v. Gorica (0:0)

Hajduk and Gorica met at Poljud stadium in front of 6,708 fans on Saturday, February 23, 2019. 

As both teams had to fight against the brutal bura in addition to one another, not much could be accomplished. The game ended without goals. 

Hajduk is currently in 6th place with 31 points, while Gorica is in 5th place with 32. 

Istria 1961 v. Lokomotiva Zagreb (0:0)

Istria and Lokomotiva met in Pula on Sunday, February 24, 2019, in front of 816 fans. 

It was another scoreless game which did not see much excitement from either team. The game ended 0:0. 

Istria is currently in 9th place with 17 points, while Lokomotiva is in 4th with 36. 

Dinamo v Osijek (3:0)

Dinamo and Osijek closed out the 22nd round with the highly anticipated derby at Maksimir stadium on Sunday, February 24, 2019, in front of 4,304 fans. 

Coming off a high after advancing into the last 16 of the Europa League, Dinamo had no intention of slowing down. Andrić scored first for Dinamo in the 8th minute to make it 1:0, and Atiemwen sacred for 2:0 in the 21st minute. 

Rrahmani scored in the 60th minute for 3:0 to secure the Dinamo blowout over the Osijek club. 

Dinamo remains in the first place with 57 points, while Osijek has now fallen to third place with 40 points. 

You can see the Croatian First League table here. 

To read more about sport in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page. 

Dinamo Zagreb will play against Benfica in the Europa League round of 16!

February 21, 2019 - The Europa League fairytale continues for Dinamo Zagreb as they move into the round of 16. 

February 18, 2019 - The 21st round of the Croatian First League featured the Adriatic Derby between Rijeka and Hajduk. 

The 21st round of the Croatia First League was played from February 15 to 17, 2019. While the most exciting part was the Adriatic Derby between Rijeka and Hajduk, the weekend did exhibit some surprises - like Osijek struggling to get past Istra, or Lokomotiva drawing with the last-placed team. 

Without further ado, here is our Croatian First League 21st round recap. 

Lokomotiva v. Rudeš (0:0)

Lokomotiva and Rudeš met at Kranjčevićeva street stadium to open the 21st round on February 15, 2019. 

It was a rather slow game which saw no goals and no real excitement. In front of 324 fans, Lokomotiva and Rudeš drew 0:0. 

Lokomotiva is currently in 4th place with 35 points, while Rudeš is in last with 4. 

Rijeka v. Hajduk (0:0)

Rijeka and Hajduk met for the highly anticipated Adriatic Derby on Saturday, February 16, 2019, at Rujevica stadium in front of 6,527 fans. 

While Rijeka was the favorite to win, Hajduk continued with their winning mentality and made it anything but easy for Rijeka. A Hajduk goal was called back in the first half, and the game ended in a goalless draw. 

Rijeka is currently in 3rd place with 38 points, while Hajduk is in 6th with 30. 

Gorica v. Inter Zaprešić (2:2)

Gorica and Inter met in front of 1,629 fans at Radnik stadium on Saturday, February 16, 2019. 

Inter was the first to take the lead with two goals in the first six minutes by Serderov and Rak. Gorica’s Lovrić came back with one in the 11th minute for 1:2, Zwolinski missed a penalty in the 47th, and Suk came back to equalize in the 84th for 2:2.

Gorica is currently in 5th place with 31 points, while Inter is in 8th with 18. 

Osijek v. Istra 1961 (1:0)

Osijek and Istra met on Sunday, February 18, 2019, at City Garden stadium in front of 2,252 fans. 

It was another mostly unexciting game between Osijek and Istra, which saw no goals in the first half. It wasn’t until the 68th minute that Abazaj scored for a 1:0 Osijek win. 

Osijek is currently in 2nd place with 40 points, while Istra is in 9th with 16. 

Dinamo v. Slaven Belupo (3:0)

Dinamo and Belupo closed out the 21st round of the Croatian First League at Maksimir on Sunday, February 17, 2019, in front of 2,383 fans. 

While the first half went without goals, Dinamo managed three in the second - by Hajrović in the 67th, Orsić in the 78th, and Musa in the 88th. Dinamo won 3:0. 

Dinamo is currently in 1st place with 54 points, while Belupo is in 7th with 21. 

You can check out next week's games here. 

To read more about sport in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page. 

Dinamo Zagreb and Viktoria Plzen met in the first leg of the Europa League round of 32 on Thursday night in the Czech Republic.

February 11, 2019 - The 20th round of the Croatian First League began on February 8th with Rudeš and Osijek and ended on February 10th with Hajduk and Lokomotiva. 

February 4, 2019 - The 19th round of the Croatian First League returned over the weekend with a big result for Hajduk Split. 

After a long winter break, the Croatian First League (HNL) returned to Croatia’s stadiums and television screens around the country. After missing our favorite Croatian clubs play in league games since the middle of December, this comeback was more than welcomed. 

The 19th round already saw derbies and upsets, like Hajduk overcoming Osijek away at City Garden Stadium, promising better beginnings for the team and fans. Could this be a Hajduk revival? 

We also saw an upset for Rijeka, who lost to former Second-League club Gorica at home. A spring season opener they might wish to forget. 

Without further ado, here is our 19th round recap for the Croatian First League, which was played from February 1 to 3, 2019. 

Lokomotiva Zagreb v. Inter Zaprešić (2:0)

To kick off the second part of the season, Lokomotiva and Inter met on Friday, February 1, 2019, at Kranjčevićeva Street Stadium. 

While the first half went without goals, the second half didn’t see the first goal of the game until the 81st minute when Uzuni scored for Lokomotiva (1:0). Twelve minutes later, two minutes into extra time, Ivanušec knocked a penalty into the back of the net to secure the Lokomotiva win. 

Lokomotiva is currently in third place on the table with 34 points while Inter is in 8th with 17. 

Dinamo Zagreb v. Rudeš (7:2)

Croatian champion Dinamo met Rudeš on Saturday, February 2, 2019, at Maksimir stadium. 

The game saw goals, and quite a few of them early on - with Hajrović (5, 9), Petković (19), and Gojak (40) scoring in the first half for Dinamo. Rudeš got in one goal by Štrkalj in the 23rd for 4:1 at the half. 

The second half started with more goals for Dinamo, as Orišić scored three times, in the 56th, 60th, and 65th. Štrkalj scored again for Rudeš, and the game ended 7:2. 

Dinamo is currently in first place with 48 points while Rudeš is in last with 3. 

Istra 1961 v. Slaven Belupo (1:1)

Istra and Slaven Belupo met at Aldo Drosina Stadium in Pula on Saturday, February 2, 2019. 

A rather quiet game that went without goals in the first half, N’Di scored for Istra first in the 64th minute, while Belupo was quick to equalize less than 10 minutes later with a goal by Krstanović for 1:1. 

Istra is currently in 9th place with 16 points, while Belupo is in 7th with 18.

Osijek v. Hajduk (0:1)

Osijek and Hajduk met for the highly anticipated derby on Sunday, February 3, 2019, at City Garden Stadium. 

The two rivals met in the pouring rain, which didn’t help any conditions on the pitch. The first half went without goals, though it was Hajduk’s Caktaš to score 4 minutes into the second half for 0:1. The Split club managed to hold onto their lead to kick off the second part of the season with a win, and high morale. 

Osijek is currently in 2nd place with 34 points, while Hajduk is in 6th with 26. 

Rijeka v. Gorica (1:3)

Rijeka and Gorica met at Rujevica to close out the 19th round on Sunday, February 3, 2019. 

While it was Rijeka’s Acosty to kick off the scoring of the game for 1:0 six minutes in, Gorica was given a penalty in the 30th to equalize (1:1). 

Gorica’s Dvorneković scored in the 57th minute to give the away team the lead, and Maloča scored in the 87th to secure Gorica’s win. 

Rijeka is currently in 4th place with 34 points while Gorica is in 5th with 30. 

To read more about sport in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page. See the Croatian First League table. 

UEFA held the round of 32 draw for the Europa League on Monday where Dinamo's opponent was announced. 

Dinamo is making headlines again with the always hot topic - a new stadium. The timing is ideal, however, as it’s Christmas time and just hours before the Europa League match against Anderlecht. Better yet, the source is more than credible this time around - the longest president of Dinamo, Mirko Barišić.

The number one man in the Maksimir club, at the end of a brilliant year for Dinamo, dared to announce that they would build a new stadium in the near future, a project the city is already very familiar with. Mirko Barišić, who has successfully run Dinamo since 2000, revealed details of the future Dinamo stadium to Vecernji List on December 12, 2018. 

“According to our plans, we would collapse all the stands of the existing stadium, except the North, and build a new facility with a capacity of 25,000 viewers. The project leader would be Dinamo, while the City should approve location permits and infrastructure. But it's too early to talk about the details, in a month to a month and a half we should know more,” Barišić said. 

Recall, the ‘dinosaur’ of a stadium, has had several reconstructions, though the last was in 1999. 

The construction of the Maksimir stands, according to the projects of Vladimir Turin, Eugen Ehrlich and Franjo Neidhardt began in 1952. Nine years later, lighting was implemented, and the East stands were built on the western part of the Hitrec-Kacian playground. The South stands were built in 1969.

Twenty years ago, according to the idea of Franjo Tudjman, the megalomaniacal reconstruction of Dinamo stadium began, which was completed by the construction of the new North and the addition of the West stands. Unfortunately, this overwhelming appearance of the stadium has remained to this day, with a capacity of 35,000 seats. In 2013, Dinamo arranged a dressing room under the South stands and built a hotel for players and a professional staff.

If Dinamo and the City really found a common language about the new stadium, it would be the capital infrastructure project of the capital city. At the moment, Zagreb is the worst football stadium in all of the major cities of our region.

The price and the look of the new project can now only be guessed and drawn parallel with similar projects in the region. Thus in Vienna, after the demolition of the Hanappi stadium, the new home of Rapid Wein, boasting 28,000 seats, was built. The price of this project was around 53 million euro. Dinamo’s new stadium, hopefully, should carry a much smaller price tag. 

The new football facility in Trnava, Slovakia, the Antona Malatinského stadium of 19,200 seats, where Dinamo recently played in the Europa League, cost 28 million euro, and the Nagyerdei stadium in Debrecen, Hungary, was 40 million euro. 

Since Croatia’s independence, no new stadium has been built with more than 10,000 seats. A new facility was built in Velika, where Kamen Ingrad once played, though the stadium was bought by the municipality of Velika on an auction of 2,140,000 kuna last year. A new stadium was also built in Dugopolje, as well in Rijeka (Rujevica) after the construction of the new stadium in Kantrida fell apart. 

The most critical football complex in Croatia should be launched in Osijek by mid-2020. There, the owner of NK Osijek, Meszaros, with the support of the Hungarian government, is building a football camp and a new stadium with a capacity of 12,500 thousand seats in the western part of the city, at Pampas. It is speculated that the whole project will cost 35 million euro. 

Otherwise, the story of building a new home for Dinamo is an old tale. In August 2016, the club released an information bomb so that Dinamo’s Executive Board would decide on launching the largest project - constructing a new stadium - at its next session.

“Dinamo would build a smaller, more functional stadium of about 20,000 seats, which would cost around 40 million euro," it was announced then, though things got quiet once again. 

So the question still remains… will Dinamo ever get a new stadium?

To read more about Dinamo, follow TCN's dedicated page.