Alright, here we go! The Champions League quarterfinals kick off tonight with Leg 1. There are three Croatians (2 players) left in the tournament.
Luka Modrić has been given the nod and will start vs. Arsenal in North London Tuesday night. He started at the weekend and plated 77 minutes in a shock Real Madrid loss to Valencia. The dude is 39 and playing two huge games in a 72-hour span. Amazing.
Josip Stanišić will get the start at LB Tuesday night in Munich as Bayern host Inter Milan.
Niko Kovač (manager) will take his troops into battle against Barcelona Wednesday night in Spain. It will surely be Dortmund’s toughest test of the year as Barcelona has been in-form; winning 4 of their last 5 matches.
Jagusic
MOTM both Fotmob 8.7 and Sofascore 8.1
In case anyone wants the article that I was looking at regarding Livakovicn transfer to Bayern
https://www.transferfeed.com/transfers/dominik-livakovic-fenerbahce-fc-bayern-munchen/9922859
Its not Fabrizio Romano, but it’s an interesting rumour and according to a Turkish insider, which makes it interesting.
Shovels in the ground for the new training centre
https://www.croatiaweek.com/ground-broken-on-new-state-of-the-art-croatian-football-federation-camp/
It’s not a surprise that Livakovic could be sold by his club. After the match by his club and Utd earlier the season Jose mentioned how he would rather have Onana than Livakovic because he thinks he is a better gk.
It could all just be noise, but I wish the guy well. He has done a phenomenal job as far as Croatia is concerned. 26 clean sheets is not horrible with the Turkish club. 72 goals against isn’t great, but then again what kind of a defence does he play with at his club. Neuer has great players next him, so it’s much easier to get a clean sheet this way.
Plus Jose isn’t smart in saying that…especially if you want to sell the guy.
For a bit of perspective actually, Onana has played the same amount of time with the Premier League 69 vs Livakovicn at 72 games. Onana only has 18 clean sheets according to AI. So I really don’t see how he is all that much better. Unless there is something I am missing.
Feel free to chime in.
I know Livakovic has his faults but he isn’t that bad of keeper looking at everything. I think a FIFA rating of 51 is kinda low but then again they doubt us and undervalue us all the time.
Matic lives rent-free in Onana’s head (2 big mistakes y’day by him)
x.com/footballconfid1/status/1910656955246407922
Fun fact. Little did I know, that IFFHS ranked Dominik Livakovic as the fourth best Goalkeeper in 2022.
All of our quibbles and the dude is making the rankings.
It could be made up, but there is an article online suggesting that Juventus could be setting up a transfer to get Durdov. Although that would be a hell of thought if the transfer did happen. I think it was Nogomania
Livaković is leaving Fenerbahče, 10 mill euro asking price. Hopefully he finds good club in a better league.
https://gol.dnevnik.hr/clanak/rubrika/nogomet/fener-cisti-balkan-iz-svlacionice-livakovic-odlazi-klub-odredio-cijenu-interes-iz-cetiri-zemlje—907254.html?itm_source=TopNews&itm_medium=Dnevnik&itm_campaign=Naslovnica&_gl=1*sqepmr*_gcl_au*Nzc0NDc3MzcuMTczNjc5MTU4Mw..#google_vignette
Thank God! I hated the fact that he moved to the Turkish league.
Supposedly AI is saying he may be set as a replacement for Manuel Neuer at Bayern. That would be a good fit for him I think.
Even though I think story is probably not true.
Matanovic not in Frankfurt squad today vs Tottenham ☹️ 😢
Modrič played OK. The only reason he started was because Tchouaméni was suspended.
Someone mentioned that he looked slow. That’s because he is slow. He’s 40 years old. Offensively he still has it but defensively you can tell he’s lost it. Which is to be expected when you’re 40 years old playing at this high level.
This isn’t the same Madrid that had Ronaldo, Bale, Benzema etc. They could still make a comeback but it will be tough. There was a clip from yesterday’s game where Ancelotti was giving instructions to Bellingham and someone else, and Bellingham was arguing and disagreeing with his coach. A lot of “super stars” on this team that have big ego that believe they are untouchable, Bellingham is one example. Also, Vini complains against the team and coach and doesn’t pass/cross when needs to. There are some reports that Ancelotti might be going for the Brazil job/ or Madrid might get a new coach at the end of the season. If this happens makes you wonder what happens to Modric. If the new coach comes in they might want to rebuild the team with younger players.
One of the biggest nose pickers Corluka is #1 in line to be next Dinamo coach !!!
Bahahahahahahaha
You can’t make this stuff up
Can some post that old video of Corluka drunk dancing at the bar in Split during the day ?
Anonymous found said video
***.youtube.com/watch?v=kfdAyvthY5A
Real’s chances for advancing are poor, but not as poor as many think. The crowd will act as a twelfth man, and the referee is always a wild card. The ref in the first game was thankfully not affected, for the most part, with the little dives and falls initiated with minimal contact between players. Timber from Arsenal, raise your hand. Most of the return game will be played in Arsenal’s half and it is certain that both M’Bappe and Vincius will flop several times in the box. It takes a strong willed referee to refrain from reacting to the crowd when they cry for a penalty.
I watched the game and found Modric ok, while frankly most of Madrid was quite poor. He started slowly. He played very deep and didn’t seem to click with Bellingham at all so there was little flow forward in midfield. Madrid got faster when he was substituted and maybe the fast pace did not suit him, but still it’s really impressive he started such a big game at his age. Camavinga got a late red card, so Modric might be balled upon for the return match. Other players, Valverde and Vinicius were far worse.
Did anyone watch Modric play Valencia and Arsenal (both games) ?
How were his performances ?
Anonymous notes there was only 3 days between Valencia and Arsenal – so wondering if it was similar to what we saw in the 2 France games i.e. drop off in 2nd game bc games too close to each other (although Valencia he came off after 77′ and y’day only lasted 71′)
If there was a drop-off – due to only 3 days – hopefully Dalic pays attention
Looked slow compared to Arsenal MF but played OK. Mostly balls going sideaways. Had no impact on the game. He can not play 2 games in a 4 days.
Tchouameni was out due to suspension. Ancho should have maybe looked ahead and played him off the bench on Saturday.
It was a dud all around for Real yesterday but that said he was better than most of his teammates (several player-ratings sites suggest same). Or at least not as bad.
Looked like he was playing quite deep and not getting forward much. The front trio were horrible …. Vini and Rodrigo absent. Mbappe somewhat lively but didn’t cash in on at least one great chance.
That said, the first half looked like a typical road game this season for Real against a decent opponent.
They had great counter-attack opportunities … but they fizzled. They could have scored 45 seconds in after an Arsenal defensive blunder but Mbappe chose to shoot from afar whilst Rodrygo (not Rodrigo) was wide open on the right (if I’m remembering correctly).
It just fell apart with the second-half free-kick goals and after that it could have been 5-0, if not for Courtois.
Much better gbvh. Polite, just the facts, and insightful. Well done. Proud of you. I’m just here to police gbvh. I’ll let myself out…
Feel free to stay out. (Will not resort to name-calling.)
Well you know gbvh or whatever your name is, you were pretty condescending in many of your replies and comments on this board including to me. If my coming on strong has made you stop and reflect on that then I think that’s a good thing. You being Croatian doesn’t cut shit with me as I’ve encountered good and bad people from every cultural group out there. So you can twist my responses to you in your mind any way you want to, but like a stubborn magarac you needed to be kicked by someone. Take that any way you please.
Thanks dad !
Shitload more batina if you were my son. Probably force your mom to get an abortion.
This is why I have never had a “social media” account. The knuckle-dragging, name-calling morons out there who have a pulpit is … sramota.
Dinamo sack Cannavaro.
Osijek and our U21 player Šimun Mikolčić has suffered a knee injury and requires surgery and will be out till the end of the calendar year. He was studded in the knee in 4 – 1 loss to Sibenik.
Really bad news for Osijek and our youth development, first Matkovic and now Mikolčić with serious knee injuries.
you can blame HNL for allowing games to be played on bad fields.
I just want to say, to the die hard Tottenham fan who keeps posting here. I’m an arsenal fan but I haven’t said anything about arsenal because this site is where we come together to talk about Croatian sports. At 3-0 up yesterday we started singing to Real Madrid: “are you Tottenham in disguise” hehe. I wanted Real to win the competition this season stats wise it would make Luka the greatest player of all time, which he deserves. Much as I love arsenal. Croatia is more important ofcourse. However, what really counts is how our players perform in the checkers. Modric still has a big final in him
Don’t forget Leon Klanac.
He’s on the squad list for Bayern as well. 💪
Is Gabriel Vidović eligible to play for them too? He played some minutes in the bundesliga last weekend
There is no way Real Madrid will comeback from this.
Odds to advance (FanDuel):
Arsenal: -1200
Real: +680
There is no away goals rule in place anymore, so I reckon that Real has a slim chance of turning this around. Tough but not impossible, 3 – 0 or 4 – 1and on to extra time.
Need a couple of early goals, but sure Arsenal are favorites to progress.
Real Madrid were apparently terrible yesterday (especially 2nd half)
2 of the goals y’day came from world-class free kicks (not open play)
Seems similar to Croatia vs. France in Split (where France was terrible – which made Croatia much better than there were)
But France showed up in the 2nd game as we know – it would be shocking if Real Madrid don’t show up – Modric will give the talk to galvanize
Doesn’t mean RM will do it – but if anyone can – it’s them