European football is back at Poljud! Hajduk Split are set to host Portuguese side Vitoria S.C. in European Conference League qualifiers on Thursday at 3 P.M. ET. The winner of the two legs will face Spanish side Villarreal in the next round of qualification – an extremely unlucky draw.
Hajduk insider Pave Alebić spoke with CroatianSports ahead of the club’s massive matchup with Vitoria. He stated, “In Split, the opposition will always have a tough match, even if you’re Real Madrid. Torcida will be louder than they’ve been the past 20 years due to the hype around this current squad”.
It’s true. Poljud is a fortress, and it will be Hajduk’s mission to defend it in front of over 30,000 rambunctious supporters on Thursday evening. The talents of Marko Livaja, Filip Krovinović, and Lovre Kalinić have sparked a hope in Split that just cannot be put out. The city is hungry for success.
Alebić also noted, “Hajduk’s defense has allowed zero goals in two matches this season, despite facing 20+ shots from Varaždin. Unfortunately, center-back Toni Borevković will be on the sideline for Thursday’s match due to a red card suspension he picked up with Vitoria (his former club, believe it or not) last season. Hajduk’s newest signing, Nigerian international Chidozie Awaziem, will likely step into his place regardless of the fact that he’s only trained with the squad a few times. However, you don’t sign a player worth 4M Euros in the HNL to bench him in games of this stature”.
As for the middle third of the pitch, Alebić believes, “The outcome of these next two matches will depend entirely on the midfielders, especially Grgić and Krovinović. Krovinović needs to absolutely control the game while Grgić plays the anchor role by putting in hard tackles and getting in the other side’s heads. Grgić is the heart and energy of this team, and definitely the toughest”.
Alebić is also counting on star forward Marko Livaja to raise the roof on Thursday night. He says, “the entire attack will flow through Livaja. 62 goal contributions in 60 matches for the club, I mean, when is the last time there’s been this much hype around an HNL player? I’d say Kranjčar. Livaja pours his heart and soul into the club, and you can only expect him to turn up for the squad when the Poljud lights are shining brightest. After signing his five-year contract extension, he showed the city that he’s bought into Hajduk’s project. Now, it’s time to execute and succeed”.
Three more players to watch out for vs. Vitoria:
Stipe Biuk – “It’s time for him to shine”, Alebić says. “Less than 10 G+A for a ‘wonderkid’, those numbers are not worthy of that title. He turns, 20 years-old this year, it’s a make or break season, and it starts with solid performances in European competition”.
Emir Sahiti – Alebić calls him, “the most underrated player at Hajduk. He turned down German club HSV and later stated, ‘Hajduk je moj klub’. If you look at who covers the most ground every match, his name will be at the top of the list 9 times out of 10. He will be flying around the pitch on Thursday”.
Dario Melnjak – “HNL’s best left-back, coming off a two-goal showing in the Croatian cup final and an assist against Istra. The lad is on fire. He will be fun to watch against Vitoria”, Alebić claims.
Alebić’s projected lineup vs. Vitoria: Kalinić – Mikanović, Elez, Awaziem, Melnjak – Grgić, Vuković – Sahiti, Krovinović, Biuk – Livaja
“It will be a tight match, but I see Hajduk taking the first leg 2-1, followed by a 0-0 draw in Portugal for the return leg”.
Is Suba on the bench for Hajduk?
Good comeback from Hajduk after going down 0-1 to a stunning shot into the top corner giving Kalinic no chance in goal. Not a big fan of Livaja, but today he had a very good match. Superb crowd, and from what I saw there were no pirotechnics meaning no fines from UEFA. 3 -1 gives Hajduk a good chance of progressing.
Hajduk got robbed multiple times and managed to win 3-1 anyway. Bravo to them. Great match!
Agree!! Referee was a complete dickhead. Clear penalty in the first half. Arm extended away from the body. They deserve the win.
Hopefully can grab a draw over there next week
Good performance by Hajduk. Quick movement with the ball. Unlucky to concede with the only shot in target. Liked the way they played.
At least the goal they conceded was an amazing shot
Good to know they played well. Hopefully more good things to come from Hajduk. Only wished that Livaja put one in but I am sure that they were watching him the whole game.
If either of those handballs by Vitoria defenders had been called, Livaja would be on the board. 😉 But actually, he played very well. Hajduk’s goal was created by him and actually was almost his (hit the post). He also created some chances in the first half, if I’m not mistaken, and he ran tirelessly and took a lot of hits from opposing defenders without complaining. He may have had a bad reputation in the past, but he’s playing first-rate right now. He was playing as a lone striker, too
Pretty shitty, 0-1 so far. From what I am reading Hajduk has had way more chances although I am not watching it so I will have to rely on what people say who are watching it.
I brought my device camping with me so I can watch these qualifying games, tomorrow I will be hosting 3 of my Hajduk buddies and we will be watching the game at my RV.
In my opinion, Melnjak is by far the best left back in the HNL, funny thing how this worked out considering he got a lot of hate while he was in our National team. The guy has been unbelievable and even surprised me at how good he truly is!
Grgic needs some praise, the guy is a tough midfielder that works all game long and really helps Hajduk immensely!
Biuk has been really good so far this season, I really hope he can stay mentally strong! (On another note, Ljubicic is doing extremely well in Austria…I will always feel bad they let him go and signed Kalinic as the most expensive player in the squad. He will forever be a bum in my books)
Livaja is a complete animal for Hajduk, I honestly can’t believe I’m even saying this but it’s true! If he could only be this relevant at the international level (he’s far from it) we would be in really good shape approaching the World Cup.
I’ll be cheering for Hajduk tomorrow…first and foremost because we need them to win for our coefficient and even more importantly, they’re a Croatian club. I really don’t care about those Hajduk fans that cheer against Dinamo in Europe….I don’t consider them normal people.
Rijeka and Osijek showed us a small club mentality and we really need Hajduk to punch above their weight. Portuguese teams that enter European tournaments are usually pretty good teams and they play a good brand of soccer.
Put your money where your mouth is!
Change your name to Hajdukovac from Canada!!!
Ajmoooooo
Hahaha….I’m cheering for Hajduk in Europe but I’m not going to do anything crazy and change my name for them 🤣
100% agree with every statement you’ve made here
Gotta see what Livaja can do for us in September
Praying he can play for us like he does for Hajduk because if he does, we’re in amazing shape going into Qatar
Just need a keeper now…