CHAMPIONS LEAGUE PLAYOFF DRAWLuka Modrić, Niko Kranjčar, Vedran Ćorluka and Tottenham Hotspur have a favorable draw in the Champions League playoff round as they face Swiss opposition in BSC Young Boys. Expect Crottenham to be among Europe’s elite in the Champions League group stage.
Ognjen Vukojević and Dynamo Kyiv take on Dutch giants Ajax while Nikola Pokrivač and Red Bull Salzburg take on Hapoel Tel-Aviv for a chance to play with the big boys.
Ex-Croatia defender Ivica Križanac and his Zenit St. Petersburg club will play French team Auxerre.
EUROPA LEAGUE PLAYOFF DRAWHajduk Split will return to Romania for a second straight round as they take on Unirea Urziceni. Hajduk should be happy with this draw as they escape facing CSKA Moscow and Bayer Leverkusen. Could the boys from Split pull off another victory to reach the Europa League group stage? It’s definitely possible.
Dinamo Zagreb also receive an easy draw playing neighbors to the north, Hungarian side Győri ETO. It should be an interesting tie as the two cities are only a 150 minute commute by car. Will the BBB behave in Hungary?
OTHER CROATIANS AROUND EUROPA LEAGUE…Domagoj Vida and Bayer Leverkusen draw Ukrainian club Tavriya Simferopol.
Ivan Perišić and Club Brugge take on Belarus’ Dinamo Minsk.
Hrvoje Čale, Drago Gabrić and Trabzonspor will face European giants Liverpool. Good luck!
Gordon Schildenfeld and Sturm Graz have a heavy task versus Italian legends Juventus.
Nikica Jelavić will play for Rapid Vienna against Aston Villa if he isn’t transferred beforehand. This is a rematch of last year’s Europa League match where Rapid shocked Villa. Jelavić scored and played excellent in the two games.
Tomislav Dujmović and Lokomotiv Moscow face Swiss club Lausanne-Sport.
Dinamo are so frustrating at the moment. I would even worry about us facing Gyor. This is a worser team than Sherrif but Zajec is expecting Shite to win him matches.
Dodo-Slepicka-Sivonjic is becoming a joke. Morales and Kramaric seem to have dropped off the face of the earth. Give it 3 more games of this and i think Zajec is sacked.
We seem to have no level of consistency like last year Sivonjic was cut and considered not good enough (though Primorac and Dodo are no better). However why is not good enough last season but is considered good enough this season. Nothing changed. He still doesn't score. Send him back to Zapresic for the entire season. Zapresic signed a crap Albanian player who is even worse so they could do with Sivonjic.
As for Dodo he's always been rubbish. We actually thought he was gone but Lokomotiva obviously said hey don't give him to us. They took Antolic and Bekic instead. They've got sense. Send him to Istra, Sibenik or Dragovoljac cos that's his level.
I think Rukavina will be alright in the end. For HNL1 level and against Gyor he's trustworthy. But we need Morales and Kramaric back. I'd like to see Dodo and Sivonjic gone this week. Bring Bosnjak in as 4th or 5th striker. I'm sure he'll at least be able to find the net against Varazdin.
If things don't change its gonna be Hajduk Versus Slaven Belupo for the title.
btw, Hajduk will open up at home, while Dinamo will play away in the first leg.
@JP,
I agree with you on Jelavic. Nikica would be a forgotten man playing in the SPL. At 24 years of age, scoring 25 goals in 70 games for Rapid Vienna deserves a spot in a top 4 league. Hopefully, a Bundesliga club comes calling his name. Rangers would be a huge mistake.
Also, always great to see a Croat mentioned in the top 50.
@Denis
No doubt, I agree with you. I just thought it was interesting that Olic made the list, and that's a lot more than being just considered even. Plus, these guys aren't Hrvati who made the list, and so it's interesting to hear an outside perspective. Ultimately it doesn't mean much, but I think it's good to get an outside perspective to combat our sometimes self-generated myopia.
btw., great point about Cale and Gabric.
Ps. I hope that Jelavic doesn't go to Rangers… he can do better than that, by staying where he is.
Excellent draw for both Hajduk Split and Dinamo Zagreb. I can't believe I'm saying this but Haduk has a great chance to advance to Europa League group stage. Who would have thought?
Jelavic and Rapid got screwed pairing up against Aston Villa, however, Jelavic might be out as early as Monday.
Hrvoje Čale and Drago Gabrić against Liverpool. They will both be on the big stage for the first time. Great exposure for them both, a great game and/or result = transfer to England.
@JP,
interesting link. However, I couldn't make a list of top 10 strikers of the year. Top 50 players of the year ranked in order is difficult. Your #10 could be someone else's #40.
Thought y'all might find this interesting, Olic ranked #32 in the world!
http://www.goal.com/en/news/2466/goalcom-50/2010/07/21/2033126/goalcom-50-ivica-olic-32
You forgot Sparta Prague v Zilina
Manny Pamic
Regardless of who Dinamo play if the team isn't sorted out then we are constantly under threat. Dodo and Slepicka could not score against Sherrif and Rijeka so why would it be different against Gyor.
Get Dodo out on loan. Get Slepicka on the bench. Morales off the bench and in the team. Also get Kramaric out on the pitch a lot more. Seem to have to change the line up each week.
Loncaric – Vrsaljko, Ibanez, Biscan, Cufre; Ademi, Badelj; Sammir; Etto, Morales; Rukavina
Subs: Kramaric, Slepicka, Callelo, Chago, Mesaric, Simic, Sivonjic, Vidakovic
Unirea are a harder team, but if Hajduk play like yesterday they'll be fine.