Thursday was a great day for Croatian football as Hajduk Split and Rijeka got past the third qualifying round of the Conference League. This is the first time since 2017 that we have at least three sides in the play-off round of European competitions. Back then it was actually all four sides: Rijeka reached the Champions League play-off, while Dinamo, Osijek and Hajduk were in the Europa League play-off round. Hopefully, the results don’t repeat, as everybody lost, and we were left with only Rijeka in the 2nd tier of European football.
Ilves 1-1 (1-2 agg.) Rijeka: Lasickas Sends Rijeka Through
It was a tough away leg in Finland for Matjaž Kek’s men. The game started, and most of the first half was just Rijeka controlling the tempo and holding the hosts hostage, as they couldn’t do anything and couldn’t get a good chance against last season’s Cup finalists. However, right at the start of the 2nd half, Ilves had a big chance after Rijeka were unable to deal with a cross. Thankfully, Rijeka’s defence gathered in front of the goal to block Hytönen’s shot. Faris Krkalić then stepped up in the 60th minute with a brilliant save to stop a header from Jakov Puljić.
And just two minutes later, Ilves shocked Rijeka as Hytönen got past Barco with ease on the right and squared the ball across the box, which found a running Stanislav Baranov, who equalised. Thankfully, the shock quickly wore off for the Croatian side as Justas Lasickas picked up the rebound off a Krkalić save in the 70th minute to restore Rijeka’s aggregate lead and put them through, after a few shaky defensive corners at the end.
Rijeka will now face Danish side Midtjylland in the UECL play-off — a very tough opponent who beat Dinamo Zagreb 2-0 last season in the Europa League league stage. But if anybody has a chance vs. a favourite side, it will be Matjaž Kek’s Rijeka, who already look like a Kek side just under a month after the season started.
Hajduk 4-0 (9-2 agg.) Žalgiris: Easy.
Hajduk Split reached the play-off with a very dominant win over the Lithuanian side. To very quickly summarise the match…
First half: Big misses at the start from Livaja and Dalisson, and…that’s pretty much it.
Second half: Anđelo Šutalo brilliantly finds Dario Melnjak to open the scoring; Adam Huram becomes Hajduk’s 3rd-youngest goalscorer in European competitions for 2-0; an own goal and Šego add the last two goals.
Gonzalo Garcia once again got loudly booed by the majority of attendees at Poljud, but he has brought the club its first play-off appearance since Valdas Dambrauskas in 2022, when ‘Bili’ got knocked out by Villarreal. An achievement, considering Hajduk had to win two ties to get here, which they haven’t done since 2017 (Levski Sofia and Brøndby). Though this shouldn’t be viewed as much of an achievement, as Hajduk should be beating Žalgiris and Žilina.
Now, Hajduk will face Polish side Raków Częstochowa as the Split side looks to get to their first group/league stage since 2010. Robert Graf is working hard behind the scenes, as almost everybody is aware the team needs new and quality players. According to reports from Index, Hajduk are trying to sign BiH centre-back Haris Hadžikadunić. Graf is also looking for a midfielder (please be a 6) and a winger. Somehow Poljud hasn’t seen a natural 6 in midfield since Mihael Žaper, who lasted for 12 glorious games before suffering a terrible injury that left him a shadow of his old self.
Now, Raków reached the round of 16 of the Conference League last season, where they gave Fiorentina a good fight before the Italians edged them in the second half of the return leg. Hajduk aren’t favourites, but if they want to reach the league stage without winning the title first, this is the type of team they have to beat, one at a similar level to Pafos. The club has to prioritise this and bring in two players before the first leg next Thursday to increase their chances of breaking the curse. Interestingly, this is the first time since the 2010 play-off vs. Unirea that Hajduk will be playing the tie in the same order as they did back then: first home, then away. All five play-off rounds in between then and now were played away first, with the return leg at Poljud. I’m sensing it might be the year Hajduk gets back into Europe just based on that fact alone.
Hopefully, we will get Rijeka or Hajduk into the Conference League proper. And may God give us the perfect scenario of both going through and Dinamo in the Champions League.
