Hajduk’s Biggest Game In Years

Sixteen years. That’s how long Split has waited for a proper European night, the kind where the group stage is on the line rather than just another summer qualifier that ends in a whimper before ‘Velika Gospa’. Hajduk Split is currently preparing for the 2nd leg vs. Rakow Czestochowa in the UEFA Conference League Play-off, which could see Hajduk enter the proper phase of a European competition for the first time since 2010.

The first leg ended 2-2 at Poljud, where Hajduk played a great game but wasn’t able to win, followed by a mesmerizing atmosphere that hadn’t been seen at Poljud for at least a year.

European Failures…

Before, Hajduk were always a big club in terms of European merit; they’re the only Croatian team to make it to the knockouts of the Champions League, back in 1995 when they got knocked out by eventual champions Ajax Amsterdam in the quarter-finals. But that high never came close to happening again. ‘Bili’ have only made the proper stage of a UEFA competition five times. Four of which were in the UEFA Cup before it was rebranded as the Europa League and moved to the group-stage system we all remember. Even in those UEFA Cup appearances, when it was a pure knockout tournament, the Split club got past the first round proper just once, in 2003/2004, when they beat Haka but fell to Roma.

After that, Hajduk have only reached the group stage once since its introduction to the Europa League. So much time has passed that we now have league stages and three UEFA competitions. That one sole exception was the 2010/2011 season, when Hajduk beat Unirea Urziceni in the Europa League play-off to get put in a group with AEK Athens, Anderlecht and Zenit Saint Petersburg. Hajduk finished bottom of the group with just one win out of the six matches: the famous Ante Vukušić last-minute winner vs. Anderlecht at Poljud.

Ever since then, Hajduk have been unable to step up and enter the European scene again. A few times, they got close. Like in 2015 and 2016, when they faced Slovan Liberec and Maccabi Tel Aviv, respectively. Against Slovan, they lost 2-0 on aggregate and against the Israeli side, they lost on penalties at Poljud. Hajduk’s inability to win in Europe cost them their coefficient points, which meant they would always be on the unseeded side. This has cost them opportunities, as they’ve had to face the likes of Inter Milan in 2012, Everton in 2017, Galatasaray in 2020, Villarreal in 2022 and PAOK in 2023. In all of those instances, I would argue that Hajduk had a capable and mature team to play in Europe.

But luck of the draw wasn’t on their side. But when Hajduk gets beatable opponents in the play-off, closer to their level, it’s when the team is very mixed and has a bunch of young talent that is still developing (Slovan and Maccabi). And obviously we can’t talk about Europe and Hajduk without mentioning the early eliminations to Gzira United, Tobol, Ružomberok and Dinamo City in recent history. All of those shock losses bring us to this season…

Road to Rakow

Hajduk started this European season in the Europa League 1st qualifying round after finishing second in the league behind Dinamo, who secured the double. There they faced a familiar foe in MŠK Žilina who they beat 3-2 on aggregate, but it was very close to another heartbreak at the end as Slovaks put Hajduk under pressure. But Gonzalo Garcia’s team pulled through and drew Pafos in the following round. After a fantastic 2-0 win at Poljud in the first leg, Hajduk fell to a 4-0 defeat away in Cyprus after extra time. The Split club was just seconds away from beating last season’s Champions League side, but it wasn’t meant to be.

After dropping down to the Conference League 3rd qualifying round, Hajduk eased past Žalgiris Vilnius, a 9-2 victory over the two legs. And now, Rakow.

First Leg at Poljud: Hajduk Can Win

Hajduk hosted the Polish side at Poljud, which wasn’t sold out and had just under 26 thousand fans in attendance, despite the stadium rocking all 90 minutes, which it hadn’t done in a long time. Especially with how this season began with the Livaja-Garcia drama and divide among the fan base. But for this match, everybody got together, not to support Livaja or Garcia, but the club itself. Which is what it should normally be like.

Anyways, to the match: Hajduk set up as usual; this time, Garcia opted for two natural wingers in Šotiček and Bamba to abuse the space left on the far sides of the pitch as Rakow set up in a 3-4-3. It worked almost immediately: Bamba got the ball on the right wing and his cross found Šego, who headed Hajduk in front in the 21st minute. Sadly, Rakow answered just six minutes later, ex-Dinamo striker Mahir Emreli nodding home from an Otieno cross to make it 1-1. Rakow had a huge opportunity to make it 1-2 right before the half-time whistle as Silić made a save, but it came to Ameyaw, who hit the post.

The second half started exactly how Hajduk wanted it to. Šotiček released Dalisson on the edge of the box in the 47th minute, and the Spaniard buried it from 18 meters to restore the lead. And just moments later, Bamba had a glorious chance as Rakow’s goalkeeper gifted him the ball with a misplaced pass. Bamba tried lobbing it to make it 3-1 and completely turn the game into Hajduk’s favour; sadly, his lob went wide.

Dalisson even had an amazing chance moments later that he couldn’t finish. Then, in the 55th minute, the game turned. Pajaziti went into a needless, heavy challenge just past the halfway line, and referee Michal Očenaš showed him a straight red without hesitation. From there, Hajduk spent the next 40 minutes performing well and actually threatening with ten men, but Rakow gradually took over the ball as the game’s end grew closer. Hajduk’s defence held, barely, until the fifth minute of stoppage time, when substitute Lamine Diaby-Fadiga, who’d already rattled the crossbar minutes earlier, finally beat Silić to make it 2-2 and send the tie to Częstochowa level.

What made the collapse sting even more was how well Hajduk actually coped with ten men against a side that last season barely lost to Fiorentina in the Round of 16 of the Conference League. But Hajduk were the better team out of the tunnel for the 2nd half, and hadn’t the red card happened, it’s tough to see how Hajduk wouldn’t have found another goal, as they were inching closer and closer after the Dalisson goal. But enough about what-ifs. Hajduk played a great game with a few defensive lapses in concentration, which have been a staple of Hajduk’s season so far and in recent history.

Overall, Hajduk played almost two-thirds of the match with eleven men and controlled it. Šego’s movement caused Rakow’s back three problems all night, Dalisson looked sharp and could’ve scored a second, and Bamba and Šotiček repeatedly found the space out wide that Garcia set them up to exploit. If Hajduk can get anywhere near 70 minutes at full strength in Poland — instead of the roughly 55 they got at Poljud — this team is capable of winning and sending Hajduk into the league stage of a European competition after a 16-year wait.

What’s Actually at Stake

For those less familiar with how European football’s financial ladder works, it’s worth spelling out just how much changes the moment Hajduk beats that first-round-proper barrier.

Based on last season’s confirmed UEFA figures (2026/27 numbers haven’t been published yet, but they’ll land close to this), simply reaching the Conference League league phase is worth roughly €3.17 million as a straight base fee, before a ball is kicked. On top of that, every win in the eight-match league phase is worth around €400,000, with each draw worth about €133,000.

Finish in the top eight and avoid the knockout play-off round entirely, and there’s a further €400,000 bonus; finish 9th-16th, and it’s €200,000. There’s also a ranking bonus pool, so the better Hajduk finish, the more they earn purely for where they land in the table — last season’s top side banked over €800,000 from that alone. Realistically, even a modest league-phase campaign: a few wins, a couple of draws, a mid-table finish — could be worth somewhere in the region of €4-5 million to Hajduk. That’s before any run in the knockout rounds, where the money jumps again at every stage, which Hajduk would reach with a mid-table-like performance.

For a club that’s operated for over a decade without this desperately needed income stream, it would go a long way toward stabilising the club’s finances for the season. Especially with how sporting director Robert Graf has cut down on wages this summer. And not to mention how much it would mean to Split as a whole and the Hajduk fans around the country and the world for Hajduk to be on the European stage once again. That’s at least three more packed-out Poljuds, no matter the opponent. And if you get lucky in the draws, a path to the Round of 16 and Quarter-finals isn’t unrealistic. But we’re getting too ahead of ourselves.

Then there’s the coefficient. Every win, every draw, every round survived adds points that follow Hajduk into future seasons and directly shape who they draw next time around. This is the exact problem that’s haunted the club for YEARS — no points mean no seeding, and as a result, brutal draws against sides like Inter, Everton, Villarreal, and PAOK that a stronger coefficient would have avoided. Getting through this tie doesn’t just mean six extra matches this season. It means starting to climb back toward being seeded again, which changes the entire shape of Hajduk’s and Croatia’s European ceiling for years to come.

Thursday Awaits

Sixteen years is a long time to wait for a European autumn. Hajduk have had chances to end that wait before and found ways to fall short; some through bad luck in the draw and some through their own inexperience. Thursday in Częstochowa is another one of those chances, and on the balance of what we saw at Poljud, it’s the best one yet. And Hajduk enter it on a high note after demolishing Osijek 4-0 at Poljud with a heavily rotated side.

This Hajduk side doesn’t need a miracle, as they played the better football in the first leg for large stretches even with ten men, and only lost the result in the very last kick of the match. Garcia will have to figure out the game without Pajaziti, who, despite his questionable challenges and aggressiveness, has been crucial for Garcia, and Rakow will have home advantage at a small stadium that only holds 5,500 people.

Whatever happens, this tie has already given Hajduk fans something they haven’t had in a long time: a European night worth genuinely believing in. Split and Dalmatia crave proper European nights and away days. Thursday will decide whether they get it.