After a slow start in Champions League qualifying this campaign, Rijeka can “right the ship” Thursday night in Greece with a draw or better to book a Europa League ticket. The reigning Croatian champions defeated Greek side PAOK 1-0 last week in Rijeka and are now 90 minutes away from joining Dinamo in Europe’s 2nd tier tournament. If they do not get past PAOK, Conference League (3rd tier) it is.
It was a Menalo header from Janković that has Rijeka up 1-0 on aggregate with all to still play for in the 2nd leg. Rijeka has been a ‘Jekyll & Hyde” personality this season. They only have one win to their name in the first four HNL matches of the season but have won their last two Europa League qualifiers. Playing in Europa League alongside Dinamo would be great for Croatian coefficient rankings moving forward. PAOK are still early in their season only playing one match thus far, defeating AEL 1-0.
Dejan Lovren and Luka Ivanušec (loan) currently play for PAOK. Let’s see what happens Thursday.
News:
Hakan Calhanoglu To Start For Inter Vs Udinese – Sučić Favourite Over Mkhitaryan
Luka V on HSV bench today !!!!!
2:30pm EDT start time
Luka V replacement ?
30 y/o Akanji
No shame given 12 years age difference lol
But could have shipped Luka there a month ago to give him preseason w HSV
Bad news is less cover for Gvardiol but I guess that Kusanov kid will get some minutes this year
Sorry, mea culpa, Akanji not done yet
I was mocked when i identified gvardiol as injury prone and that we would have to accept that unlike modric who never missed a tournament game, there will be tournaments where gvardiol doesn’t play. The same for wedding boy sucic.
I wish it weren’t the case. But some players are truly more injury prone. How the body ties together is very complicated but undoubtedly professional athletes are pushing it to the extreme and exposing any weaknesses. Furthermore, sometimes unique traits like explosiveness can make top players more injury prone (see russell westbrook / d rose). Tearing an Achilles or acl in cave man days could be a death sentence so evolution made a trade off that we sacrifice some speed or strength for injury prevention. Elite pro athletes though are often on the extreme side of the distribution which is great for sports but also opens up to greater injury as evolution did not design the body to operate like that.
The new analyst is worse than the old them one
Pls have them re-run the #s
In particular, rank of ALL players in top 5 league minutes played (club+country) last season
Then come back to us
Pretty sure Pep and Dalic just agreed to give him a month rest – don’t forget he played club World Cup – as both City and Croatia will need and play him lots – and again no break he goes right to World Cup next summer
Rijeka Conference League
Shaktar (A)
Sparta Prague (H)
Celje (H)
Lincoln Red Imps (A)
AEK Larnaca (H)
FC Noah (A)
Prediction 1W 2D 3L
Dinamo Zagreb Europa League
Real Betis (H)
Lille (A)
Fenerbache (H)
Maccabi Tel Aviv (A)
FCSB (H)
Midjtland (A)
Celta Vigo (H)
Malmo (A)
Prediction 3W 3D 2L
Good news for Livakovic with Mourinho getting the sack at Ferenbache.
Media reports suggest that the club wants him to stay and that he is to get his spot back in the starting 11. He kept well against Benfica.
I would have preferred to see him move to another club. I don’t care for the Turkish league. As long as he is starting regularly then I guess it cannot be the worst thing in the world.
Strange, I always took Mourinho to be a good coach, he has had some bad runs as of late.
Nowadaytwhen they call him the “Special One”, they mean he’s r3tarded
Does anyone remember how Xavi Simons played vs. Croatia in the 2023 Nations League Semi-Final where we beat them 4-2 after ET ? Anyone ? 😉
Sosa has not been starting, but he started today and played well for Crystal Palace in Conference League qualifying playoffs.
I have seen it said that he kept a good attitude at Torino, even though things did not got well for him there. Admittedly, he did not perform well in Serie A.
We have had people here, including Maminjo, observe that sometimes Croatian players continue to develop, and play better and peak later in their careers. Sosa, however, has been on the down slide since he left Stuttgart.
But. . . let’s hope that he can find something, some formula that can get his career back on track in the Premier League, playing for a good side at Crystal Palace. The guy has talent, he scored that standout goal against Poland, not many players can strike a ball like that.
In other news, it sounds like Vuskovic to Hamburger in Bundesliga is now a done deal. I know everyone opposed it here, but is there anything good that can be said for the loan decision, now that it looks like it is done? From the most optimistic perspective, I suppose it would likely mean playing regularly in a top five league for the first time, rather than sitting on the bench in Tottenham. Maybe it increases his chances of playing in 2026 (I still think Vuskovic can be to WC 2026 what Gvardiol was to WC 2022, the Croatian break out star . . . )
Is there anything else positive anyone can see in this Vuskovic loan, looking at it with some sober second thought, now that it seems it is happening?
I would be really surprised if Sosa starts. If it’s the case when gvardiol is injured Sosa is the first one up to start then dalic should have called him in the first place, that would be stupid on dalic. If sutalo can play prolly
Stanisic Sutalo. D-cc. Juranovic
I would have rather
Valinic. Sutalo. D-CC. Stanisic
In more depressing news, Sportske Novosti have confirmed that Croatia will have to play the upcoming two world cup qualification games against Faroe Islands and Montenegro without Gvardiol at left back, which means get ready for a Sosa and Croatia disasterclass against one of the two opponents, or even both. God help us! I’d rather start Perisic or Juranovic at left back that trust this piece of liability (who at one point wanted to play for Germany, but snubbed them in the end) at left back there and shit!
And before we know it, we end up slipping down to the playoffs and play against Italy or Turkey there, who will end up wiping the floor with us in here! Exaggerated I know, but certainly possible in this cycle right here!
psilocybin therapy on full display here
There’s no such thing as an “Austrian Croatia fan” (especially after we poached Sučić and Ivanović).
Well, I call myself that because I’m from Austria, but with roots from Croatia. And I just happen to support both the Austrian and Croatian national football/soccer team there with a preference for the Croatian one and such. Hope I made you understand my profile name and stuff.
Rijeka over the years haven’t given much to the repka. I think this new management can continue to develop one player every decade to the national team.
The national team is mostly Dinamo and diaspora. A sprinkle of hajduk and Rijeka. Perisic barely qualifies as a product of hajduk.
Rijeka has done well when it comes to reclamation projects though.
Pjaca, Pašalić, Fruk, and even Krama got their careers back on track thanks to Rijeka.
There are plenty others, but these were just off the top of my head.
just 3 quick goals and they are back at it
Match Fitness? Yeah I think they are showing only Dinamo can handle playing so many games in September. Rijeka struggles in HNL are due to many games for the club to handle this early. No shame in losing to a better team they belong in conference league. Rijeka got bought from what I read a legit well run organization good for club and city.
We’ll see how this foreign ownership impacts Rijeka and if they will actually develop their youth into National Team players.
Any streams for this match?
Bit late and it’s 4-0 to them but:
https://vipleague.im/football/paok-salonika-vs-rijeka-streaming-link-1
I dunno if it was mentioned already. However, as per Fabrizio Romano, Dominik Livakovic maybe going to Nottingham Forrest. Nottingham are in talks to acquire him as their keeper.
Liva turned it down apparently
He was scared Marinakis was going to eat him if he played badly or tie him up if he played well
Anonymous posts some of the weirdest comments…
I have given up responding to him.
Ante why moderation on my post ? could it be because I mentioned Toni Fr_K ??
Just write Toni F (like Anonymous writes T) and it gets thru 😉
Match fitness is definitely on Rijeka’s side, so they are definitely in with a chance.
However, our clubs have a poor record against Greek clubs, and you have to fancy PAOK playing at home overturning the 1 – 0 deficit.
If Rijeka lose? they will be more competitive playing in the Conference League.
Europa League might a bit too much for them. I also think that Dinamo with their young side might also find it difficult in EL.
Rijeka has had a bad start in the HNL being 8 points behind Dinamo and Hajduk and with their European commitments to follow they in my opinion have NO chance of defending their HNL title despite the fact that we have had only 4 rounds.
Fruk and Jankovic could also depart although reports are that Miskovic is asking for too much money for their transfer so they might stay? Rumors are that Pjaca might be returning to Rijeka so that might help.
What’s the impact to the UEFA Country Coefficient if you have “two Europa teams” versus “one Europa team + one Conference League team”?
I would prefer that Rijeka stay in Europa for the purpose of them getting more prize money (which is higher in Europa) and it more positively impacting our coefficient.
Re: Rijeka’s bad HNL start and them defending their title…
Good. I don’t want them to finish first. They’re better off aiming for a top-3 finish and focus on doing well in Europa and Conference Leagues instead.
Hopefully Pjaca signs with them and forms a tandem with Fruk and Jankovic.
Is Bill Foley / Black Knight going to be a seller of the best players?
Maybe Fruk goes to the Portuguese club he / they bought this summer
Dinamo is a Pot 1 seed in Europa, alongside Roma, Porto, Rangers, Feyenoord, Lille, Real Betis, Salzburg, and Aston Villa.
Red Star is a Pot 2 seed, so hopefully Dinamo draws them.
Not sure which pot Rijeka would fall into if they progress.
Rijeka projected Pot 4
x.com/fmeetsdata/status/1960815773217382514
Same source suggests UEFA has been silently separating Croatian and Serbian teams where avoidable….
x.com/fmeetsdata/status/1960452539775627573