Rijeka and Hajduk have officially made it a 2-horse race in the HNL this season, after 4-0 wins over Dinamo and Osijek, respectively, Saturday. With only 13 matches left in the season, Hajduk only trail 1st place Rijeka by one point while Dinamo are now seven points behind. This match will definitely be a tough pill to swallow for Cannavaro and company after a successful Champions League campaign where they defeated AC Milan on the final day and nearly qualified for the top-24.
Hajduk host Rijeka this week in the Croatian Cup quarterfinals. The two will then meet again March 16th in Rijeka for their next HNL clash.
With Rijeka selling Pašalić to Orlando, are they the favorites to win the league, or is it Hajduk? Lots still to play for.
It may still be a tight race until the end, but I’m afraid Dinamo may have just given away their chance to catch up. Just my opinion.
Oh come on. Still plenty of time.
Hajduk and Dinamo already meet on Sunday in Maksimir.
If Hajduk loses that one, then it’s only a three point difference. They also meet again in May…but the HNL has parity, so the head-to-head games aren’t as important as consistency and depth.
Both Hajduk and Dinamo will continue to lose points to teams like Varteks, Lokomotiva, and Pula.
Rijeka may be playing well, but they also lack depth. They will lose points too.
3rd goal
100% on Baturina
Beautiful set play from Rijeka – 1000% pre-planned based on exploiting the Baturina is lazy loophole !
Baturina just standing in the box – not bc he wants to but bc he has to – but has ZERO DEFENSIVE awareness or responsibility – and is again sleeping and waiting for his dog to finish their pee-pee – Rijeka know this (the whole world knows this) – so they draw everyone to near post – with Dejan Petrovic comes flying in on blind side
That is 100% pre-planned – based on scouting report – that Baturina is lazy – and just sleeps in the box in defensive – he sleeps the whole game usually – but in particular in defensive end he is particularly sleepy
For this play alone – Dalic should call up Toni Fruk in March – and Baturina should be excluded from the NT – until he gets his act in order (if ever)
His defensive work-rate / responsibility / awareness is maybe the WORST we’ve ever seen from any “attacking midfielder” we’ve ever had – worse than Kranjcar (he had the excuse that he was fat) and worse than Zuti (he had the excuse that he needed a smoke break)
In what language was Kanga swearing at the ref in the 28′ minute for the yellow ?
Anonymous doubts he’s already fluent in Croatian (or that he’ll ever even bother learning the language) – so if he was swearing in French (or one of the 70+ local/tribal dialects) – surely the ref couldn’t actually understand him (beyond the wild arm movements) ?
Hmmm
In the 10′ minute
Why didn’t Rijeka get a penalty ?
The defender body-checks the Rijeka player in front and from behind (complete blind-sided) – this should have been a penalty
Also the Baturina work-rate on this play – lol – he has zero defensive work-rate – just strolling around walking his dog on the pitch – what’s even the point of him coming back at all – just wait at the top of the opposition’s box – for the play to eventually be brought back to down at the offensive end
It’s not just about Rijeka selling Pasalic to Orlando
It’s about Rijeka selling at least SEVEN starting players this year
4 in summer (Pjaca to Dinamo (!), Ivanovic, Labrovic, Hodza)
3 in Jan (Galesic to Dinamo (!), Pasalic, Smolcic)
While the only addition is a 34 y.o. Duje Cop (lol)
So Dinamo lost 4-0 to effectively a Rijeka B-team (i.e. last year A-team less SEVEN starters = this year’s B-team)
As Anonymous has pointed out – on several occasions – Dinamo have always benefited from favourable ref calls – 3 calls vs. Bjelovar in the cup (they should have been eliminated), a few calls last weekend – yesterday we saw what happens when they do not have favourable calls for one match – the whole house of cards falls down
As Anonymous has also pointed out – w/out the favourable ref treatment (in every single game minus y’day I guess) – Dinamo would probably be RELEGATED into the 2nd division
Those are the facts. Those are the circumstances.
Yesterday was a big game – why didn’t Baturina grab the game by the scruff of its neck and take control ? You want the answer ? Because he didn’t have Petar Sucic next to him (nice to see Petar come back and get some minutes)
Those that doubted Anonymous brilliant observation that no Petar Sucic next to him = Baturina anonymous – please let me know the final tally – how many games Baturina played good without Petar (and how many games Dinamo won)
As of today, what are Dinamo’s legit chances to win the league? 20%?
Disagree Ante. The only thing consistent this season is inconsistency. There are still 39 points available for each team and every leading team has had extended periods of playing like crap. Dinamo still has two more games again Hajduk and one against Rijeka. Catching up from a seven point difference is not the impossibility you are suggesting.
Check this board. Every single day someone is crowned the champion (and Hajduk has been discounted). Breathe people, isuse.