The Croatian champions defeated Omonia Nicosia 4-1 on aggregate and will now play either #1 Strasbourg or #2 Raków Częstochowa in the Conference League Round of 16. Two legs, home and away.
Toni Fruk was the MOTM for Rijeka in the 3-1 victory with two goals on the night. He received an impressive 9.2 SofsScore ratings for his efforts with 80% passing and 2/2 long balls. Fruk will surely be sought after in the summer as his contract with Rijeka only goes through 2027.
Per Crnkovic:
Stojkovic was absolutely class. Brilliant player. He has talent but also maturity in his decision making on the ball. Very brave and led the team throughout the game. Dinamo as a whole players fantastic match. Super motivated and they showed what they are capable of. Here are my player ratings:
Livakovic:
his distribution was good, also made a couple of trademark reflex saves and blocked 1 vs 1 by being quick off his line. Despite those positives his positioning was strangely off a couple of times getting too close to his near post. His lack of playing time at girona has made home a bit rusty it’s a very good thing he is playing again. – 6.5
Valincic: endless energy, excellent with the ball, confident and aggression. Couple of times questionable positioning. He is a defender, positioning is very important – 6
Galisic: the guy is a very underrated talent. Excellent technique and vision. Very aggressive and composed. Couple of boneheaded decisions though and also guess what….positioning. 3/4 times was way off. He may become a very good player, must continue to play and mature – 5
McKenna: solid outing from the Scotsman. Very strong and stable without being particularly special in any way. However he gets extra points for having to hold together a backline where EVERY OTHER defender is making positional errors. – 6
Goda: I’ve seen him play before and thought he looked useless, but he was really good today. Quick thinking, quality passing, hard running and confident energy. Hit the bar with a great effort first half. (Couple of kiks). – 6
Misic: same every game I watch him. Excellent at all the basics. Over runs the ball once or twice a game in dangerous positions, and lacks pace. Dinamo captain is his level. Unlikely to get capped due to his limitations. But integral to dinamo’s excellent performance today. – 7
Zajc: the guy is good. Runs non stop and always tries to do the right thing. Passes when he should pass, shoots when he should shoot. Tackles. A real team oriented player. Huge performance from him today – 7.5
Topic: this guy is very underrated. He is very strong and has very sharp technique and vision. He showed no fear. Playing like a seasoned veteran and linking sharply with the rest of the attack. Promising. – 6
Stojkovic: best player on the pitch (just! Some of the genius guys also played very well). Wonderful technique, massively courageous, highly intelligent. Created loads of good plays. Put the penalty away with zero fuss. Scored his second like a true world class talent. If he carries on like this he should get a call up in march, I don’t care. Clearly a hot head. Sent off for slapping the opponent. Also needs to improve his physical conditioning. – 8
Vidovic: his feet are like hands. Wonderful skill and good to see him using it for a change. He has potential. He played well today. BUT, another young guy who needs to wake up and fight everyday to reach his potential. The kid needs the gym (and probably a couple of slaps). Good though. 6.
Bakrar: worked very hard, scored the first goal, linked well several times. Good ability. Did well. -6
Super encouraging things overall. Perhaps dinamo can build on this and lift the level of Croatian club football by doing something next season in Europe.
Ivan Saranic RW
2 World Class goals today for Seveste – wow wow wow
6 goals in last 9 games
Nose pickers u watching ?
Oh wow, I forgot about Ivan Saranic.
Big talent back in 2021…then nothing.
Both Saranic and Kacavenda were big prospects, but Kacavenda blew his knees which ended his explosiveness.
Not sure what happened with Saranic.
Nice that he’s scoring in the second division of Croatia, but he’s not worth keeping an eye on as a 23 year-old playing in a bush league.
He needs to join a first league team.
Has Biondic moving from 4th division Germany to #1 club & a Championship League club in Belgium taught us nothing ?
Sometimes – for whatever reason – players take/need time to develop – that doesn’t mean every player in a lower tier is going to move up – it means that 1 in 100 (?) will
Is 2nd division Croatia worse than MLS (which is equivalent to League 2 i.e. 4th tier England) ???
RW battle: Ivan Saranic (22 y/o) vs. Marco Pasalic (25 y/o)
6 goals in last 9 games vs. 15 goals in 53 games (MLS last season)
He looks like Prso (hair), inks like Livaja (bad ass sleeves), and celebrates goals like Suker (pulse check)
Look at his build for 22 y/o (also similar to Prso) he looks like a man – he has a massive frame/constitution (!!!) (compare/contrast to Vidovic or Stojko that look like 13 y/o malnourished kids that haven’t reached puberty yet) – suspect he is good in ground duels and very difficult to shoulder/push off the ball (although you can’t see it in the highlights)
Here are the highlights (he could have had a couple additional goals and an assist):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ux56BLnhzLU
Let’s be open-minded – it’s not like we have any other true RW options aside from Marco – and all eyes on WC 2030 😉
Saranic must have played in the same Croatia youth team as Franjo and Biondic as they are all 2003 births (and I see Saranic played in all the Croatia youth teams)
Couple more recent goals he’s scored:
vs. Jarun Feb 2026 cross pass comes in from by-line into the box – he makes a run – and really great, albeit difficult, finish to put it in the corner
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MRAQUDvyVNg
vs. Croatia Zmijavci Nov 2025 – can’t find a video of it
vs. Orient Nov 2025 [CRNKOVIC – WATCH THIS (!!!)] – look at this INCREDIBLE technique / half-scorpion kick goal as he makes a run into the box and the pass comes in – f incredible ! From the entire highlights – he looks like the best player on the pitch (by a mile)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1l6Xn9K88Do
vs. Hrvace Oct 2025 Penalty (scored, but not great placement – kind of had a hockey assist on their 2nd goal) [good thing he got rid of the beard he looks more bad-ass now]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=45jlG1iPuSs
Soticek
P.S.
He has the same agent as Jaga – that’s how I came across the goals – one thing his agent is excellent about is posting every possibly thing (goals, assists, TOTW, awards, etc) he can about every one of the players he represents
Jakic got injured again. The injuries seem non stop for us this year.
Baturina, Jakic, Gvardiol, Stanisic, Sucic, Kovacic, etc.
I was also watching those devastating Spain losses in Euros. That one where we climbed back 3-1 to get to extra time. Dalic made the dumbest decision to put Brekalo at left back. That was also Gvardiol’s first tournament. It was the ball clearance too. So poor. We were scrambling all game.
Second game it where we got crushed 3-0, it was our defence pinching too high and allowing them to walk in. All ball watching too.
I can say the same about the France game we lost 2-0 to go to penalties. Not clearing the ball in our end and ball watching. We do give up lots of free kicks and let our opponents walk in.
I can go on in so many matches. We need to be way more aggressive and stop getting pushed in our 12 yard box. Ball clearance, coverage in 12 yard box and too much ball watching. Livakovic has bailed us so many times. I still believe our defence is good but needs more aggression. Where’s the Corluka & Srna passion?
Srna ❤️ ❤️ ❤️
What? How was Jakić injured?
Stojkovic needs to fix some things in the head but who cares I don’t need everyone to be an angel like modric.some of his red cards were soft, this last game was the-worst. Kid is alive I think once he actually plays in his true position a true # 10 like Cole Palmer he will shine even more. I will say playing in the right in a 4-3-3 with Zajc and misic will at least make him more ready and better all around player but he doesn’t suit it.
He’s been setback last couple seasons first season knee injury then the season he came back he was late due to setbacks when he finally came back playing out of position but still contributing. Then, This season in and out of lineup due to boban and kovacevic not knowing how to harness his talents.
Between his size strength speed he has most potential out of any of the #10 kids we talk about but what’s between the ears matters most if he can get that right man he will be great if not he will flop.
I think he suits EPL I don’t think that about most Croatian kids will see.
Well, Spurs used to be interested in him so who knows.
Sadly, Stojko slap not nearly sufficient violent conduct for Tttenham, but next game if Stojko decides to kick the opponent’s best defender 3 times while he’s on the ground, then slap/punch said defender in the face with two hands when they gets up, then elbows their striker when he comes in, then pushes/punches another midfielder in the face – and gets a 5 match ban as a result – they might, just might, be willing to spend 50 m pounds to buy him
***.reddit.com/r/coys/comments/1g7dez0/kudus_red_card_violent_conduct_spotv/?rdt=48015
Anonymous is the GOAT of ALL GOATs
https://x.com/croatian_footy/status/2027450152005292445?s=46
Dalic has already decided Pink Pandur will be the 3rd keeper at the World Cup in June (whose the 2nd one lol)
Anonymous was right (per usual) and all of you morons peddling crap keepers like Semper (like Mart lol) were WRONG
Anonymous right 99 morons wrong
Par for the f course
BhahahahHahabananNnBhahahahaha
Who care who the third goalie is. This is a typical Dalic thing call a guy who deserves to be there only because certain players are injured. He’s not gonna play anytime soon while dalic is coach and if Ivusic wasn’t t injured who sucks by the way pandur wouldn’t have been called.
Imo for the WC Dalic will call up one player from Dinamo, Rijeka and Hajduk. Had Jagusic stayed at Slaven Belupo and played well there was a chance that he also would have been called up, however with his move to Greece that is highly unlikely now.
From Dinamo it will be Livakovic, from Rijeka it will be Fruk and from Hajduk if Ivusic is fit and playing Dalic will call him up.
Third goalkeeper has minimum chance of playing and essentially goes there as a tourist.
How is Varela getting even a minute on the pitch ?
@Mart: can you tell us how much Bara is paying Boban to play him ? Does he pay by each appearance or is by minute-by-minute ? Does he pay more for Europe appearance ? How does it work ? It 100% doesn’t seem based on any kind of merit. If you don’t know maybe you can go visit Jelicic in JAIL and ask him how it works ? We’d all LOVE to know. Thx
What do I care about Varela and Dinamo, I support Hajduk. However, I do support and watch Dinamo, Rijeka and all our clubs when they play in Europe.
Varela did make that bad pass to Misic that led to Genks decisive goal, however I’m guessing that Kovacevic is playing him because they see potential in the kid and a decent transfer fee in the future.
As far as Jelacic is concerned he is not in jail jet and has been accused of lying at the Mamic trail in regard to player transfers at Dinamo. I did watch him regularly on MAXSport summarising all the weekend matches in HNL.
Jelacic a few weeks back on MaxSport criticised the way Hajduk was run.
He was absolutely spot on with his comments, however the hierarchy at Hajduk complained and threatened legal action leading to Jelacic being sacked from Maxsport programmes.
“I have nothing smart to say except that I want to apologize to my teammates, staff and fans for the red card. I am aware that I have to work on my emotions and I take full responsibility for my mistake… Thank you all for the messages of support you have sent me. It is up to me to learn from this and to repay the team and everyone who drives and lives for this emblem on the field, through work, fight and results”
Which moronic DZ fans are sending him “messages of support” ?
That’s exactly why he hasn’t learned to change yet
You guys keep condoning his behaviour – over and over again – when he gets his 4th red card – will you keeping sending “messages of support” ? How about the 5th ? and 6th ? when does it stop ?
Unreal
Stojko has more red cards (THREE) in 1,500 minutes this season
Than
Marko Livaja has in the LAST SIX AND A HALF SEASONS in c.23,000 minutes
Let that sink in
Again
Let that sink in
Nice goal – but he’s just a walking explosion waiting to happen – it’s really stilly he got triggered by nothing in the middle of the pitch – the defender was just close and barely had his arm on his back – and he thought it’s a good idea to slap him and end Dinamo’s hopes of Europe – very selfish – not team-focused/team-player
But let’s call him up to the Croatia NT and start him at the World Cup !
We don’t even need to get into – that Dinamo don’t train their #10s to be complete mid-fielders and play the “modern-way” – we saw what Cesc said about Baturina (that he has no idea why DZ just let him float offensively, with no running, no zero defensive ability) and it took Cesc 6 months to teach Baturina how to be an actually midfielder – it’s a DZ flaw thing – they let these offensive prima donnas do their offensive thing but do them a massive disservice in their careers by not teaching them how to be complete
Genk is 7th place in the Belgium Pro League
They started a Belgium U19 kid up front to give him some minutes and a bunch of other fringe players
None of their players are Internationals expect Ito
But let’s call up the entire Dinamo Zagreb squad to the Croatia NT and start them at the World Cup bc they lost to the B-team of the 7th place team in Belgium !
LMAO
P.S. Liva is a complete disaster – that first goal LMAO – the market is efficient – there is NOT ONE CLUB TEAM IN THE ENTIRE WORLD THAT IS WILLING TO MAKE LIVA THEIR #1 KEEPER NOT ONE – but he’s a guaranteed starter for Croatia NT – unreal
P.P.S Valincic has zero footballing IQ – he doesn’t know what to do other than run in a straight – he has no idea that he has to follow the LW when they run in behind him – over and over again – he got burned – his positioning and awareness is terrible and his brain is unable to compute and adjust
P.P.P.S. @Mart – stop believing everything you hear on TV – people on TV lie all the time – stop being naive they are pure and honest in their approach (rather than being bribed by agents, players, team officials etc) – here is the update on your esteem HNL commentator Jelicic who is facing 6 months to 5 years in JAIL for FALSE TESTIMONY
https://www.portal.hr/en/novosti/sport-hr/105267-podignuta-optuznica-protiv-joska-jelicica-zbog-laznog-svjedocenja
Not sure crnkovic actually watched the same game. Zajc was invisible most of the game, and dinamo were still in it until stojkovic decided to do what he often does. That red card isn’t 8/10 worthy
Stojkovic was absolutely class. Brilliant player. He has talent but also maturity in his decision making on the ball. Very brave and led the team throughout the game. Dinamo as a whole players fantastic match. Super motivated and they showed what they are capable of. Here are my player ratings:
Livakovic:
his distribution was good, also made a couple of trademark reflex saves and blocked 1 vs 1 by being quick off his line. Despite those positives his positioning was strangely off a couple of times getting too close to his near post. His lack of playing time at girona has made home a bit rusty it’s a very good thing he is playing again. – 6.5
Valincic: endless energy, excellent with the ball, confident and aggression. Couple of times questionable positioning. He is a defender, positioning is very important – 6
Galisic: the guy is a very underrated talent. Excellent technique and vision. Very aggressive and composed. Couple of boneheaded decisions though and also guess what….positioning. 3/4 times was way off. He may become a very good player, must continue to play and mature – 5
McKenna: solid outing from the Scotsman. Very strong and stable without being particularly special in any way. However he gets extra points for having to hold together a backline where EVERY OTHER defender is making positional errors. – 6
Goda: I’ve seen him play before and thought he looked useless, but he was really good today. Quick thinking, quality passing, hard running and confident energy. Hit the bar with a great effort first half. (Couple of kiks). – 6
Misic: same every game I watch him. Excellent at all the basics. Over runs the ball once or twice a game in dangerous positions, and lacks pace. Dinamo captain is his level. Unlikely to get capped due to his limitations. But integral to dinamo’s excellent performance today. – 7
Zajc: the guy is good. Runs non stop and always tries to do the right thing. Passes when he should pass, shoots when he should shoot. Tackles. A real team oriented player. Huge performance from him today – 7.5
Topic: this guy is very underrated. He is very strong and has very sharp technique and vision. He showed no fear. Playing like a seasoned veteran and linking sharply with the rest of the attack. Promising. – 6
Stojkovic: best player on the pitch (just! Some of the genius guys also played very well). Wonderful technique, massively courageous, highly intelligent. Created loads of good plays. Put the penalty away with zero fuss. Scored his second like a true world class talent. If he carries on like this he should get a call up in march, I don’t care. Clearly a hot head. Sent off for slapping the opponent. Also needs to improve his physical conditioning. – 8
Vidovic: his feet are like hands. Wonderful skill and good to see him using it for a change. He has potential. He played well today. BUT, another young guy who needs to wake up and fight everyday to reach his potential. The kid needs the gym (and probably a couple of slaps). Good though. 6.
Bakrar: worked very hard, scored the first goal, linked well several times. Good ability. Did well. -6
Super encouraging things overall. Perhaps dinamo can build on this and lift the level of Croatian club football by doing something next season in Europe.
Genk = genius according to auto correct on my phone. Lol
Great post @crnkovic. Thanks for those ratings and for the detailed review. . .
Vidovic has been largely written out of the script in recent times. No one really talks about him anymore, but at one time he was considered a very good prospect and was part of the discussion when people spoke of future NT players. I felt Vidovic had some bad breaks, particularly when he hardly got to play at all last season.
Glad to find out you still see some potential there.
If I recall right, in that previous season he had at Dinamo a couple of years back, he had some stats that compared favourably to Baturina.
Then he went back to Bayern and the Bundesliga, was loaned out to Mainz, had an injury during the season, hardly ever saw the field even when healthy, then was returned to Bayern but played very rarely when he got back there. Some bad breaks that continued throughout all last season.
And then this season, upon returning to Dinamo, he has not had many starts . . .
Hopefully he can turn it around and still has a good career ahead of him.
@tin. 100%
Forgive me using the phrase, I’m quoting truth or whoever says it, I’m not entirely comfortable with it due to the fact that I am, as some may have noticed, a full anarcho-communist – slightly to the left of Lenin, but…..I’ve noticed that some of the diaspora kids don’t live the za dom spremni lifestyle (😂😂). Matanovic with his bubble tea shop, Luka sucic and his wedding, and I think probably vidovic with his fairy energy. They really need to look at modric and also ask one of their teammates what the fans are singing when they sing vukovar. Instagram generation
Some of us would cut off our left hand to play for Croatia and these guys can’t be bothered to go to the gym. (Please don’t cut off my left hand I’m too old to play for Croatia now)
Buddy…this is great. Can I throw it in the post above?
Awesome analysis. I watched about 80 mins of the match.
Ofcourse Ante. As you like 👍🏻
Updated. Thank you. If you ever want to share your thoughts on future Dinamo games…the floor is always yours. 🙂
I missed the game but I read Stojkovic played well.
How did he get a red card? Lost his cool?
I guess this is the reason why Boban made that comment about him being ‘too wild’.
It’s such a shame because he could have been on the World Cup squad as our backup RW right now.
He was great at RW for Dinamo last season, and if he continued to start for Dinamo this season, he likely would have received a callup.
Good to know his quality and potential are still there.
A good effort by Dinamo today but they ran out of gas.
The problem was the previous game. The bottom line: you can’t let these opponents walz into Zagreb and beat you at Maksimir like they did in game one.
Despite the red card, Stojkovic showed his quality. I thought Livakovic was solid.