FINAL SCORE: Hajduk 2-4 Villarreal
The Bili started with a bang, as youngster Stipe Biuk tapped in a long shot from Livaja at the second minute of the match. This high was short-lived as Villarreal’s response was to put 4 in the back of Kalinić’s net and take this game out of reach within the first 45 minutes. Substitute Marco Fossati did well with a last-minute penalty to cut the Spaniard’s lead to two to take this game back to Poljud for the second leg, with still a glimmer of hope remaining. And we all know that a miracle is possible in front of that crowd 😉
I think UEFA creating a third tier conference league was a good idea. However, they should have excluded teams from the top ranked counties i.e. England, Spain, Italy, Germany and France. Finishing 5th or 6th as in the case of Villarreal in Spain, means they play in Europe against far inferior clubs both in terms of finances and hence quality of the playing squads. I think this needs to be looked at by UEFA and lower ranked clubs and member associations should complain.
I had another look at that own goal that Livaja scored, if one did not know better you could say it was deliberate ? He won’t score a better headed goal all season for Hajduk. They teach you when defending corners or free kicks that you always stand goalside of the attacking players. Livaja made a school boy error by being on the wrong side of the Villarreal player and hence the resulting goal. This from a guy that plays at international level.
Watched the match on HRT 2 and in stoppage time they started showing ads, 5 seconds of ads than back to the match for 10 seconds and so on it went. Never seen that before, what a joke, luckily there were no further goals.
I mean Mandzukic had a similar mistake, atleast from the sound of it, in the 2018 finals. So it does happen to the best of players, and Livaja is not a defender by nature it’s not his mainstay. I am more frustrated at the fact that Livaja has not scored a single goal in all three of the conference league games, I think it may count against him in October for the call ups. To be honest, even as someone who roots for Hajduk, I am not impressed so far. It creates further issues for us up front because we now have to rely on Perisic, primarily, plus a mixture of the younger talent depending on their form. With our problem in goal it’s two problems that we cannot afford to have at the same time.
I think each game for us is going to have to be a defensive/midfield victory or we are going to be screwed. Just my thoughts. I hope I am wrong.
Maybe Dalic will have to start playing a mixture of Modric, Broz, with Sucic and Majer… Maybe some other younger offensive minded midfielders… I think this will have to be the way forward. And only the younger and speedy defenders assuming they get playing time for form and consistency.
It’s Croatia and World cup- some kid will come in and surprise everyone – I say it could be Majer- he and that other blond kid Sosa- my guess
Coric with another win.. starting to play well just before Davis Cup
Dalic has a few dilemmas to work out by November
What to say totally outplayed and the scoreline of 4 – 2 is flattering to Hajduk.
There is a huge difference in quality and luckily Villarreal took the foot of the pedal in the second half otherwise Hajduk’s record 5 -0 loss in Europe to Debrecen in 2005 was under threat. I have not been a big fan of Biuk on his past performances, but tonight I thought he was one of the better Hajduk players.
Hajduk lol, they got no guts and will never do anything, they’re embarrassing Croatia at this point and probably should consider a merger with Hrvatski Dragovoljac.
If I’m Dalic and we have World Cup final tomorrow I swear I’m taking ivusic to start
But I’m not dalic and I’m an idiot
But I still go with ivusic
I dunno Dannyj, anyone you pick it’s still scary for us. Its just one of those positions right now that we cannot fill confidently. Ivusic maybe the only option we have at this time , but that could be due to change frankly.
Is there not a Croatian Goalie if I recall in the MLS!?! I know there is one that got drafted from St-Johns last year too. What about that Goalie in Australia that beat the Aussie Champions?
I bet you they have a high probability of being better than the existing crop in country crop!! There is no fear in the American mentality I see in sports in general; our Croatian youth get that too that are born here in the US, Canada or Australia for that matter. Never say die really. It seems we need one that knows how to attack the ball, step into those crosses with conviction, have great reflexes. Can we start looking? Has anyone looked and can we start creating a short list for the HNS!?
We may assume HNS are looking but you all may be surprised that they really haven’t! Just saying.
Games like this your best players have to be their best and today, in my opinion, Stipe Biuk was good and worked to create chances and did what he could. Sahiti, Livaja and Krovinovic were all below their expected performances.
Krovinovic just seems too unsure of himself in his transition game…usually not advancing the play from defence through the midfield…he’s better when he’s creating in the opposing half of the field…but his job requires more.
Lovre Kalinic should have done better on two of the goals in my opinion…now we can go back to discussing starting goalies because he’s had 8 goals scored on him in his last two games!
I think you got it right Slavonac, the worst part of this is Lovre really. I am not sure what ace if any Dalic is gonna have up his sleeve when it comes to the goalie. I mean, honestly, I could do without having a traditional 9 with a mixture of some of these players in the midfield, but not having a good enough goalie is for me the scariest thing come world cup, that is our biggest issue by far. I dunno, hopefully Livakovic can prove us wrong, best case scenario I think. Maybe Ivusic, none of these options make me feel confident when it comes to the goalie position.
Dalić has to go with whoever is in- form in November. If any Croatian keeper is hot at the right time, we have to go with him. The same goes for bad form. Anyone who’s confidence is lacking just before the world cup, needs to stay on the bench. Historically, we always seem to misstime our goaltender selection ( not transitioning to the new in-form younger guy at the eight moment).
As for Hajduk, the 1st 10 minutes were fantastic! After that, their inexperience came out. I posted earlier, that a 2 goal deficite would be a good result. I still believe in miracles, and Poljud will be electric next week!
Glad to hear about biuk being a bright spot
Is 4-2 really that bad of a result? A lot of teams will lose by two goals to Villareal on the road this year. Maybe the picture changes in Poljud. That foul on Nikola Kalinic was ugly. Too bad the guy had to come out so soon. At least his knack for drawing fouls led to a goal.
Looks like the long lost Stipe Perica scored for his current club, in better news.
That depends on what you want out for the Croatian League. If all you want is to see the team make an appearance on the European stage then no it’s a decent result. If we are hoping one day to see our teams compete at the highest level against teams like Villareal, Real Madrid and the likes then no it’s not the greatest of results for Hajduk or Croatian soccer. In my view, you go to these tournaments to win and compete. This was a no contest by my assessment, if you just look at the stats alone.
It seems like it was also a terrible game for Livaja not just based on an own goal, but he hasn’t scored in 3 tournament games in the Conference League. This calls into question his ability to play at a higher level. All of these things measured up are bad for us on general.
At least colak is scoring in bigger games against bigger comp
So in essence both Petkovic and Livaja are miss because neither of them doing well at the moment.
Livaja didn’t look so bad, but Villarreal knew his teammates would be trying to give him the ball and marked him very tightly. They took a chance letting Krovinović, Biuk, and Sahiti have a lot of space to manoeuvre but without the option of making good passes to Livaja. Anyway, the difference in quality of opposing teams is why Budimir is likely Croatia’s starting striker. Even those defenses can’t hold him
HŠK Zrinjski Mostar just beat Slovan Bratislava 1-0 at home tonight. A great result. Some people forget there’s a second Croatian team doing well in the Europa Conference, even if they play in the Bosnian League.
4 – 1 HT. This could get ugly and appears to me that Hajduk is heading for a record loss in Europe ? Dream start, although lucky that there was no VAR as Biuk looked to be marginally offside. Villarreal just to fast too good. Lets hope that they take the foot of the pedal in the second half.
4-1 Villareal half time. That was pretty much what I was expecting. Unfortunate own goal, and depending on the shots this could call Kalinic into question as a keeper what kind of shots are they producing that are going in.
We really do have a problem with our goaltending position I just do not see that being filled by anyone at this time.
Lol. Complete amateurs. Embarrassing
I’m not trying to be a dink so Ante and U14 don’t attack me for this.
In the initial write up of this column, it was suggested that Villarreal might not be as interested to win or that this game or this league isn’t very important. That’s a huge assumption that is your personal assumption and I feel it’s too personal of an opinion…maybe a little out of touch with what ls realistic and reality!
Don’t get mad and lash out at me again. As soon as I saw what you wrote (I think you now took it down), I knew you were off base.
It’s 3-1 at the moment and there’s still a lot of time!
😘
Yes, it was my opinion.
Watch Villareal this season. I’m sure they’re going to love to have to fly to Latvia or Kazakstan 3 days before they have to play Barcelona or Real Madrid. And for what? Better to focus on the league season than this 3rd tier garbage tournament IMO.
English teams dump Europa qualifying all the time. This is Conference League. Even worse.
yeah playing in those countries is tough and can be especially tough when the weather changes, nevertheless, clubs do prepare and make adjustments at all points throughout the season and this season just started so most players aren’t as exhausted as they might be later on in the season.
I also think that La Liga is less physical than EPL…which does make a difference.
hind sight is 20/20…u should have commented this before the score line was 3-1 Slavonac…even Croatian media was thinking they will come out with their C squad
I did earlier this morning…look down at the bottom of the page, I replied to Mate1:
“I agree with you 100% Mate1. Professional teams behave professionally and they wouldn’t throw away the opportunity for another trophy and money. The challenge might be that Villarreal may have injury issues or they might be managing player minutes to ensure they are not tired and more competitive in their league. I said this the other day…if one of our teams (Hajduk and Dinamo) advance in Europe and the other doesn’t…the team that doesn’t will have a fresher lineup for the season and its an advantage for them and in Villarreal’s case, they went far last year and still did ok in La Liga finishing 7th and then making it to the semi finals in Champions League…losing to Liverpool!”
Well, that was fun for a few minutes…
Anticlimactic eh! Lol
Villa playing a 325….they crowd Hajduks defense, they dominate more spaces on the field. Not impressed with Hajduks tactics….
slabo….smh
Shite
An own goal was not what I had in mind??
I hope that Livaja can make something happen in this game, not that it will be easy he needs to start cementing his place in the National Squad. He cannot do this without being a constant threat up front.
Anyone using the paramount in Canada? Nothing comes up when I search Hajduk or soccer
Anyone know what Croatian tv channel is showing the game? Can’t find it anywhere.
This game is available on Paramount+ in case anyone has it.
1-0!!!! Can someone stream me please
Hopefully they don’t blow their load and keep it going
You can get it on a free trial Paramount+
I’m a bloody Canadian
Can I get it?
Also biuk with the goal
Making good on me saying sucic deserves the nomination for best young baller not him
Love it
Find a stream on youtube…try “hajduk live”
It’s been long since we have had much to get excited about for hajduk
Last year was a positive this year continuing the trend
It’s only good for Croatia if Dinamo and hajduk(of course others can be in supporting roles) perform well
As a diaspora I can’t hate any team back home and want them all to succeed but of course it’s pretty special if hajduk can get back to some winning ways
My spidey senses are telling me Hajduk will come out on top today. Villa has no desire for this match. But than again if they play their C team, those guys can be hungry sometimes and may want to show that they deserve a spot on the starting line up.
https://www.givemesport.com/88049130-ivan-perisic-corners-spurs-man-took-set-pieces-with-both-feet-vs-chelsea?fbclid=IwAR0dMK_-SiJHshb-iU9rmNaGtIvqkcdRVQ2bYni172KQzStnlHRk3oK4lmc
Jebeni Englezi
If he was in England in his prime he would be known as one of the best ever lol
I sure hope Perisic puts in a couple of good years there and for us still. I feel overall never got the credit he has deserved
I think he will, he has the same coach he had with Inter that is definitely working his favour. He already made a difference opening play for the Spurs by setting up Kane with a goal. I am not worried about Perisic at all.
Agreed! Never got the credit he deserves. He’s a total stud, I guarantee he will become a fan favorite in spurs if he keeps healthy.
https://www.croatiaweek.com/two-croatians-shortlisted-for-worlds-best-young-footballer-award/?fbclid=IwAR2g-AIXUTGW134I1JB4ZxipCSRmZ84Dldc_Ba-0rcQKyVkJbw0dR41BN4Q
Can someone explain to me how biuk makes the short list and not sucic
No hate on biuk at all but just last week the American version of ziva istina said biuk was leaning towards a bust
I would say Sucic is miles ahead of Biuk unfortunately. This shouldn’t even be a question really. 9 goals in Austrian Bundesliga last season, which is a much more difficult league than HNL Prva Liga by coefficient. Nearly scoring for us in the Nations League, arguably could have made a bigger impact with more time, despite playing only 15 minutes in the entire tournament for us. I don’t think you can compare the two until Biuk has so.ilar success in an outside league.
Don’t get me wrong, Biuk could be a great player, but you have to take this into account.
That’s exactly what I am saying
I sure hope biuk turns to be the goods but no way is he higher than sucic at this point
But all good, I hope the pundits are right
I think time will tell. But I hope Biuk develops we need all the help we can get at this stage seeing how we are dealing with scoring issue and goaltending issues.
And the Biuk scores against Villareal in the first 3 minutes!! Lol, it’s like he is trying to tell us something lol! I know it’s still early in the game but seriously Biuk! Lol
Good luck to Hajduk!
Hoping for a miracle…who knows, Velika Gospa was celebrated a few days ago 🙂
I think losing by 2 goals or less would be a good result for Hajduk.
Villarreal will play their strongest lineup in the first leg hoping to win by large enough margin, making the second leg a formality. A few days ago I saw their coach state that he want’s to win the conference league just like Roma did last season. I’m just hoping that it is not over after the first leg ? It’s a tough task, but you never know Hajduk might surprise us ?
The coach has to say that. What’s he going to say?…”I hate that we finished 6th and have to play in this God foresaken 3rd tier torunament”
Villareal winning Conference is like Croatia winning Nations League. Sure, it’s a trophy. But it’s not the one you want.
Maybe Ante, but when Croatia beat France in the Nations League it was still an important victory was it not?? You cannot say that France didn’t try to win in that game , they sure as hell did try. Sure it would been, hands down, much better if that was a win in the final of 2018 but that doesn’t take away from the win in my view.
I’m not sure I understand this article fully. Why would a team not want to win the conference league trophy?? The conference league trophy is still a trophy
I think your shooting for the stars here, a tournament is a tournament for any team they are going to want to win. Villareal is not just just going to sit by and play the C squad, not even sure what there C squad looks like given how far that came in UCL last season.
Not sure how that stands as an accomplishment for Hajduk if they are handed a win by the another team, if this is the type of thing we need to ask for it says very little for the Croatian league in general.
As a Hajduk fan, I think they need to train the younger players much better and start retaining those players better. If Baturina and Modric both slipped through the hands of Hajduk owners and scouts than maybe they need to invest in better management and scouting. Maybe this should be the focus instead of winning a tournament superficially.
I agree with you 100% Mate1. Professional teams behave professionally and they wouldn’t throw away the opportunity for another trophy and money. The challenge might be that Villarreal may have injury issues or they might be managing player minutes to ensure they are not tired and more competitive in their league. I said this the other day…if one of our teams (Hajduk and Dinamo) advance in Europe and the other doesn’t…the team that doesn’t will have a fresher lineup for the season and its an advantage for them and in Villarreal’s case, they went far last year and still did ok in La Liga finishing 7th and then making it to the semi finals in Champions League…losing to Liverpool!
Coric just beat Nadal.. nice
Whaaaaaaaat! That’s awesome!