Andrej Kramarić secured Hoffenheim’s status in the Bundesliga next season with a MOTM performance (2 goals, 1 assist) in a 4-2 victory over 4th place Union Berlin and Croatian teammate Josip Juranović Saturday. Krama cooly converted a penalty in the 36th minute to make it 2-0 and then tapped in from a few yards out in the 90th to make it 3-1. Krama would assist nine minutes later to cap off the match at 4-2.
Kramarić has 12 goals and three assists in 31 Bundesliga matches this season. At 31 years old, you have to consider that a huge success to post these kinds of numbers in the German Bundesliga. Juranović and Union Berlin “should” lock up 4th place and a Champions League berth for next season with a win versus Werder Bremen next weekend in the final match of the German season.
Mario Pašalić scored his fourth Serie A goal of the season Saturday after stealing the ball from the Verona keeper in the 54th minute. Pašalić kept pressure on the keeper as he got too cute with one too many touches. It would result in the game winner in a 3-1 Atalanta win over Verona. The victory temporarily moves Atalanta into a Conference League berth for next season.
Joško Gvardiol and RB Leipzig absolutely shook up the German title race with a huge 3-1 win over Bayern Munich on Saturday. With the win, Leipzig secure a spot in next season’s Champions League. It also means that Borussia Dortmund will now be crowned Bundesliga champions with a win over Mainz next Saturday. Gvardiol started and played 87 minutes of this match.
Marcelo Brozović played the last 35 minutes of Inter Milan’s 3-1 loss to Napoli Sunday. The loss means Inter only sit two points above rivals AC Milan for Italy’s last Champions League berth for next season. If they lose to Man City in the UCL Final, they will have to grab four points in their final two matches to guarantee a trip back to Europe’s promised land.
Gabriel Vidović scored one of Vetesse’s six goals in a 6-0 thumping of Groningen Sunday. (no highlight available). This is Vidović’s fourth goal of the Dutch season in 25 matches while on loan from Bayern Munich. He is only 19 years old.
Berlin can still stay in champions league I think
They just need to win their last match??
mathematically Freiburg can get in, if they make up a 4 goal swing
Big win for Leipzig
Don’t know how gvardiol played but great way to leave the team if he indeed does leave now
@Maminjo
https://croatiansports.com/andrej-kramaric-season-grade-c/#comments/495629
Yes Dalic needs to start planning for 2024 and 2026, especially for the latter. By and large the lineup/selection from now till EC2024 won’t need to change much except to integrate those players you mentioned but post 2024, when the transition takes place as we look to qualify for WC2026, there’s going to be quite a lot of changes and the situation won’t be as comfortable for Dalic. He ought to start paying attention to younger players and give them some minutes whenever possible, after all qualification for EC2024 is not really at risk as you’ve also mentioned. I hope he is taking the long view since WC is the most important tournament and the qualification is also harder.
Well, the for 2026 the big changes would be Perisic and Modric.
I think we’re young enough in the other positions, but Modric and Perisic are our two most impactful players so it will be interesting to see how we can possibly replace them.
To be honest, Perisic wasn’t his elite self at the past World Cup. He scored that Japan goal out of nowhere (in typical Perisic fashion), but wasn’t as menacing as he usually was in any of the other games (other than maybe against Belgium). In a way, Orsic outshone him in many of the latter games like Brazil and Morocco.
So, I think we already got a taste of what life without Perisic is like…and I think we’ll manage.
Replacing Modric, on the other hand, will be such a wildcard.
Maybe the combination of Kovacic, Broz and Majer will work well enough (in terms of creativity and skill) that the impact won’t be as severe.
The central midfield is always our strongest suit, so it may not be as negatively impactful for us since we always seem to have a trio of midfielders able to play like the ball is glued to their feet.
Maybe Modric dies a slow National Team death, and sticks around as a backup (or as a player coach) who can be deployed off the bench to play a vital role in the last 20 minutes as a late sub (with fresh legs). I would love this.
I think Luka Sucic was the likeliest player that could be an impact midfielder that would be a better player than Majer for us in that role…but his injury will hurt us here.
Can Real Modrić take off the rest of the season?
T – minus 4 weeks till UNL vs Holland.
Love Ancelloti but Modrić can no longer carry Kroos.
I am glad Modrić has all the support within the Croatia squad he needs to continue to work his magic.
Dalic has to take young hungry legs that want to prove themselves.
I pray our boys want to win a trophy for Croatia this June.
Thunderbirds goaltender Thomas Milic named 2023 WHL Playoffs MVP
Jebes li sta?
Kramaric with the brace including an easy 2nd goal. Essentially secures Hoffenheims place in Bundesliga next year
Also he’s Hoffenheims first 100 goal scorer
He’s having a strong end to the season, just in time for Nations League.