Tomorrow UEFA will conduct the draws for the 1st and 2nd round qualifying as the Euro season starts in a few weeks. Like last season the same four clubs will participate.
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: Dinamo Zagreb
Dinamo will learn their 2nd round qualifying opponent tomorrow and they will be seeded throughout the qualifying rounds so they should be favorites to make it to the Champions League (though last season they were seeded in the playoffs and they are likely to lose some important players). Regardless, Dinamo shouldn't have any issues getting into a minimum the EL group stage
EUROPA LEAGUE: Rijeka, Osijek, Hajduk Split
Rijeka don't enter until the 3rd round so they won't know their opponent until July 22. They are seeded for the third round but unlikely to be seeded in the playoff
Osijek will learn their opponents tomorrow but the groupings for the 2nd round probably won't come out until tomorrow morning. Osijek are seeded in the 2nd round but won't be beyond that. 2nd Round won't be a cake walk as there are teams from Poland, Romania, Bulgaria, Serbia unseeded
Hajduk too will know their first two opponents in Europe tomorrow, barring a disaster in the 1st round. Their possible opponents are: Flora Tallinn, Torpedo Kutaisi, OFK Titograd, Gzira and St. Julia/Europa. Hajduk will be seeded for the first two rounds, in the third round they are on the bubble, need some higher seeds to lose (which usually happens) but won't be in the playoffs
This season will be difficult in terms of defending points as 6.875 points are coming off the board, so while getting 15th place was great it will be equally hard to retain it. Essentially 5 teams are fighting for that spot now (Croatia, Cyprus, Greece, Switzerland, Serbia). Denmark in 14th place is a full 4 points away so its tough to catch them
Hajduk draw Gzira United from Malta in the 1st round, first leg away return leg at home (though in Dugopolje). This is only their third time ever in Europe with their previous two appearances being in the 70s and last season where in comparison they easily lost to a Serbian club
And a mistake from the opening post, Dinamo, Osijek and Hajduk will learn their 2nd round opponents tomorrow
Dinamo draw the winners of Sheriff Tiraspol/Saburtalo Tbilisi with the first leg being away. If it’s Sheriff seems like the hundredth time they will play them
Yeah lots of experience with Sheriff. I expect it to go like every other time we played them ( not counting that first meeting back in 2010 I think) if we do indeed get them.
Hajduk beat Gzira 2:0 in the first leg in Malta, not a pretty game but it’s the first game of the season plus it was played in extreme heat like the NT from few weeks ago
Hajduk had a lot of chances in the first half bur got sloppy in the second as the Malta squad got a couple of great chances (even scoring an offside goal). The new signing Dolcek looked good going forward and was rewarded with the late goal.
Dinamo will play Saburtalo Tbilisi for their first Euro opponents, they actually won 3:0 in Moldova but lost the return leg at home 3:1 (they were down 3:0 at one point)
Osijek will play CSKA Sofia who easily beat OFK Titograd
There are some good Hajduk fans out there so this is not to them. But for those annoying Hajduk dimwits who have constantly shit on Dinamo and complained how we've underachieved. Your shitty team is a joke and I don't want to hear another bad word about Dinamo from now to ever.
Tomorrow is the third round draw and the groupings have been made. For the first time in a long while Dinamo could actually draw the Serbian champions (Red Star) and for once when the Croatian media says they can draw Zvezda its actually fact and not clickbait.
Dinamo: PAOK (GRE), Qarabag/Dundalk, Maribor/AIK, Red Star Belgrade/HJK Helsinki, Maccabi Tel-Aviv/Cluj, Valletta/Ferencvaros
*Some tricky ties, PAOK is probably the only one to really avoid looking at football reasons
Rijeka: Fehervar/Vaduz, Haugesund/Strum Graz, Malatyaspor/Olimpija Ljubljana, Chickhura Sachkhere/Aberdeen, Ventspils/Gzira
*Rijeka should be favorites against anybody but in the past few years Rijeka have been poor in Europe losing to teams from Scotland and Norway (which are options in this draw again). Also the mighty Gzira could do the Croatian double :rastgele:
Osijek: Sparta Prague (CZE), Espanyol/Stjarnan, Domzale/Malmo, AEK Athens (GRE), Buducnost Podgorica/Zorya Luhansk, Arsenal Tula/Neftchi Baku
*Osijek are unseeded so will have a tough draw and they also must pass CSKA Sofia which isn't a guarantee. I think if they avoid Espanyol and AEK Athens they should have a decent shot
Dinamo draw the winners of Ferencvaros/Valletta, first leg at home. If they don't pass Saburtalo they will drop to the EL qualifying where they will play Santa Coloma/Astana
Rijeka draw the winners of Chikhura Sachkhere/Aberdeen with the first leg being at home. They have some recent history with Aberdeen whom they lost to a few years ago
If Osijek progress past CSKA Sofia they will play the winners of Buducnost Podgorica/Zorya Luhansk, not too bad of a draw
Another Croatian club in Europe, the pride of Mostar and symbol everything that's good and righteous in this world, HŠK Zrinjski, drew 1-1 with Utrecht away. Return leg this week in Mostar!
Dinamo getting it done against the minnows in an empty Maksimir, Olmo makes a comeback woth a goal and an assist, Petković also lively bagging himself a goal and an assist too.
Osijek-CSKA heading to penalties, this is a tie Osijek should have won by now but CSKA did almost score at the end of the game and probably should have had a penalty kick too, but overall they showed very little before the 2ET
CSKA Sofia advance on penalties, already two sides out of Europe just as we hit August, 5 teams in Europe will be a quick one year thing I'm afraid unless both Dinamo and Rijeka go into the group stages and actually get results (Croatia were 18th before today's win, now 17th). Both Osijek and Hajduk really should have advanced. The only positive news is the main competition for 15th this season is Cyprus and Greece, neither league that strong
But with Dinamo likely making the CL, they won't achieve as many coefficient points as last season unless some miracle happens and Rijeka won't be seeded for the EL playoff (if they get past Aberdeen)
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