Since I am leaving for Croatia tonight and I won't have internet 24/7 there I decided to open this thread now. Believe it or not the European season for some of our clubs starts before the World Cup even ends. All four teams will know their first opponents on Monday with RNK Split playing already on July 3
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: Dinamo Zagreb
Dinamo will enter the 2nd round and as expected they will be seeded for the second and third rounds. In the second round there shouldn't be any problems but the likes of Malmo (who Dinamo almost lost to a couple years back) or Zrinjski Mostar could be tricky. The Norwegian champs are also unseeded. Dinamo will be seeded in the third round too where they can potentially face a team like Partizan or Legia Warsaw.
Once again though, Dinamo will start unseeded in the playoff round, though in the last two years results have gone their way to get seeded. If all things go to plan these are their potential opponents
Red Bull Salzburg (AUT)
Steaua Bucharest (ROU)
APOEL Nicosia (CYP)
Celtic (SCO)
BATE Borisov (BLR)
Dinamo is two spots behind BATE (Sparta is ahead) so they will need two of these teams to get eliminated early. Dinamo's coefficient took a hit last season due to their disastrous Europa League campaign
EUROPA LEAGUE: Rijeka, Hajduk Split, RNK Split
RNK Split begin their Europa League campaign already in 2 weeks as they will be seeded in the first round. At this level the trickiest teams are from Kazakhstan who are already in midseason and have some money or Azerbaijan. If RNK Split progress, they will be unseeded the remainder of the qualifying.
Both Hajduk and Rijeka enter the second round and the good news is both will be seeded in the third round if they progress. The second round shouldn't be too many problems for either but tricky teams in the 3rd round could be Romanian sides Astra and Petrolul or Vojvodina
Neither team will be seeded in the playoffs if they make it that far
Croatia enter next season ranked 20th in UEFA but well behind 19th place Denmark. I suspect they will stay there for this season, hard to see any movement this season even dropping from 20th
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: Dinamo Zagreb
Dinamo will enter the 2nd round and as expected they will be seeded for the second and third rounds. In the second round there shouldn't be any problems but the likes of Malmo (who Dinamo almost lost to a couple years back) or Zrinjski Mostar could be tricky. The Norwegian champs are also unseeded. Dinamo will be seeded in the third round too where they can potentially face a team like Partizan or Legia Warsaw.
Once again though, Dinamo will start unseeded in the playoff round, though in the last two years results have gone their way to get seeded. If all things go to plan these are their potential opponents
Red Bull Salzburg (AUT)
Steaua Bucharest (ROU)
APOEL Nicosia (CYP)
Celtic (SCO)
BATE Borisov (BLR)
Dinamo is two spots behind BATE (Sparta is ahead) so they will need two of these teams to get eliminated early. Dinamo's coefficient took a hit last season due to their disastrous Europa League campaign
EUROPA LEAGUE: Rijeka, Hajduk Split, RNK Split
RNK Split begin their Europa League campaign already in 2 weeks as they will be seeded in the first round. At this level the trickiest teams are from Kazakhstan who are already in midseason and have some money or Azerbaijan. If RNK Split progress, they will be unseeded the remainder of the qualifying.
Both Hajduk and Rijeka enter the second round and the good news is both will be seeded in the third round if they progress. The second round shouldn't be too many problems for either but tricky teams in the 3rd round could be Romanian sides Astra and Petrolul or Vojvodina
Neither team will be seeded in the playoffs if they make it that far
Croatia enter next season ranked 20th in UEFA but well behind 19th place Denmark. I suspect they will stay there for this season, hard to see any movement this season even dropping from 20th
