Dinamo Zagreb clinched their 11th consecutive championship over the weekend after defeating NK Istra 1961 1-0. HNK Rijeka helped expedite the inevitable by dropping points to RNK Split on Sunday, mathematically eliminating them from the championship and entering Dinamo in the second qualifying round of the UEFA Champions League.
With two matches left, Dinamo would win the league on goal differential even if they dropped the final two games.
Marko Pjaca continued his triumphant return, scoring the lone goal for the second week in a row, this time giving Dinamo more than just a win, but the championship.
“I am really happy about this win because we are so close to the title. It wasn’t an easy task, we were aware of Split’s quality, but I think our victory is deserved,” Marko Pjaca said after the match, before the title of champions was official. “Of course I am happy because I scored and I would like to thank to Schildenfeld. He made a fantastic assist. I feel great, my injury is behind me and I am happy I could help the team today.”
Dinamo are now in third place on the chart of most consecutive champions for a football club in Europe with 11. They fall behind Skonto Riga who have 14 and Rosenborg with 13.
HNK Rijeka kept the race close until the end, but ultimately fell too far behind with too few games left. Rijeka set a the tone for future seasons though, having kept the gap to Dinamo the smallest its been since 2009/2010 when Hajduk lost the championship by only four points. Since then, Dinamo has won the league by an average of 17 points.
Rijeka knew that if they won, they would have kept pace with Dinamo, but ultimately succumbed to a 0-0 draw with RNK Split.
Hajduk Split had little to play for as the secured third place on the table, even after dropping a match away to Osijek 2-1.
Fans of Osijek were celebrating the 28th birthday of the Koherta, Osijek’s supporters group.
With the season all but done, it’s time to say goodbye to NK Zagreb who will be spending next season as members of 2.HNL – barring if HN KK Sibenik or HNK Cibalia can obtain a first-league license in time to join the 1.HNL. NK Istra 1961 will also have to face one of the clubs in the relegation/promotion playoff series if the licenses are obtained.
HNK Rijeka have qualified to enter the second qualifying round of the 2016 Europa League, taking second place while Hajduk Split will be entering the first qualifying round. RNK Split and NK Lokomotiva are battling for fourth place to see who will join Hajduk in the first round of the Europa League.
In the 2.HNL, relegation is set for Zadar after their loss to NK Hrvatski Dragovoljac, who are also in the fight to avoid relegation.
Zadar will spend next season in the 3.HNL.
Hell yeah. Maybe I’ll even follow them up to NYC for the Cro Heritage game.
Tamp Bay Rowdies sign Joe Cole.
Exciting times for Colin O’Haravic! 😉
Jet fuel can’t melt steel beams lmfao. @bz sorry about my last comment to you, ridiculous of course, but still not nice. Have to remember not to post when drunk..
Albanians are nucking futs!
hmm isn’t world cup 2018 in russia?
you think they will want kosovo playing there if they qualify???
this should be interesting
i know a few guys from kosovo and let me tell you they hate serbs more then most croats hate em
http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/news/y=2016/m=4/news=boban-croatia-s-time-may-come-at-russia-2018-2782212.html?cid=newsletter_en_20160428_interview
http://www.croatiaweek.com/euro-2016-croatias-chances-in-france/
I’m not surprised that the Serbs are taking such an unorthodox approach when thinking about these fires.
“Too many churches have burned to call it an accident,” said Dr. Dušan T. Bataković, a former Serbian ambassador who is now director of the Institute for Balkan Studies in Belgrade.
“Within the last six months, the Serbian church was urging Pope Francis not to canonize into a saint Cardinal Stepinac, for his complicity in the large-scale massacres and genocide against the Serbs, Jews and Roma [Gypsies],” Bataković said.
Croatians are upset that Serbia is opposing the canonization of Cardinal Stepinac, so Croatians have started to burn down Greek, Macedonian, Serbian and Russian unorthodox churches. Why not just Serbian churches?
So the Pope postponing the canonization of Cardinal Stepinac, supposedly gives Croats motive.
Batakovic is a genius, I never woulda thought of that!
My theory is they’ve burnt their own churches down.
How can the New York Post publish something like that?
A Serbian church burns, and the NYFD says that nothing looks suspicious about it, then the article just goes on and on about how Croatia and Serbia fought a war and implies that Croats did this as some sort of retaliation?
What the fuck? This is absurd.
@Bobby V
closest thing would be if Hajduk won, probably same experience as the Leicester fans
Kosovo should just join with Albania, make Albania better.
Didn’t know Kosovo could have a decent team.
It’ll be interesting to see what Halilovic does if he doesn’t get any quality playing time at the Euros.
If you know anything about the potential players that could play for Kosovo, I’d say they would instantly be better than Slovenia, Montenegro, Macedonia and Serbia – and as good as Bosnia.
http://www.foxnews.com/world/2016/05/03/serbia-shocked-by-uefa-decision-to-accept-kosovo.html
Can’t say Dinamo and their fans celebrating their 11th in a row is anything like the feeling Leicester City and their fans just experienced – like two different worlds.
Would be funny if Man City win it all and then replace Pelegrini with Guardiola.
hahahahaha….Pep is a looooooser!!!
It never stops. They have a 24/7 machine.
Elvis this is absolutely terrible…OMG!!! This is one of the worst things I have ever read in regards to Croatia and the propaganda against us.
Here they go again.
http://nypost.com/2016/05/02/coordinated-attack-feared-after-massive-cathedral-blaze/
My apologies for my inherent cynicism.
Is 11 consecutive titles a sign of Dinamo dominance or a sign of a weak league? Hmmm…..
I’d put money on having no teams relegated this year due to licensing issues with Cibalia and Sibenik. If the constant survival of this league doesn’t prove Croatian resilience, I don’t know what does.
Dinamo with all their off field distractions still had the mental fortitude to win the league.
This truly is a mighty victory.
Is it good for a league when one team wins 11 years in a row? I think not.
In that case other teams have to manage themself better. Has nothing to do with the setup. Hajduk should be in first but so many crooks within steal and this impacts them in a negative way.
@ Armada87
No, I am not impressed. I do not like the set up that one team has an ability (financially, and others don’t) to buy players from other teams in the league so they become the channel for players to go and play in Europe. This way, everybody who has any talent ends up in Dinamo. With the money Dinamo gets for transfer, they are able to bring more talented players from outside, also. If they would not win, it would be a news of the century for the Croatian soccer.
@ Maminjo
Istra are not relegated yet. Being they are 2nd to last, they play the 2nd place team in the relegation playoff. Right now, its looking like that will be either Sibenik or Cibalia.
Istra are pretty terrible, but those teams both blow too. Would be a toss up to see who goes down and who goes up.
Also, keep in mind – the licensing issue. If neither Sibenik or Cibalia get a 1st division license, they could technically beat Istra but if they are not licensed to promote, they stay down.
I actually thought Istra were going to take that “next step” and maybe get to the level of a Lokomotiva or RNK Split.
Shame. Istra (team and the region) has a great footballing history and pretty good fans (Demoni).
I might be incorrect here… but Istrarska zupanija hasn’t supplied a NT player since the days of Jasmin Agic LOL Manuel Pamic was suppose to be given a look at LB during Bilic’s reign, but that never panned out.
I would love to hear from that Glover guy about the future plans of Istra now that Istra has been relegated.
Bravo Dinamo.
@ Anonymous
You’re not impressed by Dinamo taking home title #11 in a row?!
I’m not impressed.
NK Bjezigrad has fallen on some tough times, huh?