Good news for Rijeka and Hajduk: Opponents stumble
Midtjylland drew in the Danish league, while Rakow suffered a defeat and remain pointless at the bottom of the Polish league, ahead of the Conference League playoffs with Croatian clubs.
Midtjylland drew in the Danish league, while Rakow suffered a defeat and remain pointless at the bottom of the Polish league, ahead of the Conference League playoffs with Croatian clubs.
Fans of Rijeka and Hajduk can look forward to Thursday's first-leg playoff matches in the Conference League with optimism. Their opponents, Denmark's Midtjylland and Poland's Rakow, failed to impress in their Sunday domestic league outings, which is certainly good news for the Croatian representatives.
Midtjylland traveled to Lyngby in the fourth round of the Danish championship and played out a 1-1 draw. The Danish club, for whom Croatian defender Martin Erlić played the full match, took the lead in the 50th minute through Iheanacho. The hosts equalized nine minutes later via Fraulo.
After three rounds played, Midtjylland sit third in the table with seven points. Lyngby are 11th with two points, while leaders FC Copenhagen have nine. Rijeka will travel to Herning on Thursday for the first leg of the playoff.
Rakow, Hajduk's opponent, fared no better. The Polish club lost 1-2 away to Cracovia in the fourth round of their domestic league, despite leading 1-0 at halftime. Rakow took the lead in the 31st minute through Makuch, but Hasić (56) and Pila (75) turned the game around for Cracovia, for whom Mauro Pavlović played the entire match.
For Rakow, Fran Tudor and Marko Bulat were not available for selection. After three rounds, Rakow remain without a single point and hold the last place in the standings. Cracovia are ninth with five points, while leaders Legia have ten. Hajduk and Rakow will play the first leg in Split on Thursday.
Rijeka, on Sunday, visited Varaždin in the third round of the HNL and suffered a 0-2 defeat, their first league loss of the season and the first since Matjaž Kek returned to the Rijeka bench. Both goals for Varaždin were scored by Ivan Mamut, in the 20th minute with a header from Tavares' cross and in the 31st minute from the penalty spot. With that win, Varaždin maintained a perfect record and, with a maximum of nine points, share the top of the table with Osijek, while Rijeka are sixth with three points and a game in hand.
Ahead of the clash in Varaždin, Rijeka coach Matjaž Kek highlighted the quality of the hosts. "Varaždin are a team that hasn't changed much and is excellently managed. Last year they finished ahead of Rijeka in the league, and they also had European commitments in Europe. A team with their own pride and their own style of play, especially at home. We'll need to be good to compete," said Kek, adding that they successfully opened the season with wins against Rudeš and in the European away match in Tampere, but that the focus is on the domestic league.
On the other side, Varaždin coach Nikola Šafarić emphasized the importance of good play and a winning mentality. "Of course, it's much nicer to work when you're winning. Regardless of the wins, what pleased me most is the way we play, especially in the last match. It's important that the boys work, that we follow what we've envisioned, and that we try to transfer that to the pitch as much as possible. Ahead of us is a match against a very good Rijeka. We showed last year that we know how to play against them. They are very good, with a new coach and new energy, they play more lively and faster, and they look better to me. But at home, we also have a say. We want to continue our good run and positive results, and that's how we'll approach it from the start," said Šafarić.
The match at the Varteks stadium was played in front of 3,424 spectators, with Ivan Vukančić from Benkovac officiating. Yellow cards were shown to Sikošek of Varaždin and Živković of Rijeka.
