Round with a View of Cup
On Saturday, all 5 Croatian top division clubs will fulfill their obligations in the 8th round of the Premier League, with four clubs, their players, and staff more likely to be thinking about the next week, Tuesday and Wednesday. Moreover, all clubs are not even hiding this fact much, which is logical.
On Tuesday and Wednesday in Zagreb, the final tournament of the Croatian Cup awaits. The battle for the second trophy of the season, the first trophy for both Zagreb and Sibenik. Let's not forget the Super Cup where Split and Dubrovnik faced each other.
However, the situation is not much different in Serbia, which will have its Cup Final Four on the 29th and 30th of this month. Let's focus on the Premier League.
Weakened Opponents Clash in Gruz
The Dubrovnik match between Jug Adriatic Insurance and Radnicki Kragujevac is surely one of the intriguing encounters, with the clubs' names being among the 'stronger' pairs. They are also clubs in similar, not very enviable states, from the injury list to results.
Maro Jokovic and Mauro Prkoca are injured for Jug, while center Bogdan Djerkovic is with the Canadian national team in the World Championship 2025 qualifications. Radnicki, on the other hand, played on Wednesday and suffered a heavy defeat in the Champions League against Ferencvaros, but without the injured Marko Jankovic and Strahinja Rasovic, both left-sided players.
Furthermore, both clubs have results that do not meet the expectations of their fans. The team from Kragujevac has been eliminated from the Champions League (they will continue in the Euro Cup), while Jug has suffered as many as 5 defeats in the 7 matches played in the Premier League so far. However, Dubrovnik was surely encouraged by their victory against Strasbourg by 4 points in the Euro Cup. The atmosphere there is surely very different from Radnicki's, who struggled against the European champions Ferencvaros in the last Champions League match (16:4).
Rijeka Tests Jadran
The national champion, Split's Jadran, will have a strong test before the final tournament of the Croatian Cup. Rijeka's Primorje EB will visit the Poljud pool. A team that almost surprised Novi Beograd in the last round, losing literally a few seconds before the end.
Jadran is an excellent team, with fantastic centers - says Split's center, Karlo Dragosevic, who joined from Mornar this summer.
We have to watch out for their counter-attacks, especially for Fatovic. And when we add their goalkeeper Marko Bijac, through whom goals won't pass easily... We will have to prepare very well for that game.
Moreover, Jadran and Primorje EB already met earlier this month, precisely in Split. In the Cup qualifiers, it ended 12:8 for Jadran, with a score of 3:3 after two quarters
Easy Task for Mladost
The Frogs indeed should not have trouble in the upcoming round in Zagreb. Besides playing in their own pool, they will host the weakest team in the league, Valis from Valjevo. The only team with no points from 7 matches played. It's hard to believe that they could break their losing streak in Zagreb.
Tough Task for Solaris
Sibenik faces a completely different situation than Mladost. Solaris is going on an away trip, facing a team that has not been defeated all season in all competitions, Novi Beograd. The Serbian champions were on the verge of defeat a week ago in Rijeka, providing an additional warning to Zivko Gocic's players.
Sibenik has been preparing for the Cup semifinals in Zagreb next Tuesday for days, looking to exploit some weaknesses of Jug Adriatic Insurance. The possibility of reaching the Cup final would be one of Solaris' greatest achievements in domestic competitions.
