Dinamo Zagreb remains the champion of Croatia
Dinamo Zagreb defended the title of Croatian champion and is the champion for the fifth season in a row. Since the secession of that country from SFR Yugoslavia, the club from Maksimir has won 24 titles, Hajduk lost only six (the last in 2005), and one each to Rijeka (2017) and NK Zagreb (2002).
This weekend, Dinamo “confirmed” the title right on the field of its biggest rival, Hajduk from Split, where a point was enough for them and they won it with a goalless draw. Thus, with a big celebration with the fans, the team from Zagreb confirmed its dominance in the current season played the group stage of the Champions League for the eighth time, but also went through a series of turbulences. Along with the friction in the club due to the struggle of several currents, but also the departure of coach Ante Čačić and game holders Arijan Ademi (in China) and Mislav Oršić (in Southampton), Dinamo managed to remain first in the championship and in the end still calmly defend the most important trophy, regardless of the attacks of Hajduk from Split.
Next summer, Dinamo will qualify for the Champions League from the second round, which means they will need to jump three hurdles to reach the group stage. In that part of the competition, he could play against Crvena zvezda, who, as the champion of Serbia, will qualify directly for the time being it will not be in the same hat as the people of Zagreb. The duel between the Serbian and Croatian champions could have happened at the beginning of last season, but Sherif surprised the red and whites in the qualifiers, and then the “blues” and thus prevented the decades-awaited match between the great rivals from the Yugoslavian era.