It is more or less the middle of the Croatian soccer season as all of the Croatian clubs are now getting ready for winter break (HNL's 2nd division will not start playing again until February which is when they will complete their season). As a result, I thought this might be a good time to update the progress of the HNL (Croatia's domestic soccer league).
The format of the league is really quite simple. In the prva HNL (first division) which consists of 12 clubs, every club plays every other club 3 times for a total of 33 matches. The club that is at the top of the standings is crowned champion of the 2008-2009 season (no playoff is used to determine the winner. However, the HNL champion does qualify for the first round of qualifying in the 2009-2010 edition of the UEFA Champions League. The second place finisher qualifies for the second round of qualifiers of the 2009-2010 Europa League (formerly the UEFA Cup)-- which can be considered as somewhat of a consolation prize for those clubs that could not qualify for the Champions League. The third place finisher advances to the first qualification round of the Europa League 2009-2010. The rest of the clubs are eliminated from any international play. Clubs that finished 4th through 10th remain in the first division, but the club that finished at 11th after the 33 matches must play against the second place finisher of the druga HNL (2nd division) for one last chance to remain a member of the first division. If the the 2nd division club wins, that club will be promoted to the first division while the first division club is demoted to the 2nd division. If the 1st division club wins, the clubs remain where they are for the 2009-2010 season. The 1st division club that finishes in last place in the league is automatically demoted into the second division while the first place club in the second division takes their place. No second division club can qualify for a 2009-2010 international competition through league play. They must win the Croatia Cup (an elimination tournament that includes clubs from all levels of the HNL) to do so. The last place club in the second division in demoted to the third division (the lowest in Croatia's league system). Like the 2nd division, third division clubs must win the Croatia Cup in order to qualify for the Europa League (only the first division champion can qualify for the Champions League).
With that said, here is how the standings look right now as the clubs cease league play for winter break as well as what international competition they qualify for if they remain in that position for the remainder of the season:
In the first division, each club has played 18 matches a piece (about 55% of the season).
1. Dinamo Zagreb: if Dinamo Zagreb remains in first place, they are crowned HNL champions and qualify for the UEFA Champions League 09-10 Qualifying Round (if they lose in this round, they can still play in the Europa League)
2. Hajduk Split: Dinamo Zagreb's biggest rival are is currently only 1 point behind Dinamo Zagreb. should they remain in this position, they will advance to next season's Europa league 2nd Qualifying round.
3. Sibenik: will qualify for the Europa League 09-10 last qualifying round if they stay in this position. A fourth club will be sent to represent Croatia in the 09-10 Europa by way of the Croatia Cup. I at club ranked 1 to 3 win the Croatia Cup as well, the runner up will take the last spot unless that club is ranked 1 to 3 as well. Should this happen, the club ranked 4th will most likely take the Europa league spot (although I am not absolutely postive).
4. Slaven Belupo
5. Rijeka (my second favorite Croatian club--after Dinamo Zagreb. if they can play a little bit better in the first division or if they can make it farther in the Croatia Cup, I will start taking them more seriously (they are the closest club to the island of Krk where I visit almost every summer. They were eliminated in the second round of this season's Croatia Cup in a close series against Zadar (currently in danger of relegation into the 2nd division). Rijeka lost by one goal in the penalty shoot out.
6. Varteks
7. NK Zagreb
8. Osijek
9. Cibalia
10. Croatia Sesvete
11. Inter Zapresic: if they remain at this spot at season's end, they will have to play and win against the second place club in the second division (currently Istra 1961) in order to remain in the first division. If they lose, the second place club in the 2nd division will be promoted to the first division while they will be demoted.
12. Zadar: will be relegated to the second division if they remain in this position
HNL 2
For this league, I will only give a short description of what is going on. After 15 matches played per club, Slavonac is currently at the top with 35 points. The clubs in this division are really only playing for one thing-- to be promoted into the 12 club first division, and Slavonac is currently in a good spot to do so. While Slavonac will get an automatic qualification into HNL 1 in the 2009-2010 season, second place club Istra 1961 (only 4 points behind Slavonac) will most likely have to play in a playoff against the 11th ranked club in HNL 1. The final four clubs are relegated to HNL 3 (the lowest level in Croatian soccer). For more information (in English) regarding divison 2, click here.
Click here for more info regarding this season's Croatia Cup and here for more on the HNL First Division.
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