At the same time Dinamo, Hajduk and Lokomotiva have matched the best success of Croatian teams in the first two qualifying rounds of European competitions considering Dinamo, Varteks and Split five years ago reached six wins and two draws
Croatia currently holds 15th place in UEFA’s coefficient scale, the last position that enables two national clubs to qualify for the Champions League in the 2018/2019 season. Croatia would in this case have five teams in Europe, meaning half the Croatian National League would play in European competitions, Index.hr reported on July 23, 2016.
Croatia is currently vying for 15th place ahead of Romania and Austria. Croatia has a 21.875 coefficient and all its clubs still competing in European matches, Romania is at 21.150 and has four of five teams in Europe, while Austria is at 19.850 and has all four clubs still competing.
This season all three Croatian clubs won seven out of eight points (1 point for winning in qualifications, half for a draw), while the state coefficient is gained by dividing the number of points won with the number of clubs from nation still competing (1.750 this season).
A big thing for Croatian football was done by Hajduk in the second qualifying round of the European League. A goal from Ohandza and a 2:1 win against Iasi brought in half a point for Croatia, making the success bigger by eliminating one Romanian representative from Europe.
In the third qualifying round of Champions League Dinamo is facing Dinamo Tbilisi and is a great favourite in those matches, while a much harder task is at hand for Croatian teams in the European League. Lokomotiva faces Vorskla, Hajduk against Oleksandria and Rijeka versus Istanbul Basaksehir.
It would be great if Croatia were to have three representatives in the play-off, out of which at least two would go into group phase since Austrians have the powerful Red Bull in Champions League and the Romanians Steaua. In this case it would be quite close to preserving 15th place until the end of the season and for the first time in a decade send two teams to the Champions League.
