July 26, 2024 – The European qualifiers officially kicked off last night. Hajduk and Osijek came out on top in the first leg of the Conference League second qualifying round, while Rijeka drew in their Europa League opener.
Hajduk
Hajduk won in their first official performance of the new season, beating HB Torshavn from the Faroe Islands 2-0 (2-0) at Poljud. This was the first match of the second qualifying round in the Conference League.
Filip Uremović scored the first goal in the 19th minute and Marko Livaja scored a penalty in the 30th to make it 2-0. Hajduk must finish the job in seven days away against Torshavn.
This was the first official match coached by the legendary Gennaro Gattuso. Before the match, 30,000 Hajduk fans thunderously greeted former Croatia national team player Ivan Rakitić, who arrived at the Split club this summer. Rakitić could debut in the Hajduk jersey in the second leg next week.
Osijek
Osijek had a convincing European start at Opus Arena, beating the Estonian club Levadia 5-1 (4-1) in the first match of the second qualifying round of the Conference League.
Levadia took the lead at Opus Arena when Jakovlev found the back of the net, however that goal ended up meaning very little. The player of the match was Ramon Mierez, who needed less than the first 30 minutes to score three goals for Osijek. Renan Guedes scored the fourth goal in the 34th minute, and Domagoj Bukvić scored the fifth in the 68th minute for the final 5-1.
Should Osijek advance to the third qualifying round of this competition, they will play against the winner of Azerbaijani club Zira and FC DAC 1904 Dunajska Streda. Zira won 4-0 in the first leg at home.
Rijeka
Rijeka played 0-0 against the Romanian second-league team Corvinul in the first match of the second qualifying round of the Europa League.
Rijeka will try to confirm their place in the third round at Rujevica, where the second leg is played in seven days.
Corvinul proved to be a solid team and already showed their strength in the first round after knocking out Hungarian Paksi FC. Corvinul is also the current winner of the Romanian Cup.
Stay tuned for the return matches next Thursday, August 1st!
