2020–21 Croatian First Football League

The 2020–21 Croatian First Football League (officially Hrvatski Telekom Prva liga for sponsorship reasons) was the 30th season of the Croatian First Football League, the top national championship for men's association football teams in Croatia, since its establishment in 1992. The season started on 14 August 2020 and finished on 22 May 2021.

Hrvatski Telekom Prva liga
Season2020–21
Dates14 August 2020 – 22 May 2021
ChampionsDinamo Zagreb
RelegatedVaraždin
Champions LeagueDinamo Zagreb
Europa Conference LeagueOsijek
Rijeka
Hajduk Split
Matches played180
Goals scored456 (2.53 per match)
Top goalscorerRamón Miérez (22)
Biggest home winDinamo Zagreb 6–0 Lokomotiva
Biggest away winVaraždin 0–5 Dinamo Zagreb
Highest scoringGorica 3–4 Dinamo Zagreb
Gorica 3–4 Rijeka

The season began with games being played behind closed doors due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[1]

Teams

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On 20 May 2020, Croatian Football Federation announced that the first stage of licensing procedure for 2020–21 season was complete. For the 2020–21 Prva HNL, ten clubs were issued a top level license: Dinamo Zagreb, Gorica, Hajduk Split, Istra 1961, Lokomotiva, Osijek, Rijeka, Slaven Belupo, Šibenik and Varaždin. All of these clubs except Šibenik and Varaždin were also issued a license for participating in UEFA competitions.[2] In the second stage of licensing, clubs that were not licensed in the first stage could appeal on the decision. On 17 June 2020, Croatian Football Federation announced that the licensing procedure for 2020–21 season was complete. Inter Zaprešić and Orijent 1919 were also issued a top level license after appeal process.[3]

Stadia and locations

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Dinamo Zagreb Gorica Hajduk Split Istra 1961
Stadion Maksimir Gradski stadion Velika Gorica Stadion Poljud Stadion Aldo Drosina
Capacity: 35,123 Capacity: 5,000 Capacity: 34,198 Capacity: 9,800
       
Lokomotiva Osijek
Stadion Kranjčevićeva Stadion Gradski vrt
Capacity: 5,350 Capacity: 17,061
 
Rijeka Slaven Belupo Šibenik Varaždin
Stadion Rujevica Stadion Ivan Kušek-Apaš Stadion Šubićevac Stadion Varteks
Capacity: 8,279 Capacity: 3,205 Capacity: 3,412 Capacity: 8,850
     
Team City Stadium Capacity Ref.
Dinamo Zagreb Zagreb Maksimir 35,123 [4]
Gorica Velika Gorica ŠRC Velika Gorica 8,000 [5]
Hajduk Split Split Poljud 34,198 [6]
Istra 1961 Pula Stadion Aldo Drosina 9,800 [7]
Lokomotiva Zagreb Kranjčevićeva1 5,350 [8]
Osijek Osijek Gradski vrt 17,061 [9]
Rijeka Rijeka Rujevica 8,279 [10]
Slaven Belupo Koprivnica Stadion Ivan Kušek-Apaš 3,205 [11]
Šibenik Šibenik Šubićevac 3,412 [12]
Varaždin Varaždin Stadion Varteks 8,850 [13]
Rank Counties of Croatia Number of teams Club(s)
1   City of Zagreb 2 Dinamo Zagreb, Lokomotiva
2   Koprivnica-Križevci 1 Slaven Belupo
  Osijek-Baranja Osijek
  Primorje-Gorski Kotar Rijeka
  Split-Dalmatia Hajduk Split
  Šibenik-Knin Šibenik
  Varaždin Varaždin
  Zagreb Gorica
  Istria Istra 1961

Personnel and kits

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Club Manager Captain Kit manufacturer Sponsors
Dinamo Zagreb   Damir Krznar   Arijan Ademi Adidas Lana grupa
Gorica   Siniša Oreščanin   Aleksandar Jovičić FCG
Hajduk Split   Paolo Tramezzani   Lovre Kalinić Macron Tommy
Istra 1961   Danijel Jumić   Slavko Blagojević Kelme Croatia Osiguranje
Lokomotiva   Samir Toplak   Josip Pivarić Adidas
Osijek   Nenad Bjelica   Mile Škorić 2Rule DOBRO, Stadler
Rijeka   Goran Tomić   Franko Andrijašević Joma Sava Osiguranje
Slaven Belupo   Tomislav Stipić   Goran Paracki Adidas Belupo
Šibenik   Sergi Escobar   Marko Bulat Jako Krka National Park
Varaždin   Zoran Kastel   Marko Stolnik Legea Radnik, Derma

Managerial changes

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Team Outgoing manager Manner of departure Date of vacancy Replaced by Date of appointment Position in table
Istra 1961   Ivan Prelec[14] Contract expired 14 July 2020   Danijel Jumić (caretaker)[15] 16 July 2020 Pre-season
Hajduk Split   Igor Tudor[16] Signed by Juventus 21 August 2020   Hari Vukas[17] 8 September 2020 3rd
Istra 1961   Danijel Jumić (caretaker) Signing of Budicin 26 August 2020   Fausto Budicin[18] 26 August 2020 10th
Osijek   Ivica Kulešević[19] Sacked 4 September 2020   Nenad Bjelica[20] 5 September 2020 8th
Hajduk Split   Hari Vukas[21] Sacked 4 November 2020   Boro Primorac[22] 4 November 2020 6th
Varaždin   Samir Toplak[23] Sacked 7 December 2020   Zoran Kastel 7 December 2020 9th
Gorica   Valdas Dambrauskas[24] Signed by Ludogorets 3 January 2021   Siniša Oreščanin[25] 3 January 2021 3rd
Lokomotiva   Goran Tomić[26] Resigned 9 January 2021   Jerko Leko[27] 9 January 2021 8th
Hajduk Split   Boro Primorac Removed from position 18 January 2021   Paolo Tramezzani[28] 18 January 2021 5th
Istra 1961   Fausto Budicin[29] Sacked 11 February 2021   Danijel Jumić[30] 11 February 2021 10th
Rijeka   Simon Rožman[31] Resigned 27 February 2021   Goran Tomić[32] 1 March 2021 4th
Lokomotiva   Jerko Leko[33] Removed from position 13 March 2021   Samir Toplak[34] 14 March 2021 10th
Dinamo Zagreb   Zoran Mamić[35] Resigned 15 March 2021   Damir Krznar[35] 15 March 2021 1st
Šibenik   Krunoslav Rendulić[36] Sacked 23 March 2021   Sergi Escobar[37] 30 March 2021 6th

League table

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Dinamo Zagreb (C) 36 26 7 3 84 28 +56 85 Qualification for the Champions League first qualifying round
2 Osijek 36 23 8 5 59 25 +34 77 Qualification for the Europa Conference League second qualifying round
3 Rijeka 36 18 7 11 51 46 +5 61
4 Hajduk Split 36 18 6 12 48 37 +11 60
5 Gorica 36 17 8 11 60 47 +13 59
6 Šibenik 36 9 8 19 32 47 −15 35
7 Slaven Belupo 36 7 13 16 36 53 −17 34
8 Lokomotiva 36 7 9 20 29 60 −31 30
9 Istra 1961 36 7 8 21 27 52 −25 29
10 Varaždin (R) 36 6 10 20 30 61 −31 28 Relegation for the Croatian Second Football League
Source: PrvaHNL.hr
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Head-to-head points; 3) Head-to-head goal difference; 4) Head-to-head goals scored (at home if two teams tied); 5) Goal difference; 6) Goals scored; 7) Play-off
(Note: Criteria 2-4 and 7 is only used if deciding champion, teams to international competition or teams for relegation and in that case criteria 6 will not be used).[38]
(C) Champions; (R) Relegated

Results

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Each team plays home-and-away against every other team in the league twice, for a total of 36 matches each played.

Home \ Away DIN GOR HAJ IST LOK OSI RIJ SLA ŠIB VAR DIN GOR HAJ IST LOK OSI RIJ SLA ŠIB VAR
Dinamo Zagreb 3–2 3–1 5–0 6–0 4–1 0–2 3–3 1–2 4–0 1–0 2–0 1–0 2–0 1–0 2–0 3–0 1–0 2–2
Gorica 3–4 2–1 2–2 1–1 4–1 0–0 0–1 3–2 1–0 0–3 1–1 2–1 4–2 1–0 3–4 0–1 1–0 0–0
Hajduk Split 1–2 2–4 2–0 0–1 1–1 1–2 2–2 0–1 2–0 1–1 4–0 1–0 2–0 0–1 3–2 2–2 1–0 2–0
Istra 1961 0–1 1–1 1–0 3–1 1–4 1–2 2–1 1–0 0–1 0–1 0–2 0–1 1–1 0–2 1–2 1–0 3–2 0–1
Lokomotiva 1–1 1–2 1–2 0–0 0–3 1–0 2–1 0–4 2–2 0–2 0–3 0–2 0–1 0–2 2–3 3–1 1–0 4–0
Osijek 2–0 2–1 1–2 1–0 2–1 3–0 0–0 1–0 1–0 1–1 1–1 2–0 2–1 2–0 2–0 3–0 3–0 1–1
Rijeka 2–2 0–2 0–1 2–1 1–0 1–1 2–0 2–1 2–1 1–5 2–1 0–1 1–1 3–0 0–0 1–1 2–2 2–0
Slaven Belupo 1–5 1–2 0–2 5–1 0–0 0–1 1–3 0–0 2–0 0–2 0–1 1–1 1–1 0–0 2–2 0–2 2–2 1–0
Šibenik 0–2 1–3 0–1 1–0 3–2 0–2 2–0 0–3 0–1 1–1 1–1 0–2 1–0 0–0 0–4 0–1 2–0 0–0
Varaždin 1–2 1–5 4–2 1–1 1–1 0–1 2–1 1–2 1–3 0–5 2–1 0–1 1–1 0–1 2–3 2–3 1–1 1–1
Source: Prva HNL (in Croatian)
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Statistics

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Top goalscorers

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As of 22 May 2021[39]
Rank Player Club Goals
1   Ramón Miérez Osijek 22
2   Mario Gavranović Dinamo Zagreb 17
3   Mislav Oršić Dinamo Zagreb 16
4   Kristijan Lovrić Gorica 15
5   Franko Andrijašević Rijeka 13
6   Deni Jurić Šibenik 11
7   Mijo Caktaš Hajduk Split 9
  Ognjen Mudrinski Gorica
  Bruno Petković Dinamo Zagreb
10   Ivan Krstanović Slaven Belupo 8
  Robert Murić Rijeka

Awards

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Annual awards

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Award[40] Club Winner
Player of the Season   Bruno Petković Dinamo Zagreb
Manager of the Season   Nenad Bjelica Dinamo Zagreb
Young Player of the Season   Joško Gvardiol Dinamo Zagreb
Team of the Year[40]
Goalkeeper   Dominik Livaković (Dinamo Zagreb)
Defence   Igor Silva (Osijek)   Mile Škorić (Osijek)   Joško Gvardiol (Dinamo Zagreb)   Rasmus Lauritsen (Dinamo Zagreb)
Midfield

  Lovro Majer (Dinamo Zagreb)

  Arijan Ademi (Dinamo Zagreb)

  Luka Ivanušec (Dinamo Zagreb)

  Mislav Oršić (Dinamo Zagreb)
Attack

  Bruno Petković (Dinamo Zagreb)

  Ramón Miérez (Osijek)

References

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  1. ^ "HNL se do daljnjega igra bez publike". Index.hr (in Croatian). Retrieved 22 December 2020.
  2. ^ "Završen središnji postupak licenciranja u prvom stupnju". hns-cff.hr (in Croatian). 20 May 2020. Retrieved 20 June 2020.
  3. ^ "Završen središnji postupak licenciranja". hns-cff.hr (in Croatian). 17 June 2020. Retrieved 20 June 2020.
  4. ^ "Stadion Maksimir". prvahnl.hr. Retrieved 6 July 2018.
  5. ^ "ŠRC Velika Gorica". prvahnl.hr. Retrieved 6 July 2018.
  6. ^ "Stadion Poljud". prvahnl.hr. Retrieved 6 July 2018.
  7. ^ "Stadion Aldo Drosina". prvahnl.hr. Retrieved 27 February 2021.
  8. ^ "Stadion Kranjčevićeva". prvahnl.hr. Retrieved 6 July 2018.
  9. ^ "Stadion Gradski vrt". prvahnl.hr. Retrieved 6 July 2018.
  10. ^ "Stadion HNK Rijeka". prvahnl.hr. Retrieved 6 July 2018.
  11. ^ "Stadion Ivan Kušek-Apaš". prvahnl.hr. Retrieved 6 July 2018.
  12. ^ "Stadion Šubićevac". prvahnl.hr. Retrieved 13 August 2020.
  13. ^ "Stadion Anđelko Herjavec". prvahnl.hr. Retrieved 13 August 2020.
  14. ^ "Potpuni kaos u HNL klubu koji vode stranci! Tri dana prije početka lige nema trenera, nema direktora..." sportske.jutarnji.hr. Retrieved 22 December 2020.
  15. ^ "Istra 1961 još nema trenersko rješenje, Danijel Jumić do daljnjeg ostaje na klupi". sportnet.rtl.hr. Retrieved 22 December 2020.
  16. ^ "Sad je i službeno: Igor Tudor napustio Hajduk i prešao u Juventus!". gol.dnevnik.hr. Retrieved 22 December 2020.
  17. ^ "Hari Vukas potvrđen kao glavni trener Hajduka". novilist.hr. Retrieved 22 December 2020.
  18. ^ "Istra 1961 dobila novog trenera! Na klupu kluba s Aldo Drosine sjeda bivši kapetan Fausto Budicin". sportske.jutarnji.hr. Retrieved 22 December 2020.
  19. ^ "Osijek i službeno potvrdio kako Ivica Kulešević više nije trener kluba, nasljednik će mu biti Bjelica?". novilist.hr. Retrieved 22 December 2020.
  20. ^ "SLUŽBENO: Nenad Bjelica novi je trener Osijeka!". gol.dnevnik.hr. Retrieved 22 December 2020.
  21. ^ "Hari Vukas smijenjen s pozicije trenera Hajduka". nacional.hr. Retrieved 22 December 2020.
  22. ^ "Boro Primorac novi je trener Hajduka". hr.n1info.com. Retrieved 22 December 2020.
  23. ^ "[VIDEO/FOTO] Samir Toplak dobio otkaz, a u klub na čijem je čelu sin izbornika Zlatka Dalića dolazi iskusni prvoligaški trener?". tportal.hr. Retrieved 22 December 2020.
  24. ^ "Mindaugas Nikoličius i Valdas Dambrauskas odlaze iz HNK Gorice". hnk-gorica.hr (in Croatian). Retrieved 3 January 2021.
  25. ^ "Siniša Oreščanin novi trener HNK Gorice!". hnk-gorica.hr (in Croatian). 3 January 2021. Retrieved 9 January 2021.
  26. ^ "Goran Tomić više nije trener NK Lokomotive". nklokomotiva.hr (in Croatian). 9 January 2021. Retrieved 9 January 2021.
  27. ^ "Jerko Leko novi je trener Lokomotive!". nklokomotiva.hr (in Croatian). 9 January 2021. Retrieved 9 January 2021.
  28. ^ "Paolo Tramezzani novi je trener Hajduka!". Hajduk.hr (in Croatian). 18 January 2021. Retrieved 18 January 2021.
  29. ^ "Hvala Fausto Budicin" (in Croatian). NK Istra 1961. Retrieved 14 March 2021.
  30. ^ "Dobrodošao Danijel Jumić!" (in Croatian). NK Istra 1961. Retrieved 28 February 2021.
  31. ^ "Simon Rožman više nije trener Rijeke" (in Croatian). HNK Rijeka. Retrieved 28 February 2021.
  32. ^ "Goran Tomić novi trener HNK Rijeka" (in Croatian). HNK Rijeka. Retrieved 1 March 2021.
  33. ^ "Jerko Leko više nije trener Lokomotive". nklokomotiva.hr (in Croatian). 13 March 2021. Retrieved 14 March 2021.
  34. ^ "Samir Toplak je novi trener Lokomotive!". nklokomotiva.hr (in Croatian). 14 March 2021. Retrieved 14 March 2021.
  35. ^ a b "Priopćenje za medije" (in Croatian). GNK Dinamo Zagreb. Retrieved 15 March 2021.
  36. ^ "Krunoslav Rendulić više nije trener prve momčadi!" (in Croatian). HNK Šibenik. Retrieved 23 March 2021.
  37. ^ "Sergi Escobar novi je trener Šibenika" (in Croatian). HNK Šibenik. Retrieved 31 March 2021.
  38. ^ "Propozicije natjecanja za prvenstvo Hrvatski Telekom Prve lige za natjecateljsku godinu 2020/2021" (PDF). hns-cff.hr (in Croatian). 12 August 2020. Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 September 2020. Retrieved 12 August 2020.
  39. ^ PrvaHNL.hr
  40. ^ a b Wizard, Social. "Trofej nogometaš: Izabela Lojna najbolja igračica Prve HNLŽ | HNTV". www.hntv.hr (in Croatian). Retrieved 1 December 2022.
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