In the first leg of the Croatian Cup final, Slaven Belupo and Rijeka played to a 1:1 draw.

The final will span two legs, and Radomir Đalović’s Rijeka will have the opportunity to clinch the cup at home in the second leg scheduled for May 29th.

This would mark Đalović’s first trophy as a head coach, and he is also in contention for the title, holding a point lead over second-placed Dinamo with two rounds left to play.

Rijeka initially took the lead in Koprivnica in the 25th minute, thanks to Croatian international Toni Fruk, but Slaven equalized in the 69th minute with a goal from Antonio Bosec.

“The first half is over. In terms of our performance, we scored at the right moment and held our ground during the first half. We were stable, but we encountered some issues as Rukavina received a yellow card. We started the second half well and had opportunities to potentially secure the match with a second goal. However, Slaven demonstrated their quality by equalizing, and we faced challenges on the left flank. We unintentionally dropped back and created some situations for ourselves. The result remains active. I hope we will perform even better at Rujevica and secure the Cup,” commented Đalović.

Rijeka will face a crucial match against Hajduk at Poljud this Sunday.

“As you could see today, the Slaven players appeared fresher since they had the weekend off. We didn’t rest anyone. It will be the same at Poljud. We will see who can manage it. I congratulate my players; they deserve credit for reaching the Cup final and maintaining a favorable result heading into the second leg, along with having everything in their hands with two rounds remaining. Now, we’ll find out whether we will secure one or both trophies. We are going full throttle. No one has complained about Poljud, but we will assess the situation the day after the game,” the Rijeka coach stated.

News