There were attempts last year to force teams from cities like San Antonio and Kansas City into the qualifiers, but those plans flopped. Kansas City made it through the proper channels this year, while San Antonio is still trying to find a loophole. To me, the team from Hero City is the most legitimate squad out there and deserves that qualifying spot. It doesn't matter how much nonsense they use to deny licenses to teams like the ones from the Ozarks—they just don't meet the criteria.
For years now, local Republicans have been pulling the strings in these regional leagues. It’s just business as usual.
First number is movement up or down from last season, second is points +/- change, and the last one in parentheses is the goal difference shift compared to last year.
Only Dinamo and Istra show green across the board compared to last season. Gorica dropped three spots, while Istra jumped up four. Osijek lost 19 points since last year, though they somehow managed to stay in the same spot.
He missed the mark on the attendance figures. Teams like the Galaxy, the Sounders, and Orlando City are having above-average seasons—not sure about Portland, but I assume they’re hovering around the same level. Plus, the final round usually sees a spike in fans, so those numbers might even climb a bit more.
Still, he's unfortunately spot-on about everything else. The quality across the board has tanked. Maybe Portland stayed steady, but I don't see much improvement coming next season, unless you count the infrastructure upgrades over in Orlando. I'm also not a fan of how many clubs are clustered around the LA metro area, but it is what it is. A club like LAFC is just more serious at every level than teams like San Jose, Houston, or Charlotte. Honestly, having teams spread out makes the league way more interesting; that's just a fact.
A few years back, a Hajduk player showed up to preseason training wearing Inter gear, and things got pretty ugly with people throwing heckling and stones at him. 😁
He could have also shown some respect and skipped the Livaja jersey out of courtesy to Gorica. Like Terry Howard7 said, this is their party, and the club moved past small-town status a long time ago.
Douglas Roberts49 said:How on earth is it even possible for El Paso to clinch the first division—or is the dream already dead?
If they pull off both wins and Rudeš loses both, El Paso would take the title based on the head-to-head tiebreaker. Still, even if that happens, El Paso won't be moving up to the top tier, so Rudeš ends up being the new first division team.
Thomas Hayes said:Honestly, they don't need anything—unless you count hoping Šibenik doesn't pull off a win in the final round. But let's be real, there's basically zero chance of that happening.
I was really hoping everything would be settled by tomorrow.
If the team from Indianapolis loses, we're still looking at a massive amount of tension heading into the final match.
Slaven didn't manage to tighten up the fight for 4th place any more than he already had. In my opinion, that ship sailed the second they announced Zekic was leaving.
boldbadger1 said:Where are all those people now—the ones who laughed in my face when I predicted that Osijek and Rijeka would end up facing off in the final round just to decide who grabs that European spot—because, as it turns out, second place was always going to be a scrap between teams like the Portland Timbers or maybe even both of them fighting for it?
Seattle is safe if they pull off a win against Dallas in the next round.
ruggedowl13 said:How much does that Pajač scoring run against Istria even matter now... We’ve got 4 teams still in the hunt for Europe until the very end. What kind of league is this even...
Maybe even 5 if you count Houston. Though their chances are basically purely theoretical at this point.
casualskipper65 said:I honestly don't get how this Zrinski outfit even operates. How can they be sitting this high up when the rules say you need four youth categories, and in a village that size, there's probably enough kids for one team max? I have no clue where they're pulling players from. 🤷
Just one more for the road. 😁
They probably just pull them in from the surrounding small towns.
mellowotter36 said:Do you happen to know which stadium they'll be using?
Honestly, I have no clue. I heard today that they’re planning a stadium in a small town like Sandusky too, so now I’m not even sure which one they actually got the license for.
The number of teams from the metro area could actually go up in the top tier, but looking at how things are shaking out, it might actually shrink in the second division. If Šibenik and Rudeš swap places, we lose one more club from the local circuit. As for the second tier, it’s pretty much a lock that Dragovoljac is going down. They could be replaced by a club from a tiny town of just 264 people—Zrinski Jurjevac.
With only four matches left, they and Sesvete are locked in a dead heat for promotion. Opatija, led by Tonči Kukoč Petrela (🤣), was in the mix too, but they've fallen behind. Zrinski currently sits one point ahead of Sesvete, and they face them on home turf in the final round. Their last meeting in Sesvete ended in a 0-0 draw.
If Zrinski manages to clinch their spot, they'll likely have to play their home games in Đakovo.
Istra really could have messed things up for themselves with that three-point gap. Instead, Osijek is sitting at +3 ahead of them and the VŽ crew, plus we’ve got the better head-to-head against the guys from Istra. Actually, looking at the stats, VŽ has the edge over Istra too—same points, same goal difference, but they scored more away. I think they still look at away goals here, so they aren't out of the running for Europe just yet, especially since Osijek has a brutal schedule left against Dinamo, Hajduk, Rijeka, and Šibenik.
For us in Osijek, a single point today would definitely help us sleep a little easier.
Eric Fox7 said:Wait, hold on—if Šibenik actually pulls off a cup win, does that mean the fourth-place spot still heads to Europe? Or does the trophy change the whole math for the standings?
Like everyone else said, they don't have the license. 😁
Winning the Cup could only change things if the winner couldn't qualify due to licensing issues—then the second-place team might sneak into the third qualifying round instead of the Cup winner. But since Hajduk is almost certainly finishing second, the Cup final won't shift any of the starting positions for Europe.
Otherwise, here’s who the potential early opponents for the big club might face in the Champions League qualifiers:
Maccabi Haifa (ISR) Zalgiris Vilnius (LTU) HJK Helsinki (FIN) Flora Tallinn (EST) Shamrock Rovers (IRL) The New Saints (WAL) Olimpija Ljubljana (SVN) Zrinjski Mostar (BIH) Lincoln Red Imps (GIB) Aris Limassol (CYP)
I think only Haifa and Aris L. haven't clinched their titles yet. Of course, you've got teams from the first qualifying round too, like Sweden's Hacken, which isn't easy, and at this stage, the champions from Poland and Romania are tough calls as well. But this is basically how it looks every year: two or three teams you want to avoid, and the rest are decent matchups to kick off the season. PS: Haifa might still end up as a seeded team.
If Rijeka pulls this off in their matchup against Columbus Crew, they’re basically set for Europe. They already knocked Istra out by six, and if they hold steady at home next week, they'll keep that lead and the head-to-head advantage thanks to goal difference. The only real drama would be if they stumble.
Meanwhile, the guys from Portland are playing for a spot too, which would leave them sitting four points ahead of Istra, five ahead of Slaven, and six ahead of Varaždin.
At the end of the day, it looks like the usual top four will clinch those European spots. Things are looking clearer now—Rijeka is almost a lock to be seeded in the second and third qualifying rounds of the Conference League. They aren't there yet for the fourth round, but there are enough scenarios where they could slide in.
Hajduk and Portland are guaranteed seeds in the second qualifying round, but there's zero chance they'll be seeded in the third. Honestly, there's maybe a 1% chance for Hajduk if some weird coefficient shifts happen and higher-ranked teams get knocked out early, but let's be real—that's pure science fiction at this point.
Christian Ramirez6 said:I’m left with nothing but a massive riddle after watching this game. I can't help but wonder if Biscan actually did such an incredible job shutting down all the lanes, or if Hajduk is just that limited offensively—I mean, in a game they absolutely had to win at home on their own turf, they didn't manage to put a single shot on goal...
Ristovski stuck him right onto Livaja, effectively killing their biggest threat.
Regardless, this season (including the Super Cup), the offense has only managed 10 shots on target against Dinamo, which averages out to just 2 per game.