Croatia 1. HNL 2014-15 League Preview

On July 18th all ten of the club in the 2014-15 1.HNL league will see some action. The Croatian League comes into the new season ranked #20 by UEFA for top Leagues. Dinamo Zagreb are the defending champions and will play in the Champions League this year, starting in the second qualifying round. Rijeka finished second last year eleven points behind the champs. They will see in action in the Europa League along with third place finisher Hajduk Split. Both clubs will enter in the second qualifying round. RNK Split will also play in the Europa league. They started in the first qualifying round and already have a 2-0 win at home to their credit.

Joining those four clubs in the new season are Istra 1961, Lokomotiva Zagreb, Osijek, Slaven Koprivnica, Zadar and Zagreb. Again this year these ten clubs will be playing four one Champions league spot and three Europa league spots for 2015-16.

The first round games are as follows:
Dinamo Zagreb   vs Slaven Koprivnica
Zadar vs RNK Split
Osijek vs Lokomotiva Zagreb
Hajduk Split vs Istra 1961
Zagreb vs Rijeka

Danish Superliga: 2014-15 Preview

We are less than two weeks away from the start of the 2014-15 Superliga season. The defending champions are AaB. Besides AaB, Kobenhavn will also see action in the Champions League this season after their second place finish. A trio of clubs will see some action in Europa League, Brondby, Esbjerg and Midtjylland will represent Denmark.

The new season kicks off on July 18th with only match involving Nordsjaelland and Vestsjaelland. The next day will also bring only one match as SonderjyskE hosts AaB. Three matches will be played on the 20th of July, the are OB hosting Hobro, Silkeborg welcoming Kobenhavn and lastly Midtylland and Brondby playing each other. On July 21st the first round of the new season will be complete as the last two clubs meet. Esbjerg will welcome Randers to close out week one.

This season is very important for the Superliga as they have not had great results in European competitions so have drop to #19 in UEFA's rankings meaning only the champion will play in the 2015-16 Champions League. They will still get three clubs in the Europa League for 2015-16.

UEFA Europa League 1st Qualifying Round: 1st Leg RNK Split vs FC Mika

On July 3rd, 2014 RNK Split was the first club from a top twenty league to play a match in European competitions this season.

Starting their season in the first qualifying round of the 2014-15 Europa League RNK Split from Croatia hosted FC Mika of Armenia. Coach Ivan Matic was hoping for a big win at Stadion Park Mladezi in Split to get his club on the right track before the start of the new Prva HNL season.

RNK is captained by Goalie Danijel Zagorac, who only faced two shots on target in his clubs 2-0 win. Tomislav Glumac put the home club ahead with a goal in the 39th minute. Aljosa Vojnovic made it a two goal lead with his score in the 87th minute. Mika could not put anything together all match as they attempted only five shots on goal with only two of those being on target.

RNK now has a two goal advantage heading into the second leg at Mika Stadium in Yerevan on July 10 with a date in the second qualifying and a match-up with Hapoel Be'er Sheva of Israel.

RNK blasted the FC Mika goalie with 19 total attempts. Now only five were on target but the conatant pressure was felt. Milos Vidovic was booked in the 72nd minute for the only booking on the match.

RNK Split players who saw action:
90 minutes
Danijel Zagorac(GK)
Tomislav Glumac
Aljosa Vojnovic
Ante Erceg
Milos Vidovic
Dario Rugasevic
Nino Galovic
Ivan Ibriks

Limited Action:
Denis Glavina (Started 63mins)
Mate Bilic (Started 86mins)
Henri Belle(Started 46mins)
Drazen Bagaric  44 mins
Goran Roce  27 mins
Mateo Galic  14 mins