2015–16 Croatian First Football League

MAXtv Prva Liga

Season	2015–16
Champions	Dinamo Zagreb
Relegated	NK Zagreb
Champions League	Dinamo Zagreb
Europa League	Rijeka Hajduk Split Lokomotiva
Matches played	180
Goals scored	410 (2.28 per match)
Top goalscorer	Ilija Nestorovski (25)
Biggest home win	Lokomotiva 6–1 Istra 1961 Rijeka 5–0 Osijek
Biggest away win	Lokomotiva 0–4 Dinamo
Highest scoring	Lokomotiva 6–1 Istra 1961
Longest winning run	Dinamo Zagreb (12)
Longest unbeaten run	Rijeka (22)
Longest winless run	Istra 1961 (23)
Longest losing run	Istra 1961, Osijek, NK Zagreb (4)
Highest attendance	24,621 (Hajduk Split 0–3 Rijeka)
Lowest attendance	120 (Zagreb 2–0 RNK Split)
Total attendance	442,952[1][2]
Average attendance	2,461[1][2]
← 2014–15 2016–17 → All statistics correct as of 14 May 2016[2].

The 2015–16 Croatian First Football League (officially known as MAXtv Prva Liga for sponsorship reasons) was the 25th season of the Croatian First Football League, the national championship for men's association football teams in Croatia, since its establishment in 1992. The season began on 10 July 2015 and ended on 14 May 2016.^[3]

The league was contested by ten teams and played in a quadruple round robin format, with each team playing every other team four times over 36 rounds. Dinamo Zagreb were the defending champions, having won their tenth consecutive title in 2014–15. At the end of the previous season Zadar were relegated, ending their eight-season spell in top flight. They were replaced by Inter Zaprešić, who returned to the top level after two seasons in the second division.

Teams

On 20 April 2015, Croatian Football Federation announced that the first stage of licensing procedure for 2015–16 season was complete. For the 2015–16 Prva HNL, only six clubs were issued a top level license: Dinamo Zagreb, Hajduk Split, Lokomotiva, Rijeka, Slaven Belupo and NK Zagreb. These clubs were also issued a license for participation in UEFA competitions. In the second stage of licensing, clubs that were not licensed in the first stage appealed the decision.^[4] On 20 May 2015, all remaining Prva HNL clubs were granted top level license. Additionally, Istra 1961 and RNK Split obtained a license for UEFA competitions. Only three teams from Druga HNL acquired the top level license: Inter Zaprešić, Sesvete and Hrvatski Dragovoljac.^[5]

The following teams participated in the 2015–16 Prva HNL.

Zagreb

Hajduk Split
RNK Split

Inter

Osijek

S. Belupo

Rijeka

Istra 1961

Zagreb clubs:

Dinamo
Lokomotiva
NK Zagreb

Locations of teams in 2015–16 Prva HNL

Stadia and locations

Stadium	City	Home club	Licensed club(s)	Capacity
Maksimir	Zagreb	Dinamo Zagreb		38,079[6]
Poljud	Split	Hajduk Split		34,448[7]
ŠRC Zaprešić	Zaprešić	Inter Zaprešić		5,228[8]
Aldo Drosina	Pula	Istra 1961		8,923[9]
Gradski vrt	Osijek	Osijek		22,050[10]
Rujevica	Rijeka	Rijeka		6,036[11]
Gradski stadion	Koprivnica	Slaven Belupo		3,134[12]
Park mladeži	Split	RNK Split		4,075[13]
Kranjčevićeva	Zagreb	NK Zagreb	Lokomotiva	8,850[14]

Personnel and kits

Club	Manager	Captain	Kit manufacturer	Sponsors
Dinamo Zagreb	Mamić, ZoranZoran Mamić	Antolić, DomagojDomagoj Antolić	Puma
Hajduk Split	Burić, DamirDamir Burić	Milović, GoranGoran Milović	Macron	Tommy
Inter Zaprešić	Toplak, SamirSamir Toplak	CzosicMarko Ćosić	Joma	Veleučilište Baltazar Zaprešić
Istra 1961	Panadić, AndrejAndrej Panadić	Tomić, DarioDario Tomić	Erreà	Croatia Osiguranje
Lokomotiva	CzukSreten Ćuk	Leko, JerkoJerko Leko	Nike	Crodux
Osijek	Zekić, ZoranZoran Zekić	Kurtović, HrvojeHrvoje Kurtović	Jako	Osječko
Rijeka	Kek, MatjažMatjaž Kek	Močinić, IvanIvan Močinić	Jako
Slaven Belupo	Kopić, ŽeljkoŽeljko Kopić	Delić, MateasMateas Delić	adidas	Belupo
RNK Split	Sablić, GoranGoran Sablić	Zagorac, DanijelDanijel Zagorac	Jako	Skladgradnja
NK Zagreb	Madunović, DraženDražen Madunović	Stepčić, ValentinoValentino Stepčić	Kappa

Managerial changes

Team	Outgoing manager	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Replaced by	Date of appointment	Position in table
Hajduk Split	Vukas, HariHari Vukas	Removed from position	1 June 2015[15]	Burić, DamirDamir Burić	1 June 2015[15]	Pre-season
Osijek	SzuszakIvo Šušak	Contract expired	1 June 2015[16]	Besek, DraženDražen Besek	14 June 2015[16]	Pre-season
Slaven Belupo	CzaczicAnte Čačić	Signed by Lokomotiva	3 June 2015[17]	Kopić, ŽeljkoŽeljko Kopić	10 June 2015[18]	Pre-season
Lokomotiva	Pinčić, MarkoMarko Pinčić (caretaker)	End of caretaker tenure	3 June 2015[17]	CzaczicAnte Čačić	3 June 2015[17]	Pre-season
NK Zagreb	Kopić, ŽeljkoŽeljko Kopić	Signed by Slaven Belupo	9 June 2015[18]	Vincetić, GoranGoran Vincetić	9 June 2015[18]	Pre-season
Osijek	Besek, DraženDražen Besek	Sacked	1 September 2015[19]	Zekić, ZoranZoran Zekić	1 September 2015[19]	9th
Lokomotiva	CzaczicAnte Čačić	Signed by Croatia	21 September 2015	CzukSreten Ćuk	22 September 2015[20]	5th
RNK Split	Vulić, ZoranZoran Vulić	Mutual consent	30 September 2015[21]	Sablić, GoranGoran Sablić	30 September 2015[21]	4th
Istra 1961	Pamić, IgorIgor Pamić	Sacked	5 October 2015[22]	Rubčić, RobertRobert Rubčić (caretaker)	5 October 2015[22]	7th
Istra 1961	Rubčić, RobertRobert Rubčić (caretaker)	End of caretaker tenure	4 January 2016[23]	Panadić, AndrejAndrej Panadić	4 January 2016[23]	8th

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Dinamo Zagreb (C)	36	26	7	3	67	19	+48	85	Qualification to Champions League second qualifying round[lower-alpha 1]
2	Rijeka	36	21	14	1	56	20	+36	77	Qualification to Europa League third qualifying round
3	Hajduk Split	36	17	10	9	46	28	+18	61	Qualification to Europa League second qualifying round
4	Lokomotiva	36	16	4	16	56	53	+3	52	Qualification to Europa League first qualifying round
5	Inter Zaprešić	36	11	14	11	39	48	−9	47
6	RNK Split	36	10	16	10	28	29	−1	46
7	Slaven Belupo	36	10	12	14	41	42	−1	42
8	Osijek	36	7	13	16	27	49	−22	34
9	Istra 1961 (O)	36	4	12	20	23	58	−35	24	Qualification to Relegation play-off
10	NK Zagreb (R)	36	3	8	25	27	64	−37	17	Relegation to Croatian Second Football League

Source: PrvaHNL.hr, Soccerway
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).^[24]
(C) Champion; (O) Play-off winner; (R) Relegated.
Notes:

1. Dinamo Zagreb qualified for the Europa League third qualifying round by winning the 2015–16 Croatian Football Cup. However, since they already qualified for European competition based on their league position, the spot awarded to the cup winners was passed down the league.

Results

First round Home ╲ Away DIN HAJ INT IST LOK OSI RIJ SLA SPL ZAG Dinamo Zagreb 1–1 5–1 1–0 3–1 4–1 0–0 3–0 3–0 4–1 Hajduk Split 0–0 4–0 3–0 2–1 3–0 0–3 2–2 0–0 1–0 Inter Zaprešić 2–2 0–2 3–0 1–2 0–0 0–0 2–1 0–0 1–1 Istra 1961 1–1 4–1 0–0 2–1 2–1 0–1 3–1 1–1 0–0 Lokomotiva 0–4 1–2 1–2 6–1 2–1 1–2 1–1 1–0 2–0 Osijek 1–1 1–0 3–1 2–2 0–1 1–1 0–0 0–1 0–0 Rijeka 2–1 0–0 0–0 1–0 3–1 5–0 3–3 2–1 4–1 Slaven Belupo 1–2 0–1 4–0 0–0 2–2 3–0 0–0 1–1 2–1 RNK Split 1–0 0–2 1–1 3–0 2–1 2–1 0–2 2–0 3–0 NK Zagreb 0–2 0–2 2–3 1–1 1–2 0–1 3–3 2–0 1–2 Updated to games played on 29 November 2015. Source: PrvaHNL.hr 1 ^^ The home team is listed in the left-hand column. Colours: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Second round Home ╲ Away DIN HAJ INT IST LOK OSI RIJ SLA SPL ZAG Dinamo Zagreb 2–1 1–0 1–0 3–2 3–0 3–0 2–1 1–0 1–0 Hajduk Split 1–0 0–2 3–0 2–0 2–2 1–2 2–0 0–0 1–0 Inter Zaprešić 0–1 0–0 3–0 3–1 4–2 0–0 2–1 1–1 2–2 Istra 1961 0–1 0–2 1–2 0–3 0–0 0–1 0–2 0–0 1–4 Lokomotiva 0–4 2–1 1–2 3–2 2–0 0–1 2–0 1–1 2–0 Osijek 0–1 2–1 1–0 0–0 1–3 1–1 0–0 0–0 2–0 Rijeka 0–0 1–0 4–0 2–0 2–0 2–1 1–1 0–0 3–0 Slaven Belupo 0–3 0–0 4–1 2–0 0–3 1–0 0–0 0–1 3–0 RNK Split 0–1 0–0 0–0 1–1 1–1 1–1 1–2 0–2 1–0 NK Zagreb 1–2 2–3 0–0 1–1 1–3 0–1 0–2 0–3 2–0 Updated to games played on 14 May 2016. Source: PrvaHNL.hr 1 ^^ The home team is listed in the left-hand column. Colours: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Relegation play-offs

At the end of the season, ninth placed Istra 1961 qualified for a two-legged relegation play-off tie against Šibenik, runners-up of the 2015–16 Croatian Second Football League.

First leg

Šibenik v Istra 1961

29 May 2016 19:00

Šibenik	1–1	Istra 1961
Šare  87'	Report	Trojak  18'

Stadion Šubićevac, Šibenik Attendance: 3,000 Referee: Bruno Marić (Daruvar)

Second leg

Istra 1961 v Šibenik

1 June 2016 20:15

Istra 1961	1–1	Šibenik
Mišić  51'		Šare  49'
	Penalties
Zlomislić Gržan Mihaljević Đurić Victor Bouhna	5–4	Plazonić Vukorepa Grković Alispahić Barać Collins

Stadion Aldo Drosina, Pula Attendance: 3,470 Referee: Fran Jović (Zagreb)

2–2 on aggregate. Istra 1961 won 5–4 on penalties.

Statistics

Top scorers

As of 14 May 2016^[25][26]

Rank	Player	Club	Goals	Apps	Minutes played
1	Ilija Nestorovski	Inter Zaprešić	25	33	2968
2	Muzafer Ejupi	Slaven Belupo	16	32	2429
3	Roman Bezjak	Rijeka	13	32	2625
	Armin Hodžić	Dinamo Zagreb		24	1350
5	Franko Andrijašević	Lokomotiva	12	28	2354
	Junior Fernandes	Dinamo Zagreb		28	2119
	Tino-Sven Sušić	Hajduk Split		27	2305
8	Gabrijel Boban	NK Zagreb	10	31	2699
9	Bekim Balaj	Rijeka	9	31	1856
	Eros Grezda	Lokomotiva		29	2004

See also

• 2015–16 Croatian Football Cup
• 2015–16 Croatian Second Football League
• 2015–16 Croatian Third Football League

References

1. Attendance statistics MAXtv Prva Liga. Retrieved 20 December 2015.
2. hrnogomet.hr
3. "Glasnik - Službeno glasilo Hrvatskog nogometnog saveza" (PDF). HNS-CFF.hr (in Croatian). 4 March 2015. Retrieved 31 May 2015.
4. "Središnji postupak licenciranja za natjecateljsku 2015/16. godinu završen u prvom stupnju" (PDF). HNS-CFF.hr (in Croatian). 20 April 2015. Retrieved 23 May 2015.
5. "Središnji postupak licenciranja klubova za natjecateljsku 2015/16. godinu - Konačne odluke" (PDF). HNS-CFF.hr (in Croatian). 20 May 2015. Retrieved 23 May 2015.
6. "Stadion Maksimir". soccerway.com. Retrieved 29 December 2013.
7. "Stadion Poljud". soccerway.com. Retrieved 29 December 2013.
8. "Stadion ŠRC Zaprešić". soccerway.com. Retrieved 22 February 2014.
9. "Stadion Aldo Drosina". soccerway.com. Retrieved 16 July 2015.
10. "Stadion Gradski vrt". soccerway.com. Retrieved 29 December 2013.
11. "Nogometno igralište Rujevica". soccerway.com. Retrieved 24 May 2016.
12. "Gradski Stadion". soccerway.com. Retrieved 29 December 2013.
13. "Stadion Park mladeži". soccerway.com. Retrieved 29 December 2013.
14. "Stadion Kranjčevićeva". soccerway.com. Retrieved 22 February 2013.
15. Korać, Branimir (1 June 2015). "Burić: Iskustva imam, ali nemam previše vremena. Pokušat ću podići Hajduk na višu razinu". Sportnet.hr (in Croatian). Retrieved 3 June 2015.
16. Rupnik, Borna (3 June 2015). "Ivo Šušak odlazi na odmor: Dosta mi je, preživio sam velike stresove na klupi Osijeka". Sportnet.hr (in Croatian). Retrieved 3 June 2015.
17. Bradovski, Mihaela (3 June 2015). "Ante Čačić brzo pronašao novi angažman, povratak u Lokomotivu nakon tri i pol godine". Sportnet.hr (in Croatian). Retrieved 3 June 2015.
18. Korać, Branimir (9 June 2015). "Željko Kopić napustio Zagreb, Goran Vincetić došao na njegovo mjesto". Sportnet.hr (in Croatian). Retrieved 14 June 2015.
19. Rupnik, Borna (1 September 2015). "Smjena u Osijeku: Dražen Besek otišao, Zoran Zekić preuzeo prvu momčad". Sportnet.hr (in Croatian). Retrieved 2 September 2015.
20. Sreten Ćuk novi je trener Lokomotive PrvaHNL.hr. (in Croatian). Retrieved 3 October 2010.
21. "Zoran Vulić povukao se s klupe Splita, zamijenio ga Goran Sablić". Sportnet.hr (in Croatian). 30 September 2015. Retrieved 7 January 2016.
22. Korać, Branimir (5 October 2015). "Igor Pamić dobio otkaz, Robert Rubčić privremeno preuzeo prvu momčad". Sportnet.hr (in Croatian). Retrieved 7 January 2016.
23. "Istra 1961 dobila novog trenera, Andrej Panadić na klupi Puljana". Sportnet.hr (in Croatian). 4 January 2016. Retrieved 7 January 2016.
24. "Propozicije natjecanja za prvenstvo MAXtv prve lige za natjecateljsku godinu 2015/2016." (pdf) (in Croatian). Croatian Football Federation. 7 July 2015. Retrieved 11 July 2015.
25. PrvaHNL.hr
26. Soccerway - Players

External links

• Official website (Croatian)
• Prva HNL at UEFA.com