Đalović's Rijeka is the leader in Croatia

In Croatia, there is talk about Hajduk breaking the fast of two decades when it comes to the championship title, but the first on the table is Rijeka, the Montenegrin coach Radomir Đalović.

"Masters from the sea" won in Šibenik 1:0 and took first place two rounds before the end of the half-season.

They have the same number of points as Hajduk - 32, but also a better goal difference. Third-placed Dinamo has six points less than the leading duo.

The fall champion will most likely be decided by a direct clash between Hajduk and Rijeka next weekend in Split.

In this round, Rijeka used the mistakes of both rivals in the best way, Dinamo drew at home against Slaven Belup (1:1) on Friday, Hajduk lost 1:0 on the road to last-placed Gorica on Saturday.

Rijeka did not make such a mistake, Đalović's footballers played away to Šibenik, for whom the young Montenegrin representative Ognjen Bakić played all 90 minutes, first missed a penalty (Janković, 4th minute), and then won thanks to a great goal by the striker from Serbia Mladena Devetka (21st minute).

"Difficult game, difficult field, but my boys responded phenomenally, we were not discouraged even by the missed penalty at the beginning. We were rewarded with a phenomenal goal by Devetka," Đalović said after the match.

What's next?

The fight for the title will be exhausting and long, Rijeka is there as an "intruder", with a much smaller budget than Hajduk and Dinamo, and last season they were first until deep in the spring, but in the end Dinamo was happy.

Đalović transferred his infectious optimism from his time as a player to the coaching bench. Rijeka, which he took over this summer, is his first independent coaching job, as he was the head coach's assistant for three seasons.

"What is the goal? To strengthen in the half-season and to go for the title," he said recently.