Rijeka begins title defense with triumph, Đalović: Important victory, we showed champion genes

Rijeka's players opened the new season in the Croatian Football League (HNL) with a victory - the current champion defeated Slaven Belupo 2:0 last night at "Rujevica".

Radomir Đalović's team achieved victory at the end of the match thanks to the reserves - first Šimun Butić scored in the 93rd minute, and three minutes later Ante Jurić scored.

"I think this is an extremely important victory for us. I congratulate my players who showed their champion genes, they showed that they don't give up until the last second. I think we were great in the first half, we had 14-15 shots on goal, but we didn't score. The plan was to be stable in defense and wait for the opportunity to score. And then we got the opportunities in the 93rd and 96th minutes. Such victories are the sweetest. Kudos to the players who came off the bench, we need that, breadth and repetition of such games. We have a tight schedule, we need to rest, because we welcome Shelburne on Wednesday," said Đalović after the match.

Rijeka continues its season in Europe against Shelburne. This is the first match of the third qualifying round for the Europa League.

"A very important game for us. Fruka and Rukavina will not be there, but we will try to rotate some players. Petrović was absent against Slaven, but we will rest and do everything we can to win on Wednesday," concluded Đalović.