2016–17 Croatian First Football League

The 2016–17 Croatian First Football League (officially MAXtv Prva liga for sponsorship reasons) was the 26th season of the Croatian First Football League, the national championship for men's association football teams in Croatia, since its establishment in 1992. The fixtures were announced on 15 June 2016.^[3] The season started on 15 July 2016 and finished on 27 May 2017.^[4] The league was contested by 10 teams. Rijeka won their first ever title, which broke Dinamo Zagreb's dominance of eleven consecutive titles.

MAXtv Prva liga

Season	2016–17
Dates	15 July 2016 – 27 May 2017
Champions	Rijeka
Relegated	RNK Split
Champions League	Rijeka
Europa League	Dinamo Zagreb Hajduk Split Osijek
Matches played	180
Goals scored	435 (2.42 per match)
Top goalscorer	Márkó Futács (18)
Biggest home win	Dinamo Zagreb 6–0 Cibalia Hajduk Split 6–0 Inter Zaprešić
Biggest away win	Hajduk Split 0–4 Dinamo Zagreb
Highest scoring	Rijeka 5–2 Dinamo Zagreb Hajduk Split 6–1 Cibalia Hajduk Split 5–2 RNK Split Dinamo Zagreb 5–2 Rijeka
Longest winning run	Dinamo Zagreb (8)
Longest unbeaten run	Rijeka (31)
Longest winless run	Inter Zaprešić (17)
Longest losing run	Cibalia (7)
Highest attendance	29,109 Hajduk Split 0–4 Dinamo Zagreb
Lowest attendance	45 Hajduk Split 1–1 Slaven Belupo Hajduk Split 3–0 Cibalia
Total attendance	494,941[1][2]
Average attendance	2,750[1][2]
← 2015–16 2017–18 → All statistics correct as of 27 May 2017[2].

Teams

On 22 April 2016, Croatian Football Federation announced that the first stage of licensing procedure for 2016–17 season was complete. For the 2016–17 Prva HNL, only seven clubs were issued a top level license: Dinamo Zagreb, Hajduk Split, Istra 1961, Lokomotiva, Rijeka, Slaven Belupo and NK Zagreb. These clubs were also issued a license for participating in UEFA competitions.^[5] In the second stage of licensing, clubs that were not licensed in the first stage appealed the decision. On 23 May 2016, it was announced that all remaining Prva HNL clubs were granted top level license. Only two teams from Druga HNL acquired the top level license: Cibalia and Šibenik.^[6]

The following teams participated in the 2016–17 Prva HNL.

Cibalia

Dinamo
Lokomotiva

Hajduk Split
RNK Split

Inter

Osijek

S. Belupo

Rijeka

Istra 1961

Locations of teams in 2016–17 Prva HNL

Stadia and locations

Stadium	City	Home club	Licensed club(s)	Capacity
Maksimir	Zagreb	Dinamo Zagreb		38,079[7]
Poljud	Split	Hajduk Split		34,448[8]
Gradski vrt	Osijek	Osijek		22,050[9]
Stadion HNK Cibalia	Vinkovci	Cibalia		9,958[10]
Aldo Drosina	Pula	Istra 1961		8,923[11]
Kranjčevićeva	Zagreb	Zagreb	Lokomotiva	8,850[12]
Rujevica	Rijeka	Rijeka		6,134[13]
ŠRC Zaprešić	Zaprešić	Inter Zaprešić		5,228[14]
Park Mladeži	Split	RNK Split		4,075[15]
Gradski stadion	Koprivnica	Slaven Belupo		3,134[16]

Personnel and kits

Club	Manager	Captain	Kit manufacturer	Sponsors
Cibalia	Mladen Bartolović	Frane Vitaić	Jako
Dinamo Zagreb	Ivaylo Petev	Domagoj Antolić	Puma
Hajduk Split	Joan Carrillo	Zoran Nižić	Macron	Tommy
Inter Zaprešić	Samir Toplak	Ivan Čović	Joma	Veleučilište Baltazar Zaprešić
Istra 1961	Darko Raić-Sudar	Goran Roce	Nike	Croatia Osiguranje
Lokomotiva	Mario Tokić	Luka Capan	Nike	Crodux
Osijek	Zoran Zekić	Borna Barišić	Nike	Osječko
Rijeka	Matjaž Kek	Mate Maleš	Jako	Sava Osiguranje
Slaven Belupo	Željko Kopić	Vedran Purić	adidas	Belupo
RNK Split	Bruno Akrapović	Tomislav Duka	Jako	Skladgradnja

Managerial changes

Team	Outgoing manager	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Replaced by	Date of appointment	Position in table
Lokomotiva	Sreten Ćuk	Signed by Persepolis	30 May 2016[17]	Valentin Barišić	30 May 2016[17]	Pre-season
Hajduk Split	Damir Burić	Removed from position	2 June 2016[18]	Marijan Pušnik	2 June 2016[18]	Pre-season
Dinamo Zagreb	Zoran Mamić	Signed by Al-Nassr	20 June 2016[19]	Zlatko Kranjčar	23 June 2016[20]	Pre-season
Lokomotiva	Valentin Barišić	Removed from position	6 July 2016[21]	Mario Tokić (caretaker)	–	Pre-season
Istra 1961	Andrej Panadić	Resigned	18 July 2016[22]	Goran Tomić	26 July 2016[23]	6th
RNK Split	Goran Sablić	Resigned	18 July 2016[24]	Vjekoslav Lokica	20 July 2016[24]	10th
Lokomotiva	Mario Tokić (caretaker)	Signing of Ivković	–	Tomislav Ivković	23 July 2016[25]	7th
Dinamo Zagreb	Zlatko Kranjčar	Resigned	18 September 2016[26]	Željko Sopić (caretaker)	–	3rd
Dinamo Zagreb	Željko Sopić (caretaker)	Signing of Petev	–	Ivaylo Petev	29 September 2016[27]	3rd
Lokomotiva	Tomislav Ivković	Signed by Al-Faisaly	14 November 2016[28]	Mario Tokić	14 November 2016[28]	6th
Cibalia	Stanko Mršić	Removed from position	15 November 2016[29]	Siniša Sesar (caretaker)	–	9th
Istra 1961	Goran Tomić	Signed by Shenzhen	29 November 2016[30]	Darko Raić-Sudar (caretaker)	–	5th
Hajduk Split	Marijan Pušnik	Removed from position	1 December 2016[31]	Joan Carrillo	5 December 2016[32]	3rd
Istra 1961	Darko Raić-Sudar (caretaker)	Signing of Tot	–	Marijo Tot	30 December 2016[33]	8th
Cibalia	Siniša Sesar (caretaker)	Signing of Pacult	–	Peter Pacult	7 January 2017[34]	10th
RNK Split	Vjekoslav Lokica	Resigned	9 February 2017[35]	Bruno Akrapović	12 February 2017[36]	9th
Cibalia	Peter Pacult	Resigned	23 March 2017[37]	Mladen Bartolović	27 March 2017[38]	10th
Istra 1961	Marijo Tot	Removed from position	19 May 2017[39]	Darko Raić-Sudar (caretaker)	–	7th

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Rijeka (C)	36	27	7	2	71	23	+48	88	Qualification to Champions League second qualifying round
2	Dinamo Zagreb	36	27	5	4	68	24	+44	86	Qualification to Europa League third qualifying round[a]
3	Hajduk Split	36	20	9	7	70	31	+39	69	Qualification to Europa League second qualifying round
4	Osijek	36	20	6	10	52	37	+15	66	Qualification to Europa League first qualifying round
5	Lokomotiva	36	12	8	16	41	38	+3	44
6	Istra 1961	36	10	9	17	33	49	−16	39
7	Slaven Belupo	36	9	11	16	36	45	−9	38
8	Inter Zaprešić	36	5	13	18	26	57	−31	28
9	Cibalia (O)	36	4	9	23	26	79	−53	21	Qualification to Relegation play-offs
10	RNK Split (R)	36	3	9	24	12	52	−40	18	Relegation to Croatian Third Football League[40]

Source: Prva HNL (in Croatian), Soccerway
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Head-to-head points; 3) Head-to-head goal difference; 4) Head-to-head goals scored (away goals if 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).^[41]
(C) Champions; (O) Play-off winners; (R) Relegated
Notes:

1. Since winners of 2016–17 Croatian Football Cup, Rijeka, qualified for Champions League, the spot awarded to the cup winner (Europa League third qualifying round) was passed to the runners-up and all other spots were adjusted accordingly.

Results

Each team plays home-and-away against every other team in the league twice, for a total of 36 matches each played.

Home \ Away	CIB	DIN	HAJ	INT	IST	LOK	OSI	RIJ	SLA	SPL	CIB	DIN	HAJ	INT	IST	LOK	OSI	RIJ	SLA	SPL
Cibalia	—	0–2	0–2	3–3	1–1	1–4	0–2	0–0	0–0	1–0	—	1–2	1–2	1–1	0–2	1–1	1–1	0–3	3–1	1–0
Dinamo Zagreb	3–0	—	0–0	2–1	1–1	3–1	0–1	1–1	1–1	1–0	6–0	—	0–2	2–0	2–1	3–1	2–1	5–2	1–0	4–0
Hajduk Split	6–1	0–4	—	2–0	4–0	1–0	1–0	2–4	4–0	2–1	3–0	0–1	—	6–0	4–0	1–1	5–1	1–1	1–1	5–2
Inter Zaprešić	1–0	0–1	1–1	—	2–2	2–1	0–2	1–1	1–1	2–0	1–1	0–3	1–3	—	0–3	0–0	2–2	1–2	1–1	1–0
Istra 1961	3–2	1–2	0–0	4–1	—	1–1	0–1	0–2	0–0	1–0	1–2	0–3	0–2	1–0	—	1–0	1–3	1–1	0–0	1–0
Lokomotiva	4–0	0–1	0–2	0–1	2–1	—	2–3	0–2	0–2	0–0	4–1	1–2	0–0	2–0	1–0	—	2–0	1–0	2–1	3–0
Osijek	2–0	0–2	1–1	1–1	1–1	1–0	—	0–1	1–0	3–0	2–0	0–1	2–1	2–1	2–0	1–0	—	2–3	3–0	4–0
Rijeka	2–0	5–2	2–1	1–0	4–1	1–0	3–0	—	2–0	2–0	4–0	1–1	2–0	2–0	1–0	2–1	2–0	—	3–2	2–0
Slaven Belupo	3–2	0–1	2–1	2–0	2–0	2–3	2–3	0–0	—	0–0	4–0	2–1	1–2	2–0	2–0	1–1	1–2	0–2	—	0–1
RNK Split	2–2	0–1	0–1	0–0	0–3	0–2	1–1	0–3	3–0	—	1–0	0–1	1–1	0–0	0–1	0–0	0–1	0–2	0–0	—

Source: Prva HNL (in Croatian)
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.
For upcoming matches, an "a" indicates there is an article about the rivalry between the two participants.

Relegation play-offs

At the end of the season, ninth placed Cibalia qualified for a two-legged relegation play-off tie against Gorica, runners-up of the 2016–17 Croatian Second Football League.

First leg

4 June 2017 (2017-06-04)

20:00 CEST

Gorica	0–2	Cibalia
	Report	P. Mišić 52' Baša 89'

Stadion ŠRC Zaprešić, Zaprešić

Attendance: 1,820

Referee: Fran Jović (Zagreb)

Second leg

7 June 2017

20:00 CEST

Cibalia	3–1	Gorica
Baša 22' Glavica 58' Vitaić 89'	Report	Pejić 40'

Stadion HNK Cibalia, Vinkovci

Attendance: 1,536

Referee: Ivan Bebek (Rijeka)

Cibalia won 5–1 on aggregate.

Statistics

Top scorers

As of 27 May 2017^[42][43][44]

Rank	Player	Club	Goals
1	Márkó Futács	Hajduk Split	18
2	El Arabi Hillel Soudani	Dinamo Zagreb	17
3	Franko Andrijašević	Rijeka	16
	Armin Hodžić	Dinamo Zagreb
5	Muzafer Ejupi	Osijek	14
6	Alexander Gorgon	Rijeka	12
7	Roman Bezjak	Rijeka	11
	Ante Erceg	Hajduk Split
	Mario Gavranović	Rijeka
	Jakov Puljić	Inter Zaprešić

Awards

Annual awards

Award[45]	Winner	Club
Player of the Season	Franko Andrijašević	Rijeka
Manager of the Season	Matjaž Kek	Rijeka
Young Player of the Season	Lovro Majer	Lokomotiva

Team of the Year[46]
Goalkeeper	Dominik Livaković (Dinamo Zagreb)
Defence	Stefan Ristovski (Rijeka)		Marko Lešković (Dinamo Zagreb)		Josip Elez (Rijeka)		Borna Barišić (Osijek)
Midfield	Hillal Soudani (Dinamo Zagreb)	Josip Mišić (Rijeka)		Franko Andrijašević (Rijeka)		Filip Bradarić (Rijeka)
Attack	Mario Gavranović (Rijeka)			Márkó Futács (Hajduk Split)

See also

• 2016–17 Croatian Second Football League
• 2016–17 Croatian Third Football League
• 2016–17 Croatian Football Cup