2012–13 Croatian First Football League

MAXtv Prva Liga

Season	2012–13
Champions	Dinamo Zagreb
Relegated	NK Zagreb Cibalia Inter Zaprešić
Champions League	Dinamo Zagreb
Europa League	Lokomotiva Rijeka Hajduk Split
Matches played	198
Goals scored	489 (2.47 per match)
Top goalscorer	Leon Benko (18 goals)
Biggest home win	Dinamo Zagreb 6–0 NK Zagreb
Biggest away win	Zadar 1–5 Inter Zaprešić
Highest scoring	Zadar 2–4 Hajduk Split Hajduk Split 5–1 NK Zagreb Dinamo Zagreb 4–2 RNK Split Dinamo Zagreb 6–0 NK Zagreb Zadar 1–5 Inter Zaprešić Zadar 2–4 Rijeka Lokomotiva 5–1 Slaven Belupo
Average attendance	2,511
← 2011–12 2013–14 →

The 2012–13 Croatian First Football League (officially known as the MAXtv Prva Liga for sponsorship reasons) was the 22nd 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 started on 21 July 2012 and ended on 26 May 2013.^[1]

The league was contested by 12 teams, down from 16 in the previous season. Dinamo Zagreb were the defending champions, having won their seventh consecutive title in 2011–12.

Format changes

The league was contested by twelve teams, four fewer than in the previous season, with each club playing every other club three times for a total of 33 rounds (last time the system was used in the 2008–09 season). On 13 April 2012, Croatian Football Federation announced that the first stage of licensing procedure for 2012–13 season was completed. For the 2012–13 Prva HNL, only three out of twenty applied clubs were issued a top level license: Dinamo Zagreb, Lokomotiva and NK Zagreb. In the second stage of licensing procedure clubs that didn't get a license appealed on the decision and provided new facts and arguments.^[2] On 15 May 2012, it was announced that all remaining Prva HNL clubs from the previous season were granted top level license, except for Šibenik, Karlovac and Varaždin. Only one team from Druga HNL acquired the top level license: Hrvatski Dragovoljac, however, they didn't manage to finish the season within top two places which would secure them promotion.^[3] Since none of the top two teams from Druga HNL acquired top level license, the 12th placed team from the 2011–12 Prva HNL were allowed to stay. If that wasn't the case, Inter Zaprešić and Rijeka would have needed to play a two-legged play-off match to decide who gets relegated since they were equal on all of the tiebreakers.

Teams

The following is a complete list of teams which contested the 2012–13 Prva HNL.

Cibalia

Zagreb

Inter

Istra 1961

Hajduk
RNK Split

Osijek

Rijeka

S. Belupo

Zadar

Zagreb clubs:

Dinamo
Lokomotiva
NK Zagreb

Locations of teams in 2012–13 Prva HNL

Stadia and locations

Stadium	City	Home club	Licensed club(s)	Capacity
Maksimir	Zagreb	Dinamo Zagreb	Lokomotiva	37,168[4]
Poljud	Split	Hajduk Split		34,448[5]
Gradski vrt	Osijek	Osijek		22,050[6]
Kantrida	Rijeka	Rijeka		12,600[7]
Stadion HNK Cibalia	Vinkovci	Cibalia		9,958[8]
Aldo Drosina	Pula	Istra 1961		8,923[9]
Kranjčevićeva	Zagreb	NK Zagreb		8,850[10]
Stanovi	Zadar	Zadar		5,860[11]
ŠRC Zaprešić	Zaprešić	Inter Zaprešić		5,228[12]
Park mladeži	Split	RNK Split		4,075[13]
Gradski stadion	Koprivnica	Slaven Belupo		3,059[14]

Personnel and kits

Team	Manager	Captain	Kit manufacturer	Shirt sponsor
Cibalia	Bojko, MiroslavMiroslav Bojko	Lučić, MarioMario Lučić	Jako	Croatia Osiguranje
Dinamo Zagreb	Jurčić, KrunoslavKrunoslav Jurčić	Kelava, IvanIvan Kelava	Puma	—
Hajduk Split	Tudor, IgorIgor Tudor	Maloča, MarioMario Maloča	Umbro	—
Inter Zaprešić	Magić, RajkoRajko Magić	SzaricTomislav Šarić	Joma	VŠPU "B.A.Krčelić"
Istra 1961	Pamić, IgorIgor Pamić	Budicin, FaustoFausto Budicin	errea	—
Lokomotiva	Ivković, TomislavTomislav Ivković	Mesarić, LeonardLeonard Mesarić	Puma	—
Osijek	Žitnjak, MiroslavMiroslav Žitnjak (caretaker)	Smoje, IvoIvo Smoje	Jako	Croatia Osiguranje
Rijeka	Kek, MatjažMatjaž Kek	Knežević, DarioDario Knežević	Lotto	—
Slaven Belupo	Sović, RomanRoman Sović	Maras, AlenAlen Maras	adidas	Belupo
RNK Split	Sablić, GoranGoran Sablić	Vuković, AndrijaAndrija Vuković	Jako	Skladgradnja
Zadar	Milin, FerdoFerdo Milin	Surać, JakovJakov Surać	Lotto	Hotel Kolovare
NK Zagreb	Blažević, MiroslavMiroslav Blažević	SztrokHrvoje Štrok	Kappa	—

Managerial changes

Team	Outgoing manager	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Replaced by	Date of appointment	Position in table
Cibalia	Toplak, SamirSamir Toplak	Resigned	27 July 2012[15]	Kopić, ŽeljkoŽeljko Kopić	28 July 2012[16]	12th
NK Zagreb	Besek, DraženDražen Besek	Resigned	3 September 2012[17]	Bonačić, LukaLuka Bonačić	3 September 2012[17]	12th
Zadar	Zebić, DaliborDalibor Zebić	Resigned	22 September 2012[18]	Milin, FerdoFerdo Milin	24 September 2012	11th
RNK Split	Bašić, TonćiTonći Bašić	Removed from position	13 October 2012[19]	Vulić, ZoranZoran Vulić	13 October 2012[19]	7th
NK Zagreb	Bonačić, LukaLuka Bonačić	Sacked	27 October 2012[20]	Madunović, DraženDražen Madunović	30 October 2012[21]	11th
NK Zagreb	Madunović, DraženDražen Madunović	Removed from position	5 November 2012[22]	Blažević, MiroslavMiroslav Blažević	5 November 2012[22]	11th
Cibalia	Kopić, ŽeljkoŽeljko Kopić	Resigned	25 November 2012[23]	Bojko, MiroslavMiroslav Bojko	25 November 2012[23]	10th
Dinamo Zagreb	CzacicAnte Čačić	Sacked	26 November 2012[24]	Jurčić, KrunoslavKrunoslav Jurčić	26 November 2012[24]	1st
Rijeka	Scoria, ElvisElvis Scoria	Resigned	24 February 2013[25]	Kek, MatjažMatjaž Kek	27 February 2013[26]	5th
Slaven Belupo	Ferenčina, RoyRoy Ferenčina	Sacked	10 March 2013[27]	Sović, RomanRoman Sović	14 March 2013[28]	6th
Inter Zaprešić	Perković, BorimirBorimir Perković	Sacked	14 March 2013[29]	Magić, RajkoRajko Magić	14 March 2013[29]	12th
Hajduk Split	Krstičević, MišoMišo Krstičević	Sacked	29 April 2013[30]	Tudor, IgorIgor Tudor	29 April 2013[30]	4th
RNK Split	Vulić, ZoranZoran Vulić	Mutual consent	12 May 2013[31]	Sablić, GoranGoran Sablić	13 May 2013	4th
Osijek	Mršić, StankoStanko Mršić	Sacked	13 May 2013[32]	Žitnjak, MiroslavMiroslav Žitnjak (caretaker)	13 May 2013[32]	4th

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Dinamo Zagreb (C)	33	24	5	4	68	20	+48	77	2013–14 UEFA Champions League Second qualifying round
2	Lokomotiva	33	16	9	8	54	38	+16	57	2013–14 UEFA Europa League Second qualifying round ^1
3	Rijeka	33	15	8	10	46	42	+4	53
4	Hajduk Split	33	14	10	9	45	31	+14	52
5	RNK Split	33	15	7	11	49	37	+12	52
6	Istra 1961	33	11	11	11	35	32	+3	44
7	Osijek	33	9	12	12	25	33	−8	39
8	Slaven Belupo	33	10	9	14	35	50	−15	39
9	Zadar	33	9	9	15	39	61	−22	36
10	Inter Zaprešić (R)	33	8	11	14	36	41	−5	35	Relegation to 2013–14 Druga HNL
11	Cibalia (R)	33	9	5	19	29	44	−15	32
12	NK Zagreb (R)	33	7	6	20	28	60	−32	27

Source: Sportnet.hr UEFA.com
Rules for classification: 1st points; 2nd goal difference; 3rd goals scored
For deciding champions, qualification to UEFA Europa League and relegation: 1st points; 2nd head-to-head points; 3rd head-to-head goal difference; 4th head-to-head away goals scored
¹ Hajduk Split qualify for 2013–14 Europa League Second qualifying round as winners of 2012–13 Croatian Cup.
(C) = Champion; (R) = Relegated; (P) = Promoted; (E) = Eliminated; (O) = Play-off winner; (A) = Advances to a further round.

Results

Every team will play three times against each other team for a total of 33 matches. The first 22 matchdays will consist of a regular double round-robin schedule. The league standings at this point will then be used to determine the games for the last 11 matchdays.

Matches 1–22

Home ╲ Away

CIB

DIN

HAJ

INT

IST

LOK

OSI

RIJ

SLA

SPL

ZAD

ZAG

Cibalia

0–1

0–2

1–1

0–1

3–2

2–0

4–1

0–3

2–1

0–0

1–1

Dinamo Zagreb

2–1

3–1

1–1

3–1

1–0

0–0

4–1

3–0

4–2

5–0

6–0

Hajduk Split

4–0

1–2

1–0

0–1

0–0

1–1

1–1

3–1

1–0

3–0

5–1

Inter Zaprešić

0–0

0–2

1–1

2–0

0–1

0–3

2–0

2–2

0–2

0–1

1–2

Istra 1961

3–0

0–1

0–0

3–1

2–2

1–3

1–1

0–0

1–0

1–1

0–0

Lokomotiva

1–0

1–3

2–0

2–3

1–0

0–0

2–1

3–1

3–2

2–1

1–1

Osijek

1–0

2–1

0–0

1–1

0–0

1–2

1–1

1–2

2–2

2–0

1–0

Rijeka

0–0

3–0

1–0

2–1

2–1

2–2

3–1

0–0

2–3

0–0

1–0

Slaven Belupo

2–1

1–4

0–2

2–2

3–1

3–2

2–0

1–3

2–2

2–0

1–0

RNK Split

3–1

1–0

0–1

1–0

2–1

1–1

0–0

2–0

2–0

3–1

3–2

Zadar

4–1

1–3

2–4

1–5

1–1

1–0

0–0

2–4

1–0

1–0

4–0

NK Zagreb

0–1

1–0

0–1

1–1

2–1

0–2

2–1

0–1

1–2

2–1

2–1

Source: Sportnet.hr UEFA.com
1 ^{^} The home team is listed in the left-hand column.
Colours: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Matches 23–33

Home ╲ Away

CIB

DIN

HAJ

INT

IST

LOK

OSI

RIJ

SLA

SPL

ZAD

ZAG

Cibalia

0–1

1–0

2–0

0–1

2–3

Dinamo Zagreb

3–1

2–0

0–0

1–0

2–0

5–0

Hajduk Split

2–1

1–2

0–0

1–0

1–2

3–2

Inter Zaprešić

1–1

0–2

2–0

0–0

2–0

Istra 1961

2–1

0–0

1–1

1–0

0–0

Lokomotiva

1–2

2–2

1–0

5–1

1–0

4–1

Osijek

1–0

0–2

0–4

1–0

1–0

Rijeka

0–0

2–1

1–3

1–0

2–1

2–3

Slaven Belupo

0–2

1–1

1–0

0–0

0–0

0–3

RNK Split

1–0

2–1

0–1

4–1

3–1

4–1

Zadar

1–1

1–2

3–2

1–1

2–2

NK Zagreb

0–2

0–3

2–4

1–4

1–1

Updated to games played on 26 May 2013.
Source: Sportnet.hr UEFA.com
1 ^{^} The home team is listed in the left-hand column.
Colours: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Top goalscorers

As of 21 July 2013; Source: Sportnet.hr UEFA.com

19 goals

• Leon Benko (Rijeka)

15 goals

• Andrej Kramarić (Lokomotiva)

13 goals

• Sammir (Dinamo Zagreb)

12 goals

• Besart Abdurahimi (NK Zagreb)
• Mislav Oršić (Inter Zaprešić)

11 goals

• Goran Roce (Istra 1961)

10 goals

• Ante Rebić (RNK Split)
• Ante Budimir (Inter Zaprešić)

9 goals

• Mijo Caktaš (Hajduk Split)
• Duje Čop (Dinamo Zagreb)

See also

• 2012–13 Croatian Second Football League
• 2012–13 Croatian Football Cup

References

1. "Održana sjednica Skupštine Udruge Prve HNL". Prva-HNL.hr (in Croatian). 26 January 2012. Retrieved 13 April 2012.
2. "Okončan Središnji postupak licenciranja za natjecateljsku 2012/13. godinu" (PDF). HNS-CFF.hr (in Croatian). 13 April 2012. Retrieved 13 April 2012.
3. "Okončan Središnji postupak licenciranja za natjecateljsku 2012/13. godinu" (PDF). HNS-CFF.hr (in Croatian). 15 May 2012. Retrieved 15 May 2012.
4. "Stadion Maksimir". soccerway.com. Retrieved 22 February 2014.
5. "Stadion Poljud". soccerway.com. Retrieved 22 February 2014.
6. "Stadion Gradski vrt". soccerway.com. Retrieved 22 February 2014.
7. "Stadion Kantrida". soccerway.com. Retrieved 22 February 2014.
8. "Stadion Cibalia". soccerway.com. Retrieved 22 February 2014.
9. "Stadion Aldo Drosina". soccerway.com. Retrieved 22 February 2013.
10. "Stadion Kranjčevićeva". soccerway.com. Retrieved 22 February 2013.
11. "Stadion Stanovi". soccerway.com. Retrieved 22 February 2014.
12. "Stadion ŠRC Zaprešić". soccerway.com. Retrieved 22 February 2014.
13. "Stadion Park mladeži". soccerway.com. Retrieved 22 February 2014.
14. "Gradski Stadion". soccerway.com. Retrieved 22 February 2014.
15. Strahija, Ivana (27 July 2012). "Samir Toplak podnio ostavku". Sportnet.hr (in Croatian). Retrieved 27 July 2012.
16. Gulić, Mišo (28 July 2012). "Željko Kopić potvrđen kao novi trener Cibalije". Sportnet.hr (in Croatian). Retrieved 29 July 2012.
17. Rupnik, Borna (3 September 2012). "Luka Bonačić preuzima dužnost Dražena Beseka". Sportnet.hr (in Croatian). Retrieved 3 September 2012.
18. Rupnik, Borna (23 September 2012). "Zebić: Jasno je da ću podnijeti ostavku". Sportnet.hr (in Croatian). Retrieved 24 September 2012.
19. Rupnik, Borna (13 October 2012). "Vulić: Želim da se drugi prilagođavaju Splitu, uključujući i Dinamo". Sportnet.hr (in Croatian). Retrieved 13 October 2012.
20. Rupnik, Borna (27 October 2012). "Bonačić usprkos pobjedi nad Osijekom napušta klupu Zagreba". Sportnet.hr (in Croatian). Retrieved 2 November 2012.
21. Štrbinić, Lovro (1 November 2012). "Dražen Madunović preuzeo prvu momčad Pjesnika iz Kranjčevićeve". Sportnet.hr (in Croatian). Retrieved 2 November 2012.
22. Krapac, Ivor (5 November 2012). "Miroslav Blažević vraća se u hrvatski nogomet, ponovno na Zagrebovoj klupi". Sportnet.hr (in Croatian). Retrieved 6 November 2012.
23. Zovko, Ante (25 November 2012). "Cibalia prihvatila Kopićevu ostavku, Bojko privremeno rješenje". Sportnet.hr (in Croatian). Retrieved 25 November 2012.
24. "Čačić bivši, a Krunoslav Jurčić opet novi trener Dinama". Sportnet.hr (in Croatian). 25 November 2012. Retrieved 26 November 2012.
25. "Scoria podnio ostavku" (in Croatian). Retrieved 22 March 2013.
26. "Kek dolazi na Kantridu" (in Croatian). Retrieved 22 March 2013.
27. Korać, Branimir (10 March 2013). "Ferenčina smijenjen nakon poraza od Cibalije, Slaven Belupo traži novog trenera". Sportnet.hr (in Croatian). Retrieved 10 March 2013.
28. Strahija, Ivana (14 March 2013). "Sović: "I bod bi bio pozitivan"". Sportnet.hr (in Croatian). Retrieved 14 March 2013.
29. Šestak, Igor (14 March 2013). "Perkovićev povratak u Inter ostao bez sretnog završetka, krizno razdoblje poništilo sve pozitivno". Sportnet.hr (in Croatian). Retrieved 14 March 2013.
30. Jurišić, Bernard (29 April 2013). "Smjene u Hajduku: otkazi treneru Krstičeviću, sportskom direktoru Krešiću i Frediju Fiorentiniju". Sportnet.hr (in Croatian). Retrieved 29 April 2013.
31. Babić, Vedran (12 May 2013). "Split u potrazi za novim trenerom - Zoran Vulić postao "bivši"". Sportnet.hr (in Croatian). Retrieved 12 May 2013.
32. Gulić, Mišo (13 May 2013). "Stanko Mršić postao "bivši", Žitnjak preuzeo kormilo Osijeka do kraja sezone". Sportnet.hr (in Croatian). Retrieved 13 May 2013.

External links

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