# 2020–21 NK Istra 1961 season

The 2020–21 NK Istra 1961 season was the club's 60th season in existence and the 12th consecutive season in the top flight of Croatian football.

## First-team squad

    As of 23 February 2021
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 1 | GK | AUT | Ivan Lučić |
| 2 | DF | CRO | Luka Hujber |
| 3 | DF | ESP | Sergi González (on loan from Deportivo Alavés) |
| 4 | DF | ESP | Rafael Páez (on loan from Deportivo Alavés) |
| 6 | DF | CRO | Petar Bosančić |
| 7 | FW | CRO | Šime Gržan |
| 8 | MF | ESP | Einar Galilea (on loan from Deportivo Alavés) |
| 9 | FW | JPN | Taichi Hara |
| 10 | FW | BIH | Gedeon Guzina |
| 11 | FW | CRO | Josip Špoljarić (on loan from NK Osijek) |
| 12 | DF | ESP | Rafa Navarro (on loan from Deportivo Alavés) |
| 14 | MF | ESP | Antonio Perera (on loan from Deportivo Alavés) |
| 16 | GK | CMR | Fabrice Ondoa (on loan from Deportivo Alavés) |
| 17 | MF | SEN | Arona Sané |
| 18 | FW | BFA | Hassane Bandé (on loan from Ajax) |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 20 | MF | CRO | Antonio Ivančić |
| 21 | GK | CRO | Lovro Majkić |
| 22 | MF | CRO | Matej Vuk (on loan from Rijeka) |
| 23 | MF | MNE | Stefan Lončar |
| 24 | MF | CRO | Dino Halilović |
| 27 | DF | CRO | Josip Tomašević |
| 28 | FW | CRO | Leon Šipoš (on loan from Spartaks Jūrmala) |
| 30 | DF | AUT | Mario Lovre Vojković |
| 31 | DF | CRO | Toni Burić |
| 34 | MF | CRO | Mateo Lisica |
| 36 | FW | CRO | Marko Bibić |
| 37 | DF | CRO | Josip Šutalo (on loan from Dinamo Zagreb) |
| 39 | DF | CRO | Mauro Perković |
| 42 | GK | CRO | Jan Paus-Kunšt |
| 44 | DF | POR | João Silva |
| 63 | MF | WAL | Dylan Levitt (on loan from Manchester United) |
| 77 | MF | CRO | Slavko Blagojević |
| 96 | GK | CRO | Lovro Juric |

## Transfers
### In

| Pos | Player | Transferred from | Fee | Date |
| MF | Antonio Perera | Deportivo Alavés | Loan | 26 August 2020 |
| DF | Luka Hujber | Lokomotiva | Free | 4 September 2020 |
| MF | Dino Halilović | Lokomotiva | Undisclosed | 4 September 2020 |
| GK | Lovro Juric | Dinamo Zagreb II | Free | 11 September 2020 |
| DF | Mario Lovre Vojković | SV Ried | Free | 14 September 2020 |
| MF | Matej Vuk | Rijeka | Loan | 15 September 2020 |
| FW | Josip Špoljarić | Osijek | Loan | 28 September 2020 |
| DF | Kim Hyun-woo | Dinamo Zagreb II | Loan | 29 September 2020 |
| MF | Kim Gyu-hyeong | Dinamo Zagreb II | Loan | 29 September 2020 |
| DF | Rafa Navarro | Deportivo Alavés | Loan | 5 October 2020 |
| GK | Ivan Lučić | No team | Free | 23 November 2020 |
| DF | Josip Šutalo | Dinamo Zagreb | Loan | 18 January 2021 |
| DF | João Silva | Sporting CP | Free | 2 February 2021 |
| FW | Leon Šipoš | Spartaks Jūrmala | Loan | 2 February 2021 |
| FW | Hassane Bandé | Ajax | Loan | 9 February 2021 |
| FW | Taichi Hara | Tokyo | Free | 10 February 2021 |
| GK | Fabrice Ondoa | Deportivo Alavés | Loan | 13 February 2021 |
| MF | Dylan Levitt | Manchester United | Loan | 15 February 2021 |
Source: Glasilo Hrvatskog nogometnog saveza

### Out

| Pos | Player | Transferred to | Fee | Date |
| MF | Matija Fintić | Dinamo Zagreb II | Back from loan | 5 August 2020 |
| MF | Mario Munivrana | No team | Free | 7 August 2020 |
| MF | Denis Bušnja | Rijeka | Back from loan | 9 August 2020 |
| FW | Ivan Delić | Hajduk Split | Back from loan | 10 August 2020 |
| DF | Marin Grujević | No team | Free | 14 August 2020 |
| MF | Ivan Močinić | No team | Free | 14 August 2020 |
| DF | Martin Franić | No team | Free | 19 August 2020 |
| GK | Josip Čondrić | Rotor Volgograd | 122,000 € | 28 August 2020 |
| FW | Josip Maganjić | Fiorentina | Back from loan | 31 August 2020 |
| DF | Markus Pavić | No team | Free | 14 August 2020 |
| MF | Obeng Regan | No team | Free | 8 September 2020 |
| GK | Tomislav Duka | Zagora Unešić | Free | 11 September 2020 |
| GK | Tony Macan | Uljanik | Loan | 18 September 2020 |
| DF | Agron Rufati | Zorya Luhansk | Undisclosed | 18 September 2020 |
| FW | Karolis Laukžemis | No team | Free | 24 September 2020 |
| MF | Octavio Páez | No team | Free | 4 October 2020 |
| MF | Drilon Sadiku | Lierse | Free | 5 October 2020 |
| FW | Robert Perić-Komšić | Cibalia | Loan | 9 October 2020 |
| MF | Adrián Fuentes | Deportivo Alavés | Recalled from loan | 29 January 2021 |
| FW | Vice Miljanić | Inter Zaprešić | Free | 6 February 2021 |
| DF | Kim Hyun-woo | Dinamo Zagreb II | Recalled from loan | 11 February 2021 |
| MF | Kim Gyu-hyeong | Dinamo Zagreb II | Recalled from loan | 11 February 2021 |
Source: Glasilo Hrvatskog nogometnog saveza
Total spending: 0 €
Total income: 122,000 €
Total expenditure: 122,000 €

## Competitions
### Overview

| Competition | First match | Last match | Starting round | Final position | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record |
| Competition | First match | Last match | Starting round | Final position | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Win % |
| HT Prva liga | 16 August 2020 | 22 May 2021 | Matchday 1 | 9th | 36 | 7 | 8 | 21 | 27 | 52 | −25 | 019.44 |
| Croatian Cup | 7 October 2020 | 19 May 2021 | First round | Runners-up | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 13 | 8 | +5 | 080.00 |
| Total | Total | Total | Total | Total | 41 | 11 | 8 | 22 | 40 | 60 | −20 | 026.83 |
Last updated: 23 May 2021 Source: Soccerway

### HT Prva liga
#### League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 6 | Šibenik | 36 | 9 | 8 | 19 | 32 | 47 | −15 | 35 | |
| 7 | Slaven Belupo | 36 | 7 | 13 | 16 | 36 | 53 | −17 | 34 | |
| 8 | Lokomotiva | 36 | 7 | 9 | 20 | 29 | 60 | −31 | 30 | |
| 9 | Istra 1961 | 36 | 7 | 8 | 21 | 27 | 52 | −25 | 29 | |
| 10 | Varaždin (R) | 36 | 6 | 10 | 20 | 30 | 61 | −31 | 28 | Relegation for the Croatian Second Football League |

#### Results summary

| Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away |
Last updated: 23 May 2021. Source: Prva HNL

#### Results by round

| Round | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 |
| Ground | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | A | H | H | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | A |
| Result | L | L | L | L | D | W | D | L | L | W | L | L | D | D | L | W | W | L | L | L | D | L | L | W | W | D | L | L | L | L | D | L | L | D | W | L |
| Position | 8 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 8 | 8 | 10 | 10 | 8 | 10 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 9 | 9 |

#### Matches

Source: Croatian Football Federation

### Croatian Football Cup

Source: Croatian Football Federation

## Player seasonal records

Updated 23 May 2021

### Goals

| Rank | Name | League | Cup | Total |
| 1 | Taichi Hara | 2 | 6 | 8 |
| 2 | Šime Gržan | 5 | 2 | 7 |
| 3 | Matej Vuk | 6 | – | 6 |
| 4 | Antonio Ivančić | 5 | – | 5 |
| 4 | Josip Špoljarić | 4 | 1 | 5 |
| 6 | Gedeon Guzina | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| 7 | Hassane Bandé | 1 | – | 1 |
| 7 | Einar Galilea | 1 | – | 1 |
| 7 | Sergi González | 1 | – | 1 |
| 7 | Rafa Navarro | 1 | – | 1 |
| 7 | Josip Šutalo | – | 1 | 1 |
| Own goals | Own goals | – | 1 | 1 |
| TOTALS | TOTALS | 27 | 13 | 40 |
Source: Competitive matches

### Clean sheets

| Rank | Name | League | Cup | Total |
| 1 | Ivan Lučić | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| 2 | Lovro Majkić | 2 | – | 2 |
| 2 | Lovro Juric | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 4 | Fabrice Ondoa | – | 1 | 1 |
| TOTALS | TOTALS | 5 | 3 | 8 |
Source: Competitive matches

### Disciplinary record

| Number | Position | Player | 1. HNL | 1. HNL | 1. HNL | Croatian Cup | Croatian Cup | Croatian Cup | Total | Total | Total |
| 1 | GK | Ivan Lučić | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| 2 | DF | Luka Hujber | 6 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 1 | 0 |
| 3 | DF | Sergi González | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 |
| 4 | DF | Rafael Páez | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 6 | DF | Petar Bosančić | 10 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 0 | 0 |
| 7 | FW | Šime Gržan | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| 8 | MF | Einar Galilea | 12 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 0 | 0 |
| 9 | FW | Taichi Hara | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| 10 | FW | Gedeon Guzina | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 11 | FW | Josip Špoljarić | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 12 | DF | Rafa Navarro | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 13 | MF | Kim Gyu-hyeong | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 14 | MF | Antonio Perera | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| 18 | FW | Hassane Bandé | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 20 | MF | Antonio Ivančić | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 22 | MF | Matej Vuk | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 23 | MF | Stefan Lončar | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 24 | MF | Dino Halilović | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| 26 | MF | Obeng Regan | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 27 | DF | Josip Tomašević | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 0 |
| 30 | DF | Mario Lovre Vojković | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 37 | DF | Josip Šutalo | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| 39 | DF | Mauro Perković | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 44 | DF | João Silva | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 63 | MF | Dylan Levitt | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 77 | MF | Slavko Blagojević | 9 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 1 | 0 |
| TOTALS | TOTALS | TOTALS | 86 | 2 | 0 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 100 | 2 | 0 |

### Appearances and goals

| Number | Position | Player | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| Number | Position | Player | Total | Total | 1. HNL | 1. HNL | Croatian Cup | Croatian Cup |
| 1 | GK | Ivan Lučić | 26 | 0 | 23+0 | 0 | 3+0 | 0 |
| 2 | DF | Luka Hujber | 25 | 0 | 17+5 | 0 | 3+0 | 0 |
| 3 | DF | Sergi González | 25 | 1 | 22+2 | 1 | 1+0 | 0 |
| 4 | DF | Rafael Páez | 9 | 0 | 7+2 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 |
| 5 | DF | Kim Hyun-woo | 6 | 0 | 1+4 | 0 | 1+0 | 0 |
| 5 | DF | Agron Rufati | 1 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 |
| 6 | DF | Petar Bosančić | 24 | 0 | 19+1 | 0 | 4+0 | 0 |
| 7 | FW | Šime Gržan | 38 | 7 | 32+1 | 5 | 2+3 | 2 |
| 8 | MF | Einar Galilea | 27 | 1 | 25+0 | 1 | 2+0 | 0 |
| 9 | MF | Adrián Fuentes | 12 | 0 | 4+7 | 0 | 1+0 | 0 |
| 9 | FW | Taichi Hara | 18 | 8 | 14+0 | 2 | 3+1 | 6 |
| 10 | FW | Gedeon Guzina | 29 | 3 | 12+14 | 1 | 2+1 | 2 |
| 11 | FW | Josip Špoljarić | 30 | 5 | 15+10 | 4 | 3+2 | 1 |
| 12 | DF | Rafa Navarro | 20 | 1 | 15+2 | 1 | 2+1 | 0 |
| 13 | MF | Kim Gyu-hyeong | 5 | 0 | 1+3 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 |
| 14 | MF | Antonio Perera | 18 | 0 | 8+6 | 0 | 1+3 | 0 |
| 16 | GK | Fabrice Ondoa | 1 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 1+0 | 0 |
| 17 | MF | Arona Sané | 15 | 0 | 5+9 | 0 | 1+0 | 0 |
| 18 | FW | Hassane Bandé | 20 | 1 | 10+6 | 1 | 1+3 | 0 |
| 18 | FW | Robert Perić-Komšić | 1 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 |
| 20 | MF | Antonio Ivančić | 31 | 5 | 20+7 | 5 | 2+2 | 0 |
| 21 | GK | Lovro Majkić | 8 | 0 | 8+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 |
| 22 | MF | Matej Vuk | 30 | 6 | 21+5 | 6 | 3+1 | 0 |
| 23 | MF | Stefan Lončar | 27 | 0 | 12+13 | 0 | 2+0 | 0 |
| 24 | MF | Dino Halilović | 21 | 0 | 6+11 | 0 | 3+1 | 0 |
| 26 | MF | Obeng Regan | 2 | 0 | 2+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 |
| 27 | DF | Josip Tomašević | 23 | 0 | 19+1 | 0 | 3+0 | 0 |
| 28 | MF | Octavio Páez | 2 | 0 | 0+2 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 |
| 28 | FW | Leon Šipoš | 10 | 0 | 2+7 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 |
| 30 | DF | Mario Lovre Vojković | 5 | 0 | 2+1 | 0 | 2+0 | 0 |
| 33 | MF | Drilon Sadiku | 2 | 0 | 0+2 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 |
| 34 | MF | Mateo Lisica | 19 | 0 | 7+10 | 0 | 2+0 | 0 |
| 36 | FW | Marko Bibić | 1 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 |
| 37 | DF | Josip Šutalo | 26 | 1 | 22+0 | 0 | 4+0 | 1 |
| 39 | DF | Mauro Perković | 6 | 0 | 4+2 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 |
| 44 | DF | João Silva | 11 | 0 | 6+4 | 0 | 1+0 | 0 |
| 63 | MF | Dylan Levitt | 9 | 0 | 2+5 | 0 | 2+0 | 0 |
| 77 | MF | Slavko Blagojević | 32 | 0 | 28+1 | 0 | 1+2 | 0 |
| 96 | GK | Lovro Juric | 6 | 0 | 5+0 | 0 | 1+0 | 0 |