# 2017–18 Croatian First Football League

The 2017–18 Croatian First Football League (officially Hrvatski Telekom Prva liga for sponsorship reasons) was the 27th 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 14 July 2017 and ended on 19 May 2018. Rijeka were the defending champions, who have won their first Croatian league title and ended Dinamo Zagreb's consecutive 11-season reign the previous season. Dinamo Zagreb ultimately reclaimed the title by May 2018, their 19th since the league's inception, with Rijeka ending close second.
The league was contested by 10 teams.

## Teams

On 21 April 2017, Croatian Football Federation announced that the first stage of licensing procedure for 2017–18 season was complete. For the 2017–18 Prva HNL, only seven clubs were issued a top level license: Dinamo Zagreb, Hajduk Split, Inter Zaprešić, Lokomotiva, Osijek, Rijeka and Slaven Belupo. All of these clubs except Inter Zaprešić were also issued a license for participating in UEFA competitions. In the second stage of licensing, clubs that were not licensed in the first stage can appeal on the decision. On 23 May 2017, it was announced that all remaining Prva HNL clubs except RNK Split were granted top level license. Four teams from Druga HNL acquired the top level license: Gorica, Rudeš, Solin and NK Zagreb.

### Stadia and locations

| Team | City | Stadium | Capacity |
| Cibalia | Vinkovci | Stadion HNK Cibalia | 9,958 |
| Dinamo Zagreb | Zagreb | Maksimir | 35,123 |
| Hajduk Split | Split | Poljud | 35,000 |
| Inter Zaprešić | Zaprešić | ŠRC Zaprešić | 5,228 |
| Istra 1961 | Pula | Aldo Drosina | 10,000 |
| Lokomotiva | Zagreb | Kranjčevićeva$^1$ | 8,850 |
| Osijek | Osijek | Gradski vrt | 22,050 |
| Rijeka | Rijeka | Rujevica | 8,191 |
| Rudeš | Zagreb | Kranjčevićeva$^1$ | 8,850 |
| Slaven Belupo | Koprivnica | Gradski stadion | 3,205 |
* $^1$ Lokomotiva and Rudeš host their home matches at Stadion Kranjčevićeva as their own grounds failed to get license for top level football. The stadium was originally the home ground of third-level side NK Zagreb.

### Teams by county

| Rank | Counties of Croatia | Number of teams | Club(s) |
| 1 | City of Zagreb | 3 | Dinamo Zagreb, Lokomotiva, and Rudeš |
| 2 | Istria | 1 | Istra 1961 |
| 2 | Koprivnica-Križevci | 1 | Slaven |
| 2 | Osijek-Baranja | 1 | Osijek |
| 2 | Primorje-Gorski Kotar | 1 | Rijeka |
| 2 | Split-Dalmatia | 1 | Hajduk Split |
| 2 | Vukovar-Srijem | 1 | Cibalia |
| 2 | Zagreb County | 1 | Inter Zaprešić |

### Personnel and kits

| Club | Chairman | Manager | Captain | Kit manufacturer | Sponsors |
| Cibalia | Josip Kuterovac | Davor Rupnik | Frane Vitaić | Jako | DOBRO |
| Dinamo Zagreb | Mirko Barišić | Nenad Bjelica | Arijan Ademi | adidas | |
| Hajduk Split | Ivan Kos | Željko Kopić | Zoran Nižić | Macron | Tommy |
| Inter Zaprešić | Branko Laljak | Samir Toplak | Tomislav Šarić | Joma | Veleučilište Baltazar Zaprešić |
| Istra 1961 | Vacant | Darko Raić-Sudar | Aljoša Vojnović | Nike | Croatia Osiguranje |
| Lokomotiva | Tin Dolički | Goran Tomić | Ivan Šunjić | Nike | Crodux |
| Osijek | Ivan Meštrović | Zoran Zekić | Borna Barišić | Nike | DOBRO |
| Rijeka | Damir Mišković | Matjaž Kek | Filip Bradarić | Jako | Sava Osiguranje |
| Rudeš | Ivan Knežević | José Manuel Aira | Leonard Mesarić | Kelme | |
| Slaven Belupo | Hrvoje Kolarić | Tomislav Ivković | Vedran Purić | adidas | Belupo |

### Managerial changes

| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Replaced by | Date of appointment | Position in table |
| Istra 1961 | Marijo Tot | Sacked | 2 June 2017 | Darko Raić-Sudar | 2 June 2017 | Pre-season |
| Rudeš | Igor Bišćan | Signed by Olimpija | 2 June 2017 | Iñaki Alonso | 10 June 2017 | Pre-season |
| Dinamo Zagreb | Ivaylo Petev | Sacked | 13 July 2017 | Mario Cvitanović | 13 July 2017 | Pre-season |
| Slaven Belupo | Željko Kopić | Resigned | 24 October 2017 | Tomislav Ivković | 26 October 2017 | 7th |
| Hajduk Split | Joan Carrillo | Sacked | 6 November 2017 | Vik Lalić (caretaker) | 6 November 2017 | 4th |
| Hajduk Split | Vik Lalić (caretaker) | Signing of Kopić | - | Željko Kopić | 13 November 2017 | 4th |
| Lokomotiva | Mario Tokić | Removed from position | 5 December 2017 | Draženko Prskalo (caretaker) | 5 December 2017 | 6th |
| Rudeš | Iñaki Alonso | Removed from position | 26 December 2017 | Dinko Jeličić | 27 December 2017 | 10th |
| Lokomotiva | Draženko Prskalo (caretaker) | Signing of Tomić | 27 December 2017 | Goran Tomić | 27 December 2017 | 6th |
| Dinamo Zagreb | Mario Cvitanović | Resigned | 10 March 2018 | Nikola Jurčević | 12 March 2018 | 1st |
| Rudeš | Dinko Jeličić | Sacked | 10 March 2018 | José Manuel Aira | 12 March 2018 | 10th |
| Cibalia | Mladen Bartolović | Sacked | 19 March 2018 | Davor Rupnik | 19 March 2018 | 9th |
| Dinamo Zagreb | Nikola Jurčević | Sacked | 15 May 2018 | Nenad Bjelica | 15 May 2018 | 1st |
| Rudeš | José Manuel Aira | Signed by Sochaux | 22 May 2018 | | | 8th |

## League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Dinamo Zagreb (C) | 36 | 22 | 7 | 7 | 68 | 34 | +34 | 73 | Qualification for the Champions League second qualifying round |
| 2 | Rijeka | 36 | 22 | 4 | 10 | 75 | 32 | +43 | 70 | Qualification for the Europa League third qualifying round |
| 3 | Hajduk Split | 36 | 19 | 9 | 8 | 70 | 38 | +32 | 66 | Qualification for the Europa League second qualifying round |
| 4 | Osijek | 36 | 14 | 14 | 8 | 53 | 38 | +15 | 56 | Qualification for the Europa League first qualifying round |
| 5 | Lokomotiva | 36 | 14 | 9 | 13 | 47 | 48 | −1 | 51 | |
| 6 | Slaven Belupo | 36 | 11 | 10 | 15 | 35 | 45 | −10 | 43 | |
| 7 | Inter Zaprešić | 36 | 11 | 10 | 15 | 43 | 64 | −21 | 43 | |
| 8 | Rudeš | 36 | 10 | 10 | 16 | 41 | 62 | −21 | 40 | |
| 9 | Istra 1961 (O) | 36 | 6 | 9 | 21 | 28 | 60 | −32 | 27 | Qualification for the Relegation play-offs |
| 10 | Cibalia (R) | 36 | 6 | 8 | 22 | 36 | 75 | −39 | 26 | Relegation to Croatian Second Football League |
* 1 2 3 Since the winners of the 2017–18 Croatian Football Cup, Dinamo Zagreb, qualified for European competition based on league position, the spot awarded to the cup winners (Europa League third qualifying round) was passed to the runners-up, the spot awarded to the runners-up was passed to the third-placed team, and the spot awarded to the third-placed team was passed to the fourth-placed team.

## 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 | DIN | RIJ | HAJ | OSI | LOK | INT | SLA | RUD | IST | CIB | DIN | RIJ | HAJ | OSI | LOK | INT | SLA | RUD | IST | CIB |
| Dinamo Zagreb | — | 3–1 | 3–1 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 3–2 | 2–0 | 4–0 | — | 0–1 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 1–4 | 3–1 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 5–1 | 1–0 |
| Rijeka | 0–2 | — | 1–2 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 4–1 | 2–0 | 7–0 | 4–1 | — | 3–1 | 1–0 | 3–1 | 5–1 | 2–0 | 3–0 | 4–0 | 5–1 |
| Hajduk Split | 2–2 | 0–2 | — | 1–1 | 2–2 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 2–3 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 1–2 | 1–1 | — | 1–1 | 1–0 | 5–0 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 3–2 | 4–0 |
| Osijek | 1–1 | 1–0 | 2–1 | — | 3–0 | 3–0 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 2–4 | 2–1 | 3–3 | — | 0–1 | 1–1 | 3–0 | 3–0 | 2–0 | 3–1 |
| Lokomotiva | 0–3 | 1–0 | 1–3 | 2–3 | — | 3–0 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–3 | 3–1 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 1–1 | — | 2–3 | 5–2 | 2–2 | 0–0 | 2–1 |
| Inter Zaprešić | 1–3 | 1–3 | 2–2 | 3–1 | 1–1 | — | 0–1 | 3–1 | 2–2 | 3–1 | 0–0 | 0–3 | 0–3 | 1–0 | 1–2 | — | 0–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 3–2 |
| Slaven Belupo | 0–1 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–2 | — | 2–2 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 2–2 | 1–3 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 2–2 | 3–3 | — | 2–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 |
| Rudeš | 1–1 | 1–5 | 0–4 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 1–2 | — | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 4–2 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 2–0 | 2–0 | — | 2–1 | 3–2 |
| Istra 1961 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 1–3 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 2–1 | — | 0–1 | 0–4 | 0–1 | 1–5 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 2–4 | 2–1 | 1–1 | — | 0–0 |
| Cibalia | 2–5 | 1–2 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 1–4 | — | 0–2 | 0–0 | 0–5 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 3–0 | 1–3 | 1–1 | 1–1 | — |

### Positions by round

| Team ╲ 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 |
| Cibalia | 7 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 |
| Dinamo Zagreb | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Hajduk Split | 1 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| Inter Zaprešić | 2 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 6 |
| Istra 1961 | 9 | 7 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 |
| Lokomotiva | 8 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 5 |
| Osijek | 5 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| Rijeka | 3 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Rudeš | 6 | 8 | 7 | 8 | 10 | 10 | 9 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 |
| Slaven Belupo | 10 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 |
* Leader / Qualification to UEFA Champions League
* Qualification to UEFA Europa League
* Relegation play-off
* Relegation to Druga HNL

## Relegation play-offs

At the end of the season, ninth placed team Istra 1961 will contest a two-legged relegation play-off tie against Varaždin, runners-up of the 2017–18 Croatian Second Football League.

### Second leg

Istra 1961 won 3–2 on aggregate.

## Statistics
### Top scorers

    As of 19 May 2018
| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| 1 | El Arabi Hillel Soudani | Dinamo Zagreb | 17 |
| 2 | Héber | Rijeka | 16 |
| 3 | Mario Gavranović | Rijeka (7), Dinamo Zagreb (8) | 15 |
| 3 | Mirko Ivanovski | Slaven Belupo | 15 |
| 5 | Mario Budimir | Rudeš (13), Dinamo Zagreb (1) | 14 |
| 6 | Jakov Puljić | Inter Zaprešić (4), Rijeka (8) | 12 |
| 7 | Lovro Majer | Lokomotiva | 11 |
| 7 | Said Ahmed Said | Hajduk Split | 11 |
| 9 | Ante Erceg | Hajduk Split | 9 |
| 9 | Haris Hajradinović | Osijek | 9 |
| 9 | Franck Ohandza | Hajduk Split | 9 |

## Awards
### Annual awards

| Award | Winner | Club |
| Player of the Season | Hillal Soudani | Dinamo Zagreb |
| Manager of the Season | Matjaž Kek | Rijeka |
| Young Player of the Season | Lovro Majer | Lokomotiva |
Team of the Year :
| Goalkeeper | Dominik Livaković (Dinamo Zagreb) | Dominik Livaković (Dinamo Zagreb) | Dominik Livaković (Dinamo Zagreb) | Dominik Livaković (Dinamo Zagreb) |
| Defence | Josip Juranović (Hajduk Split) | Josip Juranović (Hajduk Split) | Zoran Nižić (Hajduk Split) | Filip Benković (Dinamo Zagreb) |
| Midfield | Hillal Soudani (Dinamo Zagreb) | Arijan Ademi (Dinamo Zagreb) | Filip Bradarić (Rijeka) | Borna Sosa (Dinamo Zagreb) |
| Lovro Majer (Lokomotiva) ||||
| Attack | Mario Gavranović (Dinamo Zagreb) | Mario Gavranović (Dinamo Zagreb) | Héber (Rijeka) | Héber (Rijeka) |