# 1998–99 NK Croatia Zagreb season

During the 1998–99 Croatian football season, Croatia Zagreb competed in the Prva HNL.

## Season summary

Croatia Zagreb made their debut in the Champions League group stage, drawn against Olympiakos, Porto and Ajax. Zagreb failed to win any of their first three group games, resulting in the departure of manager Zlatko Kranjčar. His replacement, Velimir Zajec, inspired a turnaround and wins against Porto and Ajax gave the club hope of reaching the quarter-finals. A home draw with Olympiakos in the final group stage match saw Croatia Zagreb finish second in their group, but as they were the lowest-ranked of all the group stage runners-up they did not progress.
In the first round of the Croatian Football Cup the club was sensationally knocked out by fourth-level amateur side NK Dugo Selo 3–2.
In the league, Croatia was unbeaten in the first 11 matches of the season. Their first defeat came in November against Rijeka. They ended the first stage of the championship in March on top of the table, with a single point ahead of Rijeka, and 11 points ahead of their biggest rivals Hajduk Split in third place.
In the championship playoff, played as a round-robin mini-league involving top six teams from the first stage, Croatia finished on top, winning their fifth Croatian title since the country's independence, and ninth national title overall.

## First-team squad

    Squad at end of season
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 12 | GK | CRO | Tomislav Butina |
| 1 | GK | CRO | Dražen Ladić |
| 30 | GK | CRO | Ivan Turina |
| 23 | GK | CRO | Vladimir Vasilj |
| 17 | DF | CRO | Mario Cvitanović |
| 5 | DF | CRO | Goran Jurić |
| 3 | DF | CRO | Damir Krznar |
| 11 | DF | CRO | Tomislav Rukavina |
| 15 | DF | CRO | Daniel Šarić |
| 6 | DF | CRO | Danijel Štefulj |
| 2 | DF | CRO | Mario Tokić |
| 20 | DF | CRO | Stjepan Tomas |
| 4 | DF | MKD | Goce Sedloski |
| 19 | MF | CRO | Mario Bazina |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 22 | MF | CRO | Igor Bišćan |
| 21 | MF | CRO | Joško Jeličić |
| 24 | MF | CRO | Krunoslav Jurčić |
| 14 | MF | CRO | Mihael Mikić |
| 8 | MF | CRO | Robert Prosinečki |
| 10 | MF | BIH | Edin Mujčin |
| 7 | MF | BIH | Nermin Šabić |
| 28 | FW | CRO | Domagoj Abramović |
| 26 | FW | CRO | Ardian Kozniku |
| 16 | FW | CRO | Josip Šimić |
| 25 | FW | CRO | Tomo Šokota |
| 9 | FW | LTU | Gražvydas Mikulėnas |
| 13 | FW | JPN | Kazuyoshi Miura |

### Left club during season

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 4 | MF | CRO | Silvio Marić (to Newcastle United) |
| 9 | FW | AUS | Mark Viduka (to Celtic) |
| 13 | DF | CRO | Dario Šimić (to Inter) |

## Competitions
### 1. HNL
#### Standings

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Croatia Zagreb | 22 | 17 | 2 | 3 | 44 | 14 | +30 | 53 | Qualification to championship group |
| 2 | Rijeka | 22 | 17 | 1 | 4 | 35 | 18 | +17 | 52 | Qualification to championship group |
| 3 | Hajduk Split | 22 | 12 | 6 | 4 | 38 | 17 | +21 | 42 | Qualification to championship group |
| 4 | Osijek | 22 | 11 | 3 | 8 | 37 | 23 | +14 | 36 | Qualification to championship group |
| 5 | Varteks | 22 | 9 | 3 | 10 | 40 | 36 | +4 | 30 | Qualification to championship group |

#### Standings

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Croatia Zagreb (C) | 10 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 11 | 6 | +5 | 45 | Qualification to Champions League third qualifying round |
| 2 | Rijeka | 10 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 18 | 15 | +3 | 44 | Qualification to Champions League second qualifying round |
| 3 | Hajduk Split | 10 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 24 | 15 | +9 | 39 | Qualification to UEFA Cup qualifying round |
| 4 | Osijek | 10 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 14 | 16 | −2 | 30 | Qualification to UEFA Cup first round |
| 5 | Hrvatski Dragovoljac | 10 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 15 | 21 | −6 | 23 | Qualification to Intertoto Cup first round |
| 6 | Varteks | 10 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 10 | 19 | −9 | 22 | Qualification to Intertoto Cup first round |

### UEFA Champions League
#### Second qualifying round
#### Standings

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Olympiacos | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 8 | 6 | +2 | 11 | Advance to knockout stage |
| 2 | Croatia Zagreb | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 7 | −2 | 8 | |
| 3 | Porto | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 11 | 9 | +2 | 7 | |
| 4 | Ajax | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 6 | −2 | 7 | |