# 2019–20 Croatian First Football League

The 2019–20 Croatian First Football League (officially Hrvatski Telekom Prva liga for sponsorship reasons) was the 29th 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 19 July 2019. It was temporarily postponed from 12 March to 5 June 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The league was contested by ten teams.

## Teams

On 23 April 2019, Croatian Football Federation announced that the first stage of licensing procedure for 2019–20 season was complete. For the 2019–20 Prva HNL, only nine clubs were issued a top level license: Dinamo Zagreb, Gorica, Hajduk Split, Inter Zaprešić, Istra 1961, Osijek, Rijeka, Slaven Belupo and Varaždin. All of these clubs except Varaždin, who were newly promoted to the Prva HNL as champions of the 2018–19 Croatian Second Football League, 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 could appeal on the decision.

### Stadia and locations

| Dinamo Zagreb | Gorica | Hajduk Split | Inter Zaprešić |
| Stadion Maksimir | Gradski stadion Velika Gorica | Stadion Poljud | Stadion Ivan Laljak-Ivić |
| Capacity: 35,123 | Capacity: 5,000 | Capacity: 34,198 | Capacity: 5,228 |
| Istra 1961 | Dinamo LokomotivaGoricaHajduk SplitInterIstra 1961OsijekRijekaSlavenVaraždinclass=notpageimage| Locations of teams in 2019–20 Prva HNL | Dinamo LokomotivaGoricaHajduk SplitInterIstra 1961OsijekRijekaSlavenVaraždinclass=notpageimage| Locations of teams in 2019–20 Prva HNL | Lokomotiva |
| Stadion Aldo Drosina | Dinamo LokomotivaGoricaHajduk SplitInterIstra 1961OsijekRijekaSlavenVaraždinclass=notpageimage| Locations of teams in 2019–20 Prva HNL | Dinamo LokomotivaGoricaHajduk SplitInterIstra 1961OsijekRijekaSlavenVaraždinclass=notpageimage| Locations of teams in 2019–20 Prva HNL | Stadion Kranjčevićeva |
| Capacity: 9,800 | Dinamo LokomotivaGoricaHajduk SplitInterIstra 1961OsijekRijekaSlavenVaraždinclass=notpageimage| Locations of teams in 2019–20 Prva HNL | Dinamo LokomotivaGoricaHajduk SplitInterIstra 1961OsijekRijekaSlavenVaraždinclass=notpageimage| Locations of teams in 2019–20 Prva HNL | Capacity: 5,350 |
| Osijek | Rijeka | Slaven Belupo | Varaždin |
| Stadion Gradski vrt | Stadion Rujevica | Stadion Ivan Kušek-Apaš | Stadion Varteks |
| Capacity: 17,061 | Capacity: 8,279 | Capacity: 3,205 | Capacity: 8,850 |
| Team | City | Stadium | Capacity |
| Dinamo Zagreb | Zagreb | Maksimir | 35,423 |
| Gorica | Velika Gorica | Gradski stadion Velika Gorica | 5,000 |
| Hajduk Split | Split | Poljud | 34,198 |
| Inter Zaprešić | Zaprešić | Stadion ŠRC Zaprešić | 5,228 |
| Istra 1961 | Pula | Stadion Aldo Drosina | 9,800 |
| Lokomotiva | Zagreb | Kranjčevićeva$^1$ | 5,350 |
| Osijek | Osijek | Gradski vrt | 17,061 |
| Rijeka | Rijeka | Rujevica | 8,279 |
| Slaven Belupo | Koprivnica | Stadion Ivan Kušek-Apaš | 3,205 |
| Varaždin | Varaždin | Stadion Varteks | 8,850 |
* $^1$ Lokomotiva hosted their home matches at Stadion Kranjčevićeva. The stadium was originally the home ground of third-level side NK Zagreb.
| Rank | Counties of Croatia | Number of teams | Club(s) |
| 1 | City of Zagreb | 2 | Dinamo Zagreb, Lokomotiva |
| 2 | Zagreb County | 2 | Gorica, Inter Zaprešić |
| 3 | Istria | 1 | Istra 1961 |
| 3 | Koprivnica-Križevci | 1 | Slaven Belupo |
| 3 | Osijek-Baranja | 1 | Osijek |
| 3 | Primorje-Gorski Kotar | 1 | Rijeka |
| 3 | Split-Dalmatia | 1 | Hajduk Split |
| 3 | Varaždin | 1 | Varaždin |

### Personnel and kits

| Club | Manager | Captain | Kit manufacturer | Sponsors |
| Dinamo Zagreb | Zoran Mamić | Arijan Ademi | Adidas | Lana grupa |
| Gorica | Valdas Dambrauskas | Kristijan Kahlina | Alpas | - |
| Hajduk Split | Igor Tudor | Mijo Caktaš | Macron | Tommy |
| Inter Zaprešić | Tomislav Ivković | Tomislav Mazalović | Joma | - |
| Istra 1961 | Ivan Prelec | Marin Grujević | Kelme | Croatia Osiguranje |
| Lokomotiva | Goran Tomić | Denis Kolinger | Adidas | - |
| Osijek | Ivica Kulešević | Mile Škorić | Nike | DOBRO |
| Rijeka | Simon Rožman | Franko Andrijašević | Joma | Sava Osiguranje |
| Slaven Belupo | Tomislav Stipić | Mateas Delić | Adidas | Belupo |
| Varaždin | Samir Toplak | Leon Benko | Legea | TOKIĆ |

### Managerial changes

| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Replaced by | Date of appointment | Position in table |
| Istra 1961 | Igor Cvitanović | Sacked | 11 June 2019 | Ivan Prelec | 15 June 2019 | Pre-season |
| Varaždin | Branko Karačić | Contract expired | 17 June 2019 | Borimir Perković | 22 June 2019 | Pre-season |
| Hajduk Split | Siniša Oreščanin | Sacked | 19 July 2019 | Damir Burić | 20 July 2019 | Pre-season |
| Osijek | Dino Skender | Sacked | 21 September 2019 | Ivica Kulešević | 22 September 2019 | 4th |
| Rijeka | Igor Bišćan | Resigned | 22 September 2019 | Simon Rožman | 23 September 2019 | 3rd |
| Slaven Belupo | Ivica Sertić | Removed from position | 7 October 2019 | Tomislav Stipić | 8 October 2019 | 8th |
| Varaždin | Borimir Perković | Sacked | 8 October 2019 | Luka Bonačić | 9 October 2019 | 10th |
| Hajduk Split | Damir Burić | Mutual consent | 19 December 2019 | Igor Tudor | 23 December 2019 | 2nd |
| Inter Zaprešić | Samir Toplak | Sacked | 4 January 2020 | Željko Petrović | 4 January 2020 | 8th |
| Varaždin | Luka Bonačić | Sacked | 8 February 2020 | Samir Toplak | 10 February 2020 | 10th |
| Gorica | Sergej Jakirović | Sacked | 24 February 2020 | Valdas Dambrauskas | 25 February 2020 | 6th |
| Inter Zaprešić | Željko Petrović | Sacked | 8 April 2020 | Tomislav Ivković | | 9th |
| Dinamo Zagreb | Nenad Bjelica | Sacked | 16 April 2020 | Igor Jovićević | 22 April 2020 | 1st |
| Dinamo Zagreb | Igor Jovićević | Sacked | 6 July 2020 | Zoran Mamić | 7 July 2020 | 1st |

## League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Dinamo Zagreb (C) | 36 | 25 | 5 | 6 | 62 | 20 | +42 | 80 | Qualification for the Champions League second qualifying round |
| 2 | Lokomotiva | 36 | 19 | 8 | 9 | 57 | 38 | +19 | 65 | Qualification for the Champions League second qualifying round |
| 3 | Rijeka | 36 | 19 | 7 | 10 | 58 | 42 | +16 | 64 | Qualification for the Europa League third qualifying round |
| 4 | Osijek | 36 | 17 | 11 | 8 | 47 | 29 | +18 | 62 | Qualification for the Europa League second qualifying round |
| 5 | Hajduk Split | 36 | 18 | 6 | 12 | 60 | 41 | +19 | 60 | Qualification for the Europa League second qualifying round |
| 6 | Gorica | 36 | 12 | 13 | 11 | 44 | 48 | −4 | 49 | |
| 7 | Slaven Belupo | 36 | 10 | 9 | 17 | 34 | 51 | −17 | 39 | |
| 8 | Varaždin | 36 | 9 | 9 | 18 | 29 | 50 | −21 | 36 | |
| 9 | Istra 1961 (O) | 36 | 5 | 10 | 21 | 27 | 59 | −32 | 25 | Qualification for the Relegation play-offs |
| 10 | Inter Zaprešić (R) | 36 | 3 | 8 | 25 | 32 | 72 | −40 | 17 | Relegation to Croatian Second Football League |

## Results

Each team played home-and-away against every other team in the league twice, for a total of 36 matches each played.
| Home \ Away | DIN | GOR | HAJ | INT | IST | LOK | OSI | RIJ | SLA | VAR | DIN | GOR | HAJ | INT | IST | LOK | OSI | RIJ | SLA | VAR |
| Dinamo Zagreb | — | 3–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | — | 2–0 | 2–3 | 3–2 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 4–0 | 3–2 | 2–0 |
| Gorica | 2–4 | — | 2–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 3–1 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 0–0 | — | 3–1 | 1–1 | 3–0 | 1–3 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–1 |
| Hajduk Split | 1–0 | 3–0 | — | 3–1 | 2–0 | 3–0 | 3–2 | 0–4 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 0–2 | 6–0 | — | 2–1 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 2–3 | 2–1 | 2–3 |
| Inter Zaprešić | 1–2 | 0–2 | 1–1 | — | 0–2 | 1–2 | 3–3 | 1–4 | 3–1 | 2–2 | 0–1 | 0–3 | 1–4 | — | 2–0 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 1–2 |
| Istra 1961 | 1–2 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 2–2 | — | 0–2 | 0–0 | 0–3 | 2–3 | 3–1 | 0–0 | 2–2 | 0–1 | 2–0 | — | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–3 | 1–1 | 1–0 |
| Lokomotiva | 0–4 | 4–0 | 0–0 | 3–1 | 4–1 | — | 2–1 | 0–1 | 6–1 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 3–2 | 3–1 | 2–0 | — | 0–1 | 2–1 | 3–0 | 2–0 |
| Osijek | 0–0 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 3–1 | 1–0 | 4–0 | — | 3–2 | 2–0 | 2–2 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 1–2 | — | 1–0 | 3–2 | 2–0 |
| Rijeka | 0–5 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | — | 3–1 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 1–2 | 2–0 | 4–1 | 4–2 | 2–2 | 1–0 | — | 1–0 | 3–1 |
| Slaven Belupo | 0–3 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 3–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 0–4 | 1–2 | — | 1–1 | 0–2 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 3–1 | 3–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 1–0 | — | 0–0 |
| Varaždin | 1–0 | 1–3 | 0–3 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 0–0 | — | 1–3 | 2–2 | 0–3 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 0–2 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | — |

## Relegation play-offs

At the end of the season, Istra 1961 contested a two-legged relegation play-off tie against Orijent 1919, the third-placed team of the 2019–20 Croatian Second Football League, since runners-up Croatia Zmijavci failed to apply for a top level license.

### Second leg

Istra 1961 won 3–1 on aggregate.

## Statistics
### Top goalscorers

| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Antonio Čolak | Rijeka | 20 |
| 1 | Mijo Caktaš | Hajduk Split | 20 |
| 1 | Mirko Marić | Osijek | 20 |
| 4 | Kristijan Lovrić | Gorica | 14 |
| 5 | Mislav Oršić | Dinamo Zagreb | 13 |
| 6 | Ivan Krstanović | Slaven Belupo | 12 |
| 7 | Emem Eduok | Hajduk Split | 11 |
| 7 | Lirim Kastrati | Lokomotiva | 11 |
| 7 | Marko Tolić | Lokomotiva | 11 |
| 10 | Damian Kądzior | Dinamo Zagreb | 10 |

## Awards
### Annual awards

| Award | Winner | Club |
| Player of the Season | Bruno Petković | Dinamo Zagreb |
| Manager of the Season | Nenad Bjelica | Dinamo Zagreb |
| Young Player of the Season | Luka Ivanušec | Dinamo Zagreb |
Team of the Year :
| Goalkeeper | Dominik Livaković (Dinamo Zagreb) | Dominik Livaković (Dinamo Zagreb) | Dominik Livaković (Dinamo Zagreb) | Dominik Livaković (Dinamo Zagreb) | Dominik Livaković (Dinamo Zagreb) | Dominik Livaković (Dinamo Zagreb) | Dominik Livaković (Dinamo Zagreb) |
| Defence | Igor Silva (Osijek) | Igor Silva (Osijek) | Igor Silva (Osijek) | Mile Škorić (Osijek) | Denis Kolinger (Lokomotiva) | Denis Kolinger (Lokomotiva) | Denis Kolinger (Lokomotiva) |
| Midfield | Petar Bočkaj (Osijek) | Nikola Moro (Dinamo Zagreb) | Nikola Moro (Dinamo Zagreb) | Mijo Caktaš (Hajduk) | Arijan Ademi (Dinamo Zagreb) | Lirim Kastrati (Lokomotiva) |
| Attack | Bruno Petković (Dinamo Zagreb) | Bruno Petković (Dinamo Zagreb) | Bruno Petković (Dinamo Zagreb) | Mirko Marić (Osijek) | Mirko Marić (Osijek) | Mirko Marić (Osijek) |