# 2007–08 Croatian First Football League

The 2007–08 Croatian First Football League (officially known as the T-Com Prva HNL for sponsorship reasons) was the seventeenth 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 20 July 2007 and ended on 10 May 2008. Dinamo Zagreb were the defending champions, having won their eleventh championship title the previous season, and they defended the title again, after a win against Međimurje on 12 April 2008.

## Promotion and relegation

Kamen Ingrad were automatically relegated to Druga HNL as they finished last in the previous season, while Inter Zaprešić were automatically promoted from Druga HNL after winning the 2006–07 title. In a two-legged playoff between Zadar and Pula, Zadar were promoted to Prva HNL by beating Pula with 6–2 on aggregate (3–0, 3–2).

## Teams
### Stadia and personnel

| Team | Manager$^1$ | Location | Stadium | Capacity |
| Cibalia | Srećko Lušić | Vinkovci | Stadion HNK Cibalia | 10,000 |
| Dinamo Zagreb | Zvonimir Soldo | Zagreb | Stadion Maksimir | 37,168 |
| Hajduk Split | Robert Jarni | Split | Stadion Poljud | 35,000 |
| Inter Zaprešić | Milivoj Bračun | Zagreb | Stadion ŠRC Zaprešić | 5,000 |
| Međimurje | Miljenko Dovečer | Čakovec | Stadion SRC Mladost | 8,000 |
| Osijek | Ilija Lončarević | Osijek | Stadion Gradski vrt | 19,500 |
| Rijeka | Zlatko Dalić | Rijeka | Stadion Kantrida | 10,275 |
| Slaven Belupo | Krunoslav Jurčić | Koprivnica | Gradski stadion u Koprivnici | 4,000 |
| Šibenik | Ivica Kalinić | Šibenik | Stadion Šubićevac | 8,000 |
| Varteks | Dražen Besek | Varaždin | Stadion Varteks | 10,800 |
| Zadar | Dalibor Zebić | Zadar | Stadion Stanovi | 5,860 |
| NK Zagreb | Miroslav Blažević | Zagreb | Stadion Kranjčevićeva | 8,850 |
* $^1$ On final match day of the season, played on 10 May 2008.

## League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Dinamo Zagreb (C) | 33 | 26 | 4 | 3 | 91 | 34 | +57 | 82 | Qualification to Champions League first qualifying round |
| 2 | Slaven Belupo | 33 | 16 | 6 | 11 | 45 | 29 | +16 | 54 | Qualification to UEFA Cup first qualifying round |
| 3 | Osijek | 33 | 16 | 6 | 11 | 43 | 34 | +9 | 54 | |
| 4 | Rijeka | 33 | 14 | 11 | 8 | 53 | 41 | +12 | 53 | Qualification to Intertoto Cup first round |
| 5 | Hajduk Split | 33 | 14 | 10 | 9 | 57 | 41 | +16 | 52 | Qualification to UEFA Cup first qualifying round |
| 6 | NK Zagreb | 33 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 51 | 40 | +11 | 44 | |
| 7 | Varteks | 33 | 11 | 7 | 15 | 46 | 53 | −7 | 40 | |
| 8 | Cibalia | 33 | 11 | 7 | 15 | 40 | 48 | −8 | 40 | |
| 9 | Zadar | 33 | 11 | 7 | 15 | 49 | 61 | −12 | 40 | |
| 10 | Šibenik | 33 | 9 | 12 | 12 | 34 | 52 | −18 | 39 | |
| 11 | Inter Zaprešić (O) | 33 | 8 | 9 | 16 | 27 | 59 | −32 | 33 | Qualification to relegation play-off |
| 12 | Međimurje (R) | 33 | 3 | 6 | 24 | 37 | 81 | −44 | 15 | Relegation to Croatian Second Football League |
* 1 2 Hajduk Split qualified for the UEFA Cup as a runner-up of the 2007–08 Croatian Football Cup.

## Results

The schedule consisted of three rounds. During the first two rounds, each team played each other once home and away for a total of 22 matches. The pairings of the third round were then set according to the standings after the first two rounds, giving every team a third game against each opponent for a total of 33 games per team.
| Home \ Away | CIB | DIN | HAJ | INT | MEĐ | OSI | RIJ | SLA | ŠIB | VAR | ZAD | ZAG | CIB | DIN | HAJ | INT | MEĐ | OSI | RIJ | SLA | ŠIB | VAR | ZAD | ZAG |
| Cibalia | | 1–2 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 3–0 | 3–3 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 3–1 | | | | 1–1 | 3–0 | | | | 2–0 | 0–1 | | 2–2 |
| Dinamo Zagreb | 2–1 | | 1–0 | 5–0 | 3–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 4–0 | 5–0 | 1–2 | 5–1 | 6–3 | 4–0 | | | 1–0 | | 3–2 | 6–1 | 1–0 | 5–1 | | | |
| Hajduk Split | 2–2 | 1–2 | | 7–1 | 3–3 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 3–1 | 4–1 | 2–1 | 1–2 | 1–1 | | 7–2 | | 0–2 | | 2–0 | 4–1 | | | |
| Inter Zaprešić | 1–0 | 0–4 | 0–1 | | 3–0 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 2–2 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 1–1 | | | | | | 1–2 | 2–1 | 0–0 | | 1–0 | | 0–0 |
| Međimurje | 0–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 2–3 | | 0–1 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 2–2 | 4–1 | 2–4 | 0–3 | | 1–2 | 2–2 | 4–0 | | | | | 0–1 | | 2–3 | |
| Osijek | 5–1 | 1–3 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 4–0 | | 2–2 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 2–1 | | | | 3–1 | | 1–0 | 1–0 | | 2–0 | | 2–1 |
| Rijeka | 3–0 | 2–4 | 4–0 | 2–1 | 3–1 | 1–1 | | 1–0 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 2–0 | | 1–1 | | 5–2 | | | | | 2–2 | 5–3 | 1–1 |
| Slaven Belupo | 2–2 | 5–2 | 2–2 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 | | 1–0 | 6–0 | 4–2 | 1–0 | 2–0 | | | | 4–0 | | 1–1 | | | 2–1 | 2–0 | 1–0 |
| Šibenik | 2–0 | 0–2 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 4–2 | 1–0 | 3–2 | 0–2 | | 4–3 | 0–0 | 0–0 | | | | 0–0 | | 1–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | | | | 0–2 |
| Varteks | 2–1 | 4–3 | 1–3 | 1–2 | 2–0 | 1–2 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 3–0 | | 2–0 | 0–1 | | 1–1 | 4–0 | | 3–2 | | | | 1–1 | | 5–2 | |
| Zadar | 1–1 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 3–0 | 4–0 | 5–1 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 2–2 | 2–0 | | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2–5 | 1–3 | 3–1 | | 1–1 | | | 0–2 | | | |
| NK Zagreb | 4–1 | 1–3 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 2–2 | 0–2 | 3–1 | 0–0 | 7–2 | | | 0–0 | 2–1 | | 6–1 | | | | | 3–1 | 0–0 | |

### Relegation play-off

Following the end of season, a home-and-away relegation/promotion play-off was contested between Inter Zaprešić (11th placed team in the First League) and Hrvatski Dragovoljac (2nd placed team in the 2007–08 Second Football League). Matches were played on 17 and 21 May 2008, with Inter Zaprešić retaining their top level status by beating Hrvatski Dragovoljac 2–0 on aggregate.

#### Second leg
## Top goalscorers

| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Želimir Terkeš | Zadar | 21 |
| 2 | Radomir Đalović | Rijeka | 18 |
| 3 | Nikola Kalinić | Hajduk Split | 17 |
| 4 | Krunoslav Lovrek | NK Zagreb | 14 |
| 5 | Luka Modrić | Dinamo Zagreb | 13 |
| 6 | Senijad Ibričić | NK Zagreb | 12 |
| 6 | Željko Malčić | Cibalia | 12 |
| 6 | Mario Mandžukić | Dinamo Zagreb | 12 |
| 9 | Boško Balaban | Dinamo Zagreb | 11 |
| 9 | Anas Sharbini | Rijeka | 11 |
| 9 | Josip Tadić | Dinamo Zagreb | 11 |
| 9 | Ognjen Vukojević | Dinamo Zagreb | 11 |