# 2008–09 HNK Rijeka season

The 2008–09 season was the 63rd season in Rijeka's history. It was their 18th season in the Prva HNL and 35th successive top tier season.

## Competitions

| 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 | G | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Win % |
| Prva HNL | 27 July 2008 | 31 May 2009 | Matchday 1 | 3rd | 33 | 17 | 5 | 11 | 50 | 44 | +6 | 051.52 |
| Croatian Cup | 24 September 2008 | 26 November 2008 | First round | Quarterfinal | 4 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 12 | 6 | +6 | 025.00 |
| Intertoto Cup | 21 June 2008 | 28 June 2008 | First round | First round | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | −2 | 000.00 |
| Total | Total | Total | Total | Total | 39 | 18 | 9 | 12 | 62 | 52 | +10 | 046.15 |

### Prva HNL
#### Classification

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Dinamo Zagreb (C) | 33 | 23 | 5 | 5 | 71 | 26 | +45 | 74 | Qualification to Champions League second qualifying round |
| 2 | Hajduk Split | 33 | 21 | 5 | 7 | 59 | 25 | +34 | 68 | Qualification to Europa League third qualifying round |
| 3 | Rijeka | 33 | 17 | 5 | 11 | 50 | 44 | +6 | 56 | Qualification to Europa League second qualifying round |
| 4 | Slaven Belupo | 33 | 16 | 7 | 10 | 46 | 39 | +7 | 55 | Qualification to Europa League first qualifying round |
| 5 | NK Zagreb | 33 | 13 | 8 | 12 | 38 | 39 | −1 | 47 | |
* ↑ Because both cup finalists, Dinamo and Hajduk, qualified for Europe through their league positions, all three UEFA Europa League spots were given to teams according to their league positions, what means that fourth-placed Slaven Belupo also earned a spot in Europa League.

#### Results summary

| Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away |

#### 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 |
| Ground | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A |
| Result | L | L | D | W | W | W | L | D | W | L | D | W | D | L | L | W | L | W | D | W | L | W | W | L | W | W | W | W | L | W | W | W | L |
| Position | 12 | 12 | 12 | 7 | 6 | 2 | 7 | 7 | 4 | 7 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 |

## Matches
### Prva HNL

| Round | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Attendance | Rijeka Scorers | Report |
| 1 | 27 Jul | A | Dinamo Zagreb | 0 – 2 | 6,000 | | HRnogomet.com |
| 2 | 3 Aug | H | Zagreb | 0 – 1 | 2,500 | | HRnogomet.com |
| 3 | 10 Aug | A | Inter Zaprešić | 2 – 2 | 700 | Bodrušić, Budicin | HRnogomet.com |
| 4 | 17 Aug | H | Hajduk Split | 3 – 1 | 4,000 | Čagalj, An. Sharbini, Križman | HRnogomet.com |
| 5 | 24 Aug | A | Croatia Sesvete | 1 – 0 | 1,500 | Ljubović | HRnogomet.com |
| 6 | 31 Aug | H | Slaven Belupo | 2 – 0 | 2,500 | An. Sharbini, Ah. Sharbini | HRnogomet.com |
| 7 | 14 Sep | A | Cibalia | 1 – 3 | 1,000 | Budicin | HRnogomet.com |
| 8 | 21 Sep | H | Osijek | 0 – 0 | 1,500 | | HRnogomet.com |
| 9 | 28 Sep | A | Zadar | 3 – 0 | 2,000 | Matko, An. Sharbini (2) | HRnogomet.com |
| 10 | 5 Oct | H | Šibenik | 0 – 1 | 1,500 | | HRnogomet.com |
| 11 | 19 Oct | A | Varteks | 3 – 3 | 1,500 | An. Sharbini, Ah. Sharbini (2) | HRnogomet.com |
| 13 | 2 Nov | A | Zagreb | 1 – 1 | 800 | Ah. Sharbini | HRnogomet.com |
| 14 | 9 Nov | H | Inter Zaprešić | 0 – 1 | 1,500 | | HRnogomet.com |
| 15 | 16 Nov | A | Hajduk Split | 0 – 2 | 7,000 | | HRnogomet.com |
| 12 | 19 Nov | H | Dinamo Zagreb | 1 – 0 | 3,500 | An. Sharbini | HRnogomet.com |
| 16 | 23 Nov | H | Croatia Sesvete | 2 – 1 | 1,300 | Cerić (2) | HRnogomet.com |
| 17 | 30 Nov | A | Slaven Belupo | 1 – 2 | 500 | Križman | HRnogomet.com |
| 18 | 7 Dec | H | Cibalia | 1 – 0 | 1,000 | Fernández | HRnogomet.com |
| 19 | 22 Feb | A | Osijek | 2 – 2 | 1,500 | An. Sharbini, Ah. Sharbini | HRnogomet.com |
| 20 | 1 Mar | H | Zadar | 2 – 1 | 1,500 | Štrok, Ah. Sharbini | HRnogomet.com |
| 21 | 8 Mar | A | Šibenik | 0 – 3 | 3,000 | | HRnogomet.com |
| 22 | 15 Mar | H | Varteks | 2 – 1 | 2,000 | Štrok, Cerić | HRnogomet.com |
| 23 | 22 Mar | H | Croatia Sesvete | 3 – 2 | 1,500 | An. Sharbini, Budicin, Cerić | HRnogomet.com |
| 24 | 5 Apr | A | Zadar | 1 – 3 | 2,000 | Ah. Sharbini | HRnogomet.com |
| 25 | 11 Apr | H | Varteks | 4 – 1 | 2,000 | Križman, Ah. Sharbini, Kreilach, An. Sharbini | HRnogomet.com |
| 26 | 19 Apr | H | Zagreb | 2 – 0 | 1,500 | Cerić, Križman | HRnogomet.com |
| 27 | 22 Apr | A | Šibenik | 1 – 0 | 1,500 | Gerc | HRnogomet.com |
| 28 | 26 Apr | H | Slaven Belupo | 6 – 2 | 4,500 | Pamić, An. Sharbini (3), o.g., Ah. Sharbini | HRnogomet.com |
| 29 | 3 May | A | Dinamo Zagreb | 0 – 4 | 10,000 | | HRnogomet.com |
| 30 | 10 May | H | Hajduk Split | 2 – 1 | 7,000 | Pamić, Ah. Sharbini | HRnogomet.com |
| 31 | 17 May | A | Osijek | 2 – 1 | 1,500 | Ah. Sharbini (2) | HRnogomet.com |
| 32 | 24 May | H | Cibalia | 2 – 0 | 2,000 | An. Sharbini (2) | HRnogomet.com |
| 33 | 31 May | A | Inter Zaprešić | 0 – 3 | 800 | | HRnogomet.com |
Source: HRnogomet.com

### Croatian Cup

| Round | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Attendance | Rijeka Scorers | Report |
| R1 | 24 Sep | A | Metalac Sisak | 6 – 0 | 600 | Ah. Sharbini (3), An. Sharbini (2), Matko | HRnogomet.com |
| R2 | 29 Oct | A | Zadar | 2 – 2 (7–6 p) | 1,000 | Novaković, Ah. Sharbini | HRnogomet.com |
| QF | 12 Nov | H | Zagreb | 2 – 2 | 300 | An. Sharbini, Ah. Sharbini | HRnogomet.com |
| QF | 26 Nov | A | Zagreb | 2 – 2 (4–6 p) | 500 | Novaković, Križman | HRnogomet.com |
Source: HRnogomet.com

### Intertoto Cup

| Round | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Attendance | Rijeka Scorers | Report |
| R1 | 21 Jun | H | Renova | 0 – 0 | 500 | | HRnogomet.com |
| R1 | 28 Jun | AR | Renova | 0 – 2 | 2,000 | | HRnogomet.com |
Source: HRnogomet.com

### Squad statistics

Competitive matches only. Appearances in brackets indicate numbers of times the player came on as a substitute.
| Name | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| Name | League | League | Cup | Cup | Europe | Europe | Total | Total |
| Velimir Radman | 25 (0) | 0 | 4 (0) | 0 | 2 (0) | 0 | 31 (0) | 0 |
| Dario Bodrušić | 14 (3) | 1 | 2 (0) | 0 | 2 (0) | 0 | 18 (3) | 1 |
| Alen Pamić | 23 (3) | 2 | 2 (1) | 0 | 1 (1) | 0 | 26 (5) | 2 |
| Igor Čagalj | 13 (5) | 1 | 3 (0) | 0 | 0 (1) | 0 | 16 (6) | 1 |
| Fausto Budicin | 24 (0) | 3 | 4 (0) | 0 | 2 (0) | 0 | 30 (0) | 3 |
| Davor Landeka | 24 (3) | 0 | 3 (0) | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 | 27 (3) | 0 |
| Tarik Cerić | 17 (2) | 5 | 1 (1) | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 | 18 (3) | 5 |
| Anas Sharbini | 27 (0) | 14 | 4 (0) | 3 | 1 (0) | 0 | 32 (0) | 17 |
| Hrvoje Štrok | 27 (3) | 2 | 4 (0) | 0 | 2 (0) | 0 | 33 (3) | 2 |
| Dario Dabac | 21 (1) | 0 | 3 (1) | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 | 24 (2) | 0 |
| Sandi Križman | 16 (12) | 4 | 0 (4) | 1 | 2 (0) | 0 | 18 (16) | 5 |
| Ahmad Sharbini | 27 (2) | 12 | 3 (0) | 5 | 0 (0) | 0 | 30 (2) | 17 |
| Ivan Mance | 7 (1) | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 | 7 (1) | 0 |
| Ramón Ignacio Fernández | 11 (11) | 1 | 2 (0) | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 | 13 (11) | 1 |
| Igor Novaković | 21 (4) | 0 | 3 (1) | 2 | 0 (0) | 0 | 24 (5) | 2 |
| Matija Matko | 10 (9) | 1 | 3 (0) | 1 | 0 (0) | 0 | 13 (9) | 2 |
| Damir Kreilach | 7 (6) | 1 | 0 (1) | 0 | 1 (1) | 0 | 8 (8) | 1 |
| Vedran Turkalj | 8 (5) | 0 | 1 (0) | 0 | 0 (1) | 0 | 9 (6) | 0 |
| Darko Miladin | 7 (1) | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 | 7 (1) | 0 |
| Denis Ljubović | 6 (2) | 1 | 2 (0) | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 | 8 (2) | 1 |
| Kenan Čejvanović | 6 (1) | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 | 6 (1) | 0 |
| Filip Tapalović | 1 (6) | 0 | 0 (2) | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 | 1 (8) | 0 |
| Vedran Gerc | 2 (4) | 1 | 0 (0) | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 | 2 (4) | 1 |
| Mario Tadejević | 1 (3) | 0 | 0 (1) | 0 | 1 (0) | 0 | 2 (4) | 0 |
| Alen Škoro | 3 (1) | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 | 0 (2) | 0 | 3 (3) | 0 |
| Nedim Halilović | 1 (0) | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 | 2 (0) | 0 | 3 (0) | 0 |
| Marin Datković | 1 (1) | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 | 1 (1) | 0 |
| Ivan Bijelić | 0 (1) | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 | 0 (1) | 0 |
| Valentino Stepčić | 0 (1) | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 | 0 (1) | 0 |
| Marko Krešić | 0 (1) | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 | 0 (1) | 0 |
| Nikola Šafarić | 2 (0) | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 | 1 (0) | 0 | 3 (0) | 0 |
| Luka Vučko | 0 (0) | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 | 2 (0) | 0 | 2 (0) | 0 |
| Radomir Đalović | 0 (0) | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 | 2 (0) | 0 | 2 (0) | 0 |
| Georgi Ivanov | 0 (0) | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 | 1 (0) | 0 | 1 (0) | 0 |