Radomir Dalovic’s Rijeka begins its Champions League adventure after winning the Croatian championship for the second time in its history last May following a very close three-way battle with Dinamo Zagreb and Hajduk Split. Thanks to this triumph, the club from the city of Rijeka will have the opportunity to play in the Champions League preliminary rounds, which they already featured in during the 2017-18 season: it would obviously be a dream to reach the group stage, a milestone never before achieved by the Croatian side.
However, the results recorded in the five friendly matches played in the preseason are not entirely encouraging: in addition to three wins against Primorje, Oleksandria, and Bravo, Rijeka also suffered two defeats against Serbian side Cukaricki and Turkish side Goztepe, two opponents within the reach of the HNL holders.
Beyond the legitimate doubts about Rijeka’s form, it is now time to get down to business: Dalovic’s men will be busy in the second qualifying round against Bulgarian side Ludogorets, a team with much more experience at European level than the Croatians. What’s more, the Biancoverdi have already played three official matches: the two first-round games against Dinamo Minsk (1-0 in Bulgaria and 2-2 in Belarus after extra time) and the first league game against Septemviri, who were thrashed 5-0 in front of their own fans. For Ludogorets, coached by Portuguese Rui Mota, it would be crucial to avoid defeat in Croatia and then go all out in Bulgaria: in fact, the Biancoverdi have not lost an official match at home since January.p>
Odds comparison
h2>
The “X2” sign is quoted at 1.60 on Goldbet, Lottomatica, and Snai.
The “Under 2.5” sign is quoted at 1.65 on Goldbet, Lottomatica, and Snai.
Prediction
The fact that Ludogorets players currently have many more minutes under their belts leads us to consider the possibility of a positive result for the Bulgarians in a match with less than three goals in total.
Probable line-ups for Rijeka-Ludogorets
RIJEKA (4-1-4-1): Zlomislic; Orec, Majstorovic, Radeljic, Devetak; Petrovic; Menalo, Ndockyt, Fruk, Jankovic; Cop. LUDOGORETS (4-2-3-1): Bonmann; Son, Kurtulus, Verdon, Shishkov; Naressi, Duarte; Ivanov, Chochev, Marcus; Bille. POSSIBLE RESULT: 1-1