Comfortably leading the league with just five games remaining, an awful run of form by Josip Šutalo’s Ajax has put their Eredivisie title hopes in jeopardy.
Climbing just one point behind the 36-time winning Dutch Champions, PSV have been led by veteran Ivan Perišić, playing in career-best form.
Meanwhile, a young superstar breaks an A-League Men’s finals record with a stunning hat-trick, and HNL Giants have been posed with a title-deciding dilemma.
Vjesnik’s Jake Holub wraps up the week in national and international football, through a Croatian lens, covering Aussie-Croats, Croats in Europe and the HNL.
A-League: A record-breaking finals hat-trick
Kicking off the A-League Men‘s do-or-die Elimination Finals on Friday night, striking sensation Noah Botić did not shy away from the bright lights.
Hosting Adelaide United for the first-ever finals game played at Ironbark Fields, Botić fired home a first-half brace to provide Western United with a 2-1 lead heading into the break.
Just past the hour mark, the 23-year-old forward became the league’s youngest ever hat-trick scorer in a finals game, helping his team to a 3-2 win.
Botić’s next task will be to navigate Western United’s semi-final tie against Steven Ugarković‘s Melbourne City over two legs at AAMI Park.
On the following night, Nicolas Milanović‘s Western Sydney Wanderers had their 12-game undefeated streak put to an end in their home elimination final against Melbourne Victory.
The loss sees the Wanderers crash out of the Finals Series, and potentially put an end to Milanović’s stint in the West of Sydney with strong links to an Aberdeen move for the 23-year-old.
Croatian international midfielder Bianca Galić helped her Central Coast Mariners side give Melbourne City their first defeat of the entire season, winning 1-0 in a tense clash that went to extra time in Casey Fields.
Playing in all 120 minutes, Galić will look to quickly recover as they prepare to face Melbourne Victory in the A-League Women‘s Grand Final at AAMI Park on Sunday, May 18.
Europe: A tight contest for Eredivisie glory
Despite celebrating his 36th birthday earlier this year, Ivan Perišić‘s career-best form is pushing PSV back into the Eredivisie title race.
Averaging a goal contribution every 118 minutes in his career-best season back in 2010/11 with Club Brugge, Perišić has averaged one goal or assist in every 89 minutes of action since joining PSV this season.
Contributing a goal and an assist in PSV’s thrilling 3-2 comeback victory over Feyenoord, Perišić helped his team claim their fifth consecutive win.
Sat nine points behind Josip Šutalo‘s league-leading Ajax just three rounds ago, a calamitous run of form by the Dutch Giants has seen PSV narrow the gap to just a single point.
With two games remaining in the Eredivisie, pressure will be on Šutalo and his side to hold strong and win their first title since the 2021/22 season, under drastic pressure from the reigning Champions.
Just south of the border, striker Franjo Ivanović also finds himself in a tense title race.
While missing a spot-kick in the eighth minute, Ivanović provided the game-winning assist in Union Saint-Gilloise’s 1-0 triumph over rivals Anderlecht.
Just two games remain in the Belgian Pro League, with USG sitting top of the league by a one-point margin over the trailing Club Brugge, presenting the 21-year-old the opportunity to lift the Brussels-based club’s first top division title in 90 years.
In Germany, Josip Stanišić and Gabriel Vidović lifted the Bundesliga title in a pumping Allianz Arena following a 2-0 win over Borussia Mönchengladbach.
Championship celebrations were also held south in Switzerland for Marin Šotiček‘s FC Basel, taking out the Swiss Super League title for the first time since 2016/17.
Croat trio Ivica Ivušić, Mislav Oršić and Zvonimir Šarlija are just one game away from winning a Cypriot domestic double with Pafos FC, set to face AEK Larnaca in the Cyprus Cup Final later this month.
Manchester City duo, Joško Gvardiol and Mateo Kovačić, are also set to battle for the Domestic Cup after both started in a nil-all draw against Southampton.
Led by legendary coach Pep Guardiola, City take on Crystal Palace in the FA Cup Final on Sunday, May 18.
While the Citizens can still attain silverware amid a difficult campaign, Luka Modrić‘s struggling Real Madrid have almost certainly been eliminated from the La Liga title race after a 4-3 loss in El Clásico.
The 39-year-old midfielder has been relegated to substitute appearances in Los Blancos’ last two games, with the likely arrival of new head coach Xabi Alonso further leaving Modrić’s future at the club up in the air.
Here are some other performances from Croats in Europe worth noting:
–Matija Frigan scored his 13th goal of the season in Westerlo’s 4-3 loss to Charleroi. The 22-year-old has notably netted four goals and provided an assist in his last six outings.
–Ante Budimir took his career-high season’s tally to 22 goals in all competitions after scoring Osasuna’s equalising goal in one-all draw with Real Betis.
–Lovro Majer provided an assist after being introduced from the bench at half-time in Wolfsburg’s 2-2 draw with Andrej Kramarić‘s Hoffenheim.
HNL: Dilemma for crumbling Hajduk
While last weekend saw Dinamo Zagreb finally leapfrog Hajduk Split in the dramatic HNL title race, Round 34’s action has almost certainly confirmed that Hajduk are no longer a contender.
Rijeka kicked the week off for the top three with an away fixture against the bottom-placed Šibenik, needing to continue their winning ways.
Scoreless after over an hour of action, winger Naïs Djouahra’s goal ensured Rijeka escaped as 1-0 winners in a nervy clash.
A few hours later, Dinamo sent a statement of intent with an eye-catching 5-0 win over Slaven Belupo.
Scoring a brace from the right wing, 21-year-old Luka Stojković was a particular standout for Dinamo, who have won five out of six games since the departure of head coach Fabio Cannavaro.
Requiring all three points, Hajduk’s horror capitulation continued with a 1-1 draw to Gorica.
Conceding early in the second half, captain Marko Livaja‘s equaliser meant his side would at least come away with a point.
Although Livaja has almost certainly claimed the HNL Golden Boot with his 18 goals, leading ahead of both Sandro Kulenović and Robert Mudražija on 14 goals with two rounds remaining, Hajduk now look well and truly out of title contention.
Rijeka remain just a point ahead of Dinamo in second, while Hajduk trails five and four points behind each side respectively.
It goes from bad to worse for Hajduk, now faced with a painful dilemma.
As Dinamo face a struggling Lokomotiva away from home on the 18th of May, Hajduk host Rijeka at the Poljud on the following day in a potential lose-lose situation.
Should Dinamo defeat Lokomotiva, a win or draw for Hajduk against Rijeka will allow their eternal rivals to jump to the top of the league heading into the final round.
While it is highly unlikely to see Gennaro Gattuso purposely throw a potential title-deciding game to ensure Rijeka win, the result on May 19 could prove to be the pivotal moment in an all-time classic HNL title race.