Croatia Cup Final 2025, Second Leg, Thursday, 29.05.2025, 19:00
Last weekend, HNK Rijeka secured the Croatian league title for the second time since the 2016/17 season in a dramatic season finale.
In the final table, Rijeka and Dinamo Zagreb finished on 65 points and with a goal difference of +28. In the “Hrvatska nogometna liga,” however, it is not the number of goals scored (69 for Dinamo and 49 for HNK) that counts in the event of a tie, but the head-to-head record.
This secured the title for the “Rijecki bijeli” in a long-distance duel with the record champions from the capital. Will the Whites from the port city now also win the double? That’s the question my Rijeka Slaven Belupo tip revolves around.
Curiously, Rijeka also had to play Slaven Belupo at home on the last matchday of the HNL and won the game 2-0. Now the two clubs meet again on Thursday on the Adriatic coast.
The cup title in Croatia is decided over two legs. The first game between the two finalists on May 14 in Koprivnica ended in a 1-1 draw.
This gives the home side the better starting position in the Rijeka Slaven Belupo prediction. I’m going for a “Rijeka win” at odds of 1.68 on Winamax.
The “Rijecki bijeli” are the newly crowned champions and have home advantage in the second leg. Unsurprisingly, the bookmakers have made the home side favorites to win.
The betting odds for a home win for Rijeka Slaven Belupo are just over 1.65. On the other hand, odds of up to 5.00 are available for a win for the visitors in regular time.
Rijeka established itself among the top teams in the Croatian league, particularly from the 2012/13 season onwards, finishing in the top three in eleven of 13 seasons during that period (six times in second place), which also meant a ticket to the European Cup each time.
The highlights were the 2016/17 championship and the cup victories in the 2016/17, 2018/19 and 2019/20 seasons. The club’s management had started the 2024/25 season with coach Zeljko Sopic.
However, he was dismissed after the first five competitive games of the new season and replaced by Radomir Dalovic. And under the new man, the team got off to an excellent start.
The first defeat did not come until the 20th matchday. While the record in the first 19 games was ten wins and nine defeats, by the 36th matchday only eight wins, two draws and seven defeats had been added.
In the end, however, that was enough for the title. For the first time in 20 years, the Croatian championship title was decided on the last matchday. And for only the fourth time ever, three clubs were in contention.
The team’s pride and joy was its defense, which conceded just 21 goals in 36 games. Rijeka was also the best team away from home with 27 points, while finishing third in the home table.
NK Slaven from the city of Koprivnica was promoted to the Croatian top flight for the first time in 1997 and has remained in the HNL ever since. Its best result is second place in the 2007/08 season.
The club has also reached the cup final twice, in 2006/07 and 2015/16. On both occasions, however, the team from northern Croatia lost the final 1-2 to Dinamo Zagreb.
This season, the team, which bears the name of the Koprivnica-based pharmaceutical company Belupo thanks to a sponsorship deal, finished fifth in the final table.
This is still the best finish since third place in the 2011/12 season. However, they finished 17 points behind champions Rijeka. In addition, the record was slightly negative with 13 wins and 14 losses (9 draws).
Now the club is hoping for its first title in its history. With a victory in the cup competition, NK Slaven could also qualify for European competition for the first time since the 2012/13 season.
In the current cup season, Belupo has already had to go into extra time once (against Gorica) and once into a penalty shootout (against Osijek). Coach Mario Kovacević’s team has won only one of its last seven competitive games (2 draws, 4 losses).
From the visitors’ point of view, this does not necessarily bode well for Rijeka Slaven Belupo.
Our databases contain 94 matches between HNK Rijeka and NK Slaven Belupo. The team from the port city leads the head-to-head record with 44 wins to 19 defeats (31 draws).
The difference is even more pronounced when the “Rijecki bijeli” are the visitors. The team from Koprivnica has played here 47 times and has only won six times, with 29 defeats (12 draws).
This season, the two teams have already met five times. In the league, HNK had the upper hand with two home wins (both 2-0) and an away draw (0-0). At the end of March, however, they suffered a 1-2 defeat at the Ivan Kusek Apas Stadium.
And then there’s the 1-1 draw from the first leg of the cup. In this duel between these two teams, the away team has been waiting for a win for six games (2 draws, 4 losses).
In the cup, the record is completely even with one win and one draw each. Will HNK win a home game against Belupo 2-0 for the third time this season?
Conclusion: Slaven Belupo is finally aiming to win its first cup title in its third attempt. But the visitors from Koprivnica face a difficult task. In the first leg at home, they only managed a 1-1 draw.
Now they face the newly crowned champions, who gained a lot of confidence and momentum with their title win at the weekend and will also have their home fans behind them on Thursday.
The difference between the two clubs was also quite clear last season. So, in the second leg of the cup final, everything points to a win for the home side.
Accordingly, I am going for the Rijeka Slaven Belupo prediction: Rijeka win
