Osijek faced Rijeka at Rujevica in Matchday 6 of the SuperSport HNL, with the home side claiming a 4-1 victory. The White and Blues took the lead through Leon following a move involving Ljatifi, but the hosts turned the result around by the end of the match. Head coach Federico Bessone reflected on his team’s performance and the mistakes that influenced the final outcome.

 

It was a difficult match, probably the most difficult one for us so far, even though the defeat in Split was more convincing. Today was completely different. We didn’t feel comfortable, and from the beginning we couldn’t understand what was happening in the game. In any case, we were fortunate because we had the opportunity to take the lead with our first entry into the penalty area. It was a really excellent move. After that, I thought we might be able to change something after our poor start, but things actually got even worse. We started making mistakes that are punished heavily at this level, especially against opponents like these who will punish you ruthlessly.

Bessone stressed that the team must continue working on the details that once again proved important.

As I have said many times before, there are certain things in our game that we will have to improve, and these are the small details that will make us better. We are still in a good position. We thought we could achieve something here as well, but in the end Rijeka were better than us.

The White and Blues’ young players were also given an opportunity in the second half. Sixteen-year-old Izak Ježić made his senior debut, while Luka Posavec and David Kalem also featured.

I can say again that these young players are training well and showing that they are ready to play. I think they showed that today as well in the second half. Obviously, they need to gain some rhythm and learn how to react in certain situations, but I am happy with them and with the way they tried to help the team.

Osijek are back in action on Wednesday, when they travel to face Segesta in the Round of 32 of the Croatian Cup.

Tonight we had a difficult opponent in the League, Dinamo are coming to us on Saturday, but Wednesday will also be very difficult against a team from the second division. They will certainly be highly motivated and full of energy on their home ground, so we will have to respond in the right way if we want to win that match, Bessone concluded.

Domagoj Bukvić also reflected on the match at Rujevica.

I think we started well and scored to take the lead, but after that we lost the initiative. Rijeka punished our mistakes and, in the end, the result looks bad. If only we had managed to hold on to the lead until half-time, I believe it could have been a different story in the second half. However, Rijeka took advantage of some of our poor reactions and built their lead. But we have to look at everything from a more positive perspective because we already have another match in the Cup on Wednesday, and we have to prepare ourselves to achieve what we want there.

Bukvić also commented on the performances of the young players.

It is really great that our Club gives opportunities to young players, and I think they will all develop into good players. It is a good path for what lies ahead of us.

We will continue as we have so far – match by match. Segesta are next, before another big League match against Dinamo. The Segesta match is very important to us and certainly won’t be easy. We will have to show a lot on the pitch to get through to the next round and prepare ourselves for Dinamo.