STORY OF THE SEASON - CROATIA: Zagreb remain the benchmark for men’s handball in Croatia, as their record-setting winning run gets longer and longer
Zagreb continue staggering run in Croatia
HC PPD Zagreb have become a synonym for handball in Croatia. The club from the capital has just completed yet another record-setting domestic season.
The team of coach Branko Tamse ended the season by winning 10 out of 10 in the play-offs for the national championship. It brought them their 28th domestic title - and their 26th participation in the VELUX EHF Champions League next season, also a record.
Zagreb’s biggest rivals, RK Nexe, have been trying to catch up for several years. The club from Nasice believed that this could become their season after they upset Zagreb 23:22 in the opening round of the regional SEHA League in August 2018.
However, Zagreb have remained untouchable. Since Croatia’s independence in 1991, Zagreb have won all 28 national champion titles. They have also won the domestic cup in 26 of those 28 seasons - a series only interrupted for two straight years by Metkovic in 2001 and 2002. Bottom line is that Zagreb have won 56 of 58 domestic trophies. Moreover, they have not lost a match in the Croatian league since 2012.
In this season’s play-offs, they had a perfect run of 10 winning matches and a goal difference of +103. Their dominance was confirmed in the last game, where they beat Nexe (30:27) for the fifth time across competitions this season after that initial slip-up in August.
Zagreb will seek new challenges next season with a somewhat changed squad: Tin Kontrec, Leon Susnja, Urh Kastelic, Gregor Potocnik, Nikola Potic, Artur Karvatski and Benjamin Buric have left, with several newcomers facing the task to continue the winning path set by the Croatian champions a long time ago.
TEXT:
Danijela Lemaić / ew