2008–09 NK Osijek season
NK Osijek entered the into 2008-09 Season defending third position, which is equal to their best position in Prva HNL won six times since Croatian independence. The team decided not to participate in the UEFA Intertoto Cup which would make preparations for the new season harder than usual, as happened two years ago.
| 2008–09 season | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Chairman | Mile Dumančić | ||
| Manager | Ilija Lončarević (until 26 September 2008) Tomislav Steinbruckner (from 26 September 2008) | ||
| Prva HNL | 7th | ||
| Croatian Cup | First round | ||
| Top goalscorer | League: Josip Barišić (8) All: Josip Barišić (8) | ||
| Highest home attendance | 15,000 v Hajduk Split, 5 April 2009 | ||
| Lowest home attendance | 1,000 v Šibenik, 26 September 2008 | ||
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To prepare for the Season, NK Osijek played a few friendly matches against 1. FC Kaiserslautern and FC Fehérvár to name a few. The new season will start with the same manager as last year, and with just Milan Pavličić sold from last years starting eleven. As the club's youth academy is one of the best in this part of Europe, several young players are drafted into the first team squad.
Fans and board of directors are hoping that this season can repeat last one, to put NK Osijek into UEFA cups next season.
Player statistics
| Shirt No. | Player | Apps (Subs) | Goals | YC  |
RC  |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Marin Skender | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2 | Dino Gavrić | 4 (2) | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 3 | Jurica Pranjić | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 4 | Damir Vuica | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 5 | Matej Vlaović | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 6 | Tomislav Višević | 5 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| 7 | Vedran Nikšić | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 8 |  Aleksandar Šolić | 4 (2) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 9 | Karlo Primorac | 6 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 10 | Josip Knežević | 2 (3) | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 11 | Antonio Hrnčević | 3 (4) | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 12 | Filip Šušnjara | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 13 | Slobodan Stranatić | 6 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 14 | Ivica Lončarević | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 15 | Marko Prskalo | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 16 |  Goran Todorčev | 1 (1) | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 17 | Vedran Jugović | 5 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 18 | Tomislav Šorša | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 19 | Domagoj Vida | 6 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 20 |  Diego Barrios | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 21 | Igor Prijić | 0 (2) | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 22 | Valentin Babić | 6 | 3 | 3 | 0 |
| 23 | Srđan Vidaković | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 24 | Ivo Smoje | 6 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 25 | Davor Pajić | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 26 | Ivan Miličević | 3 (3) | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| 27 |  Andre Luiz | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 28 | Domagoj Pušić | 0 (1) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 29 | Josip Barišić | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 30 | Ivan Kardum | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 31 | Ivan Vargić | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Mile Škorić | 2 (2) | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
Matches
Prva HNL
| 27 July 2008 1 | Croatia Sesvete | 1–1 | NK Osijek | Velika |
| 20:00 | Petrović  71' (pen.) |
Babić 90' |
Stadium: Stadion Kamen Ingrad Attendance: 1,000 Referee: Edi Šunjić |
| 3 August 2008 2 | NK Osijek | 2–0 | HNK Cibalia | Osijek |
| 20:00 | Miličević 37' Babić 80' (pen.) |
Stadium: Stadion Gradski vrt Attendance: 3,500 Referee: Bruno Marić |
| 10 August 2008 3 | NK Zadar | 2–2 | NK Osijek | Šibenik |
| 20:00 | Smoje 58' (o.g.) Tomasov 70' |
Primorac 37' Babić 51' |
Stadium: Stadion Šubićevac Attendance: 1,000 Referee: Igor Križarić |
| 17 August 2008 4 | NK Osijek | 2–1 | Varteks | Osijek |
| 20:00 | Prijić 81' Miličević 88' |
Mujanović 41' |
Stadium: Stadion Gradski vrt Attendance: 2,500 Referee: Igor Pristovnik |
| 24 August 2008 5 | NK Zagreb | 2–1 | NK Osijek | Zagreb |
| 20:00 | Čutura 71' Vugrinec 88' |
Knežević 53' |
Stadium: Stadion Kranjčevićeva Attendance: 2,500 Referee: Vlado Svilokos |
| 31 August 2008 6 | NK Osijek | 1–2 | Hajduk Split | Osijek |
| 20:00 | Primorac 63' |
Kalinić 39' Gabrić 52' |
Stadium: Stadion Gradski vrt Attendance: 6,000 Referee: Zlatko Šimičić |
Standings
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | NK Zagreb | 33 | 13 | 8 | 12 | 38 | 39 | −1 | 47 |
| 6 | Šibenik | 33 | 13 | 7 | 13 | 44 | 35 | +9 | 46 |
| 7 | Osijek | 33 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 40 | 41 | −1 | 41 |
| 8 | Cibalia | 33 | 10 | 8 | 15 | 33 | 53 | −20 | 38 |
| 9 | Inter Zaprešić | 33 | 9 | 9 | 15 | 41 | 50 | −9 | 36 |
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.