2011–12 Croatian Football Cup


The 2011–12 Croatian Football Cup was the twenty-first season of Croatia's football knockout competition. The defending champions were Dinamo Zagreb, having won their 11th title the previous year by defeating Varaždin in the final.
The cup kicked off with the single-legged preliminary round which was played on 24 August 2011. Most of the top flight clubs entered the competition in the following round, scheduled on 21 September 2011, with the exception of Istra 1961, Karlovac, RNK Split and Zadar, as their cup coefficient was too low to skip the preliminary round. In addition, Lučko and Lokomotiva, two of the top level clubs, failed to qualify for the competition.

Preliminary round

The draw for the preliminary round was held on 2 August 2011 with matches scheduled on 24 August 2011. This round consists of 16 single-legged fixtures. A total of 32 clubs entered the preliminary round: 21 regional cup winners organised at the county level and 11 regional cup finalists with the exception of Međimurje.
Tie noHome teamScoreAway team
1Slatina2–3Podravac Virje
2Mladost Petrinja3–1Novalja
3Karlovac4–1Dinamo Palovec
4Belišće2–2 Rudeš
5Strmec0–1Graničar Laze
6Vrbovec2–0Moslavina
7Krka Lozovac1–2BSK Bijelo Brdo
8Istra 19617–0Mladost Ždralovi
9*Rudar Labin5–1Slavija Pleternica
10Jadran Gunja4–3Zmaj Blato
11Plitvica2–3 Opatija
12Fruškogorac3–1Rudar 47
13*Marsonia 19091–2RNK Split
14*Zadar2–1Dugopolje
15Radnik Sesvete3–0Međimurje
16Radoboj3–0Koprivnica

* Match played on 23 August.

First round

First round proper consisted of 16 single-legged matches, with 16 winners of the preliminary round joined by 16 clubs with the highest cup coefficients. The draw for the first round was held on 29 August, where the club with the lowest cup coefficient hosts the one with the highest and so on. Matches were played on 20 and 21 September 2011. By the mutual agreement of Jadran Gunja and Hajduk Split, their fixture was moved to 15 September.
Tie noHome teamScoreAway team
1*Radoboj0–5Dinamo Zagreb
2Jadran Gunja1–5Hajduk Split
3Graničar Laze0–4Slaven Belupo
4*Podravac Virje0–0 Varaždin
5*Mladost Petrinja0–7NK Zagreb
6*Fruškogorac1–3Cibalia
7Radnik Sesvete2–0Šibenik
8BSK Bijelo Brdo1–2Rijeka
9Vrbovec0–1Inter Zaprešić
10*Opatija0–1Osijek
11Rudeš2–1Pomorac
12RNK Split5–0Segesta
13Rudar Labin0–1Istra 1961
14Vinogradar1–0Konavljanin
15Zadar1–1 Karlovac
16HAŠK2–1Hrvatski Dragovoljac

* Match played on 20 September.

Second round

The second round was contested by 16 winners from the first round in eight single-legged fixtures scheduled for 26 October 2011. It was the last stage of the competition employing the single leg format as from the quarter-finals onwards all fixtures were double-legged events.
Tie noHome teamScoreAway team
1*HAŠK0–4Dinamo Zagreb
2Hajduk Split3–2Karlovac
3Vinogradar2–1Slaven Belupo
4*Varaždin0–1 Istra 1961
5*NK Zagreb2–1RNK Split
6Rudeš0–1Cibalia
7*Osijek2–1Radnik Sesvete
8*Rijeka1–0Inter Zaprešić

* Match played on 25 October.

Quarter-finals

The eight clubs remaining in the competition after the second round were paired for the quarter-finals. From the quarter-finals onwards the ties will be played in a two-legged format. The draw was held on 28 October, first legs were played on 23 November and second legs on 30 November 2011. The tie between Dinamo Zagreb and Istra 1961 was postponed for the following year due to Dinamo's participation in European competitions. As the severe weather postponed the first round of the spring season, both clubs agreed to play the first leg at that free slot in Pula due to better weather conditions. Dinamo Zagreb were hosts in Pula and Istra 1961 in Zagreb, as the order of legs could not be reversed.

Semi-finals

Osijek won 4–2 on aggregate
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''Dinamo Zagreb won 3–2 on aggregate''

Final

Second leg

''Dinamo Zagreb won 3–1 on aggregate''