Coach Carlos Sanchez led his Rijeka team into the upcoming derby against Istra this weekend, but his press conference was one of the most notable of the season. Sanchez candidly discussed rivalries, Dinamo, Hajduk, and his future at Rijeka.

Rijeka is entering the final stretch of the season with a guaranteed European spot, which Sanchez highlights as the team's primary achievement.

- I am happy that in the last two matches, we are entering from a position where we have already achieved the main goal of the season. We secured a place in Europe, which was the first task on my list when I arrived here - Sanchez emphasized.

The main topic of the conference was the rivalries and the major clubs.

- Major clubs like Dinamo and Hajduk exert a significant pressure on the referees and have grown accustomed to capitalizing on this in the domestic league. This refereeing pressure ultimately translates into points. Just two matches against Dinamo, where errors directly turned into points, mean a difference of nine points. When these clubs go into Europe, this doesn't happen. Perhaps this is one of the key reasons why they exit Europe so early - Sanchez bluntly stated.

Sanchez specifically praised the work of Rijeka's president Damir Mišković, who is also a vice-president of HNS, in fighting against unequal conditions.

- The work that Damir Mišković does to fight against such windfalls is amazing - Sanchez stated.

He also addressed Rijeka's performance and the statistical deficit.

- The expected points parameters show that we should have 7.6 more points, and we've fallen short of that.