View from the Opposition: Zrinjski boss on Palace memories and where tie will be won

First-team

26 Feb 2026

Crystal Palace host Zrinjski Mostar in the UEFA Conference League play-off second leg this evening at Selhurst Park (20:00); here's the lowdown on our opponents, including words on what it means to their manager Igor Štimac...

Read the Manager's pre-match team news update here.
Tickets available for Thursday night's second leg.
How to watch & follow the second leg at Selhurst Park.

In their manager's words...

Igor Štimac took charge of Zrinjski Mostar last summer, having previous worked as coach of the Croatian national side, NK Zagreb and Zadar.

But it was Štimac's time as a player in England – he played for six years here for both Derby and West Ham – that saw him reminiscing ahead of bringing his current side to South London.

"I played there several times [during his time in England]," he said. "I have good experiences from that stadium.

"I remember the year 1996 when we won promotion to the Premier League with Derby County. We played Crystal Palace [at home] in the second to last game.

"It was an 'us or them' situation and we managed to win and celebrated."

Focusing on Thursday night's European showdown, Štimac believes the first 20 minutes could prove decisive.

"We must not give any gifts in the first 15 to 20 minutes," he added. "We must be firm and steady. That could be our chance.

"We showed in the first game that we can, we had a good chance to win, and we are sure that we will have a chance in London as well.

"It's clear that things didn't go as they wanted in Mostar, considering that they fielded the strongest team and wanted to settle everything in that first game.

"We will do our best, we have a vision, we have shown that we can do well."

What they did at the weekend

Like Palace, Zrinjski were back in domestic action last Sunday meaning both sides have had the same amount of recovery time ahead of tonight's game.

The Bosnia and Herzegovina domestic champions were held to a 1-1 draw by Široki Brijeg at home.

Matej Šakota’s 53rd-minute penalty was cancelled out when Široki's Mato Stanić equalised five minutes later. The point leaves Štimac's side second in the league, six points shy of leaders Borac and with work to do if they want to retain their title.

Their UEFA Conference League journey so far

As league champions, Zrinjski’s European campaign started way back in early July in the UEFA Champions League first qualifying round.

A 4-1 win over San Marino domestic champions AC Virtus saw them progress past the first hurdle. However, they were then defeated by 6-2 on aggregate by Slovan Bratislava.

That meant dropping into the UEFA Europa League. Although they were unable to reach the league phase in that competition, a play-off exit to Utrecht meant they moved into the UEFA Conference League.

Zrinjski’s league phase campaign was mixed. They thrashed Lincoln Red Imps 5-0 in their first game and were only narrowly defeated by Mainz 05, in Germany, by a single goal on matchday two.

A heavy defeat to Ukrainian champions Dynamo Kyiv provided something of a reality check.

But Zrinjski rallied to collect four points from their final three games. A final day home draw with Rapid Wien was enough to see them finish in 23rd place and progress to the play-off round.

Match Details

Crystal Palace v Zrinjski Mostar

Thursday, 26th February
20:00 GMT
Selhurst Park
UEFA Conference League play-off round, second leg
Tickets available to purchase here.

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