Bjelica then returned home to Osijek for two seasons and recovered his form, playing with the team in three stages of the UEFA Cup.

Bjelica made his debut for Croatia in a February 2001 friendly match against Austria and earned a total of nine caps.

On 8 November, Dinamo managed to qualify for the 2018–19 UEFA Europa League knockout phase, defeating Spartak Trnava.

[12] On 18 September 2019, Bjelica led Dinamo in the club's inaugural match in the UEFA Champions League after two seasons, with a 4–0 home win against Atalanta.

[13] On 16 April 2020, following the sacking of the entire coaching staff by the club, it was announced that Dinamo terminated the contract with Bjelica.

[14] In September 2020, after failing to win three opening games of their season, Croatian club Osijek sacked their head coach Ivica Kulešević and appointed Bjelica instead.

[21] Beides his native Croatian, Bjelica speaks English, German, Italian, Polish and Spanish fluently and also he is learning French.