February 10, 2022
The Slovenia PrvaLiga finished for its winter break on December 12th
, and resumed on February 9th, with a catch-up game from round 17
between NK Olimpija Ljubljana and NS Mura. To date, 20 rounds of matches have been played,
although Olimpija have a second catch-up game to play, against NK Domzale.
History
The Slovenia PrvaLiga was first competed for in 1991/92 following
Slovenia becoming an independent country as part of the break-up of Yugoslavia,
and for sponsorship reasons it is currently known as the Prva liga Telemach.
NK Maribor have been the dominant club over the history of the
league, winning 16 titles. ND Gorica are the next most successful side with 4
titles, although the two different sides bearing the name Olimpija/Olimpija
Ljubljana can claim 6 titles between them.
The current holders are NS Mura, who won their first ever
Championship last season.
The Prva liga Telemach is
currently ranked 31st by UEFA, below Kazakhstan and Slovakia but
above Belarus and Moldova.
My first experience of Slovenian football was in September 1997 with a UEFA Cup match between Ajax and Maribor in the Amsterdam Arena on a business jolly whilst working in the Netherlands. After a 1-1 draw in Slovenia in the first leg, an Ajax side including the de Boer twins, Edwin van der Sar, Jari Litmanen, Robert Witschge, Sunday Oliseh, Shota Arveladze, Pieter Hoekstra, with Benni McCarthy, Dean Gorre & Mario Melchot on the bench, romped to a 9-1 win. The Maribor line-up included Matjaz Kek, who is currently the manager of the Slovenian national side.
On a business trip to Slovenia a couple of years ago, the bank I
was visiting was situated to FC Koper’s smart new stadium, since when I have
taken an interest in their results. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to take in a
game during my visit !
The National Side
Following the recent Nations League matches the Slovenia national side
were 65th in the FIFA world rankings, below Panama and DR Congo but
above Albania and North Macedonia. This
made them the32nd best side in Europe. Their highest ranking was 15th
in November 2010, the year in which they qualified for the World Cup Finals in
South Africa where they beat Algeria 1-0, drew 2-2 with the USA, but lost 0-1
to England in their final match to be eliminated.
Only 6 Slovenes have appeared in the English Premier League, with the
most prominent probably being Milenko Acrimovic ( 74 caps ) who made 17
appearances for Tottenham and Robert Koren ( 61 caps ) who played in England
for 7 years for West Bromwich Albion and Hull City. Jon Stankovic played for
Huddersfield, Ales Krizan played for Barnsley, Haris Vuckic played for
Newcastle ( and Cardiff, Rangers, Rotherham, Wigan and Bradford on loan ) and
is now at HNK Rijeka, and Aleksandar Rodic made 4 appearances for Portsmouth.
The record cap holder for Slovenia is Bostjan Cesar with 101 caps, and
who made 20 appearances for WBA when they were in the Championship. Next comes
Bojan Jokic with 10 caps, who had a loan spell with Nottingham Forest in 2016.
However, perhaps the most illustrious Slovenian footballer of all time is
ex-Stuttgart and Sampdoria midfielder Srecko Katenec who won 31 caps for Yugoslavia
and 5 caps for Slovenia after Independence, and also had two spells as coach of
the national side.
League Structure
The PrvaLiga consists of 10 sides who play each other four times for a 36
regular game season.
The Champions qualify for the Champions League First Qualifying Round,
whilst the runner-up and third placed team enter the Europa Conference Second
Qualifying round. Slovenia’s other entrants to the Europa Conference is either
the winners of their Cup competition, or the side finishing fourth if the Cup
Winners have already qualified.
The bottom side are automatically relegated and replaced by the
champions of 2.SNL
Last Season
The 2020/21 was settled in dramatic fashion when NS Mura won 3-1 at Maribor
with two second half goals which was sufficient to bring them level on points
with Maribor, and decided the title on the head-to-head record between the two
sides over the 4 games they had played over the season. Olimpija
Ljubljana finished 4 points behind in third place, with NK Domzale a further 4
points behind in 4th.
ND Gorica finished bottom, 13 points adrift of 9th
placed Koper to be automatically relegated. A final day 2-1 home win for Celje
over Koper, thanks to an 87th minute penalty, saw them move out of
the relegation play-off slot above Koper, who ended up in the play-off position
after Bravo convincing won their match against Olimpija 3-0, and Aluminij drew
1-1 at Domzale.
The relegation play-off was also dramatic. Koper looked home and dry
after a first leg 2-0 win at Krka, but were facing relegation in the face after
falling 0-3 behind at home with just under 30 minutes left to place. However,
two goals, the second 6 minutes from time saw them to safety, 4-3 on aggregate.
Attendances
Attendances were unlimited in the first half of the season, although it
has been announced that a limit of 500 will initially be applied when the
season recommences. At the half-way break NK Maribor were the best supported
side with an average of 2,400, followed by NS Mura with 1,693 and Olimpija
Ljubjlana with 1,050. NK Aluminij had the lowest average with 273, whilst the
league average was 874. The highest attendance was 6,600 for Maribor vs
Olimpija
How To Watch
Highlights of each match can be viewed on the Prva liga
Telemach YouTube channel or the league website www.prvaliga.si
Club By Club Guide
After starting with 12 points from their first 5 games, their form
stuttered a little with one point from the next four, but they recovered to win
8 and draw 2 of their next 11 games, with the only defeat coming at the hands
of Mura ( 1-3 )
It is unclear whether or not Maribor have been strengthened or
weakened in the transfer window. Ever present centre-back Robert Voloder was
sold to MSFL side Kansas City for 1.62M Euros and midfielder Blaz Vrhovec went
to Cypriot side Anorthosis Famagusta for 225K Euros. However, attacking
midfielder/winger Djordje Ivanovic signed on loan from Belarus champions Shakhtyor
Soligorsk.
After their narrow escape last season, and losing last season’s
league joint top scorer Nardin Mulahusejnovic to Mura shortly into the season, FC
Koper are this season’s surprise package to be in second place, one point
behind Maribor and having scored the most goals in the league ( 35 ).
Koper is the 5th largest city in Slovenia, and is
located on the 47km of coastline that Slovenia has. The city is officially
bi-lingual in Slovene and Italian, and its port is one of the busiest in
Europe.
Koper began the season with 7 wins and a draw to leave them 9
points clear at the top of the table after 8 games. They were unable to sustain that form though,
and they won only 2 of their next 8 games, with 4 defeats, but rallied to
finish the year with an unbeaten run of 5 matches. Although losing three times
at home, to Bravo ( 0-1 ), Aluminij ( 1-3 ) & Olimpija ( 0-1 ), they have
the best away record in the league, only dropping all three points at Maribor (
1-3 ).
Ex-Catania midfielder Maks Barisic was the division’s leading goal
scorer with 11 goals. Ex-Stockport, Bradofrd Park Avenue & Boston United
Gambian striker Lamin Colley, Nigerian Bede Osuji and Jamaican International midfielder
Kaheem Parris ( 4 caps ) all had 5 goals
each.
NK Olimpija Ljubljana went into the winter break in 3rd
place, 8 points off the top but with two
games in hand, but the 1-0 win over Mura in their first catch-up game closed
the gap to 5 points. Olimpija were in third place, 4 points off the lead when
coach Savo Milosevic, the ex-Aston Villa Yugoslav/Serbian striker, was sacked
in early October, after which up to Christmas they won three, drew 2 and lost
one, and had two matches postponed due to Covid.
Captain and midfielder Timi Elsnik ( 1 cap and ex Derby County,
Swindon, Mansfield and Northampton ) was called up to the most recent national
squad. Striker Mustafa Nukic was the top scorer with 7 goals, whilst Bosnian
winger Almedin Zijlkic ( 2 caps ) had 6 goals.
Olimpija have been active in the transfer window, with left-back Aljaz
Krefl joining from Aluminij, Osijek’s outstanding midfielder Marin Pilj joined
on a free-transfer, keeper Ivan Baric joined on loan from Croatian side HNK
Gorica, Croatian midfielder Robert Mudrazija joined on loan from FC Copenhagen,
having impressed on loan at Rijeka, winger Aljosa Matko signed on loan from
Swedish side Hammarby IF, and midfielder Mario Kvesic signed from K-League side
Pohang Steelers. On the other hand, Keeper Nejc Vidmar joined Greek Ionikos on
a free transfer and ex-Portsmouth,
Leicester and Blackpool striker Marko Futacs joined MTK Budapest.
NK Bravo come from the capital Ljubljana and are in
their third consecutive season in the PrvaLiga. After a narrow escape on the
last day of last season, which actually saw them finish 5th in the
final table, they have had a much better season this time around, helped by a
5-3-1 away record with just 4 goals conceded.. Unbeaten after 7 games, including
wins over Domzale and Olimpija, they had lost just once after 12 matches, 0-2
at home to Tabor, to be second in the table. However, 5 losses in their final 8
matches in the year saw them slip to 4th at the winter break. Bravo
held the record for both the least amount of goals scored ( 18 ) and least goals
conceded ( 16 ).
Attacking midfielder Sandi Ogrinec was the top scorer with 4
goals, but has joined Austrian Bundesliga side FC Tirol on a free-transfer and centre-back
Vanja Drkusic was sold to Russian side Sochi for 108K Euros, but winger Luka
Kerin was bought from Celje for 45K Euros. Centre-backs Matija Burin and Stefan
Milic were signed on free transfers from Celje and Dinamo Zagreb respectively.
Champions NK Mura play in the town of Murska Sobota in the
far north eastern corner of the country, just under 200km from Ljubljana.
As defending Champions, they started this campaign with two
losses, and then two draws, finally registering their first victory in their 5th
match, which was the start of a run of just one defeat in 10 games, and two in
17 games. Mura have lost just once at
home all season, the opening day 0-3 defeat to Tabor, but have only one away
win, a noteworthy 2-1 effort at table toppers Maribor, against whom they recorded
the double, with a 3-1 home win.
Centre-back Zan Karnicnik was sold during the break to Ludogorets
for 500K Euros and Amadej Marosa, who was top scorer with 6 goals, went to AEL
Limassol for 200K Euros. In their place Bosnian right-back Amar Beganovic was
bought from Sloboda Tuzla for 75K Euros
NK Domzale won back-to-back championships in 2006/07 and
2007/08 but have been mid-table for the past couple of seasons, but 4th
place last season secured European football. Their season so far has been one of
inconsistency, lying bottom after 6 matches with 4 points, and after a spell of
win one, lose one, they went on a run of 5 games unbeaten before losing the
last match before the break, 0-1 at Maribor.
Ex-Derby County and Braintree Town defender Sven Karic ( 1 cap ) was called up to the most recent
national squad, and after 12 goals last season centre-forward Dario Kolobaric
left to join Shakhtyor Soligorsk in September for a reported 600K Euros. Jamaican
forward Ranaldo Biggs is yet to make an appearance, hopefully not another case
of robbery involving Ronny Biggs !!
Celje is the fourth largest city in Slovenia and is just under 80
km from Ljubljana by road. It’s football team NK Celje won their first
ever title in the 2019/20 season but came a poor 8th in defence of
their title.
A run of three consecutive wins took Celje into 5th
place after 15 matches, a mere 6 points from the lead, but just one point in
the last 5 matches saw them fade out of contention and slide back to 7th
place. Celje’s 6 wins to-date have come against Tabor ( A 1-0 ), Radomlje ( H
2-0 ), Domzale ( H 3-0 ), Bravo ( H 1-0 ), Aluminij ( A 1-0 ) & Mura ( H
1-0 ) but their 7 points away from home is the joint worst in the league.
Ivan Bozic was their leading goal scorer with 5 goals and Danish
defender Adam Jakobsen has made 14 appearances on loan from Vejle. Celje though
have made a couple of interesting loan signings in the break, with ex Standard
Liege striker Duje Cop joining on loan from Dinamo Zagreb, and ex Roeselare and
Lierse Sierra Leone striker Ibrahim Kargbo coming on loan from Dynamo Kiev.
Three sides are level on points at the bottom of the table, with NK Tabor Sezana ahead on head-to-head records. They come from the town of Sezana, which is close to the Italian border and just 11km from Trieste. The capital Ljubljana is approximately 80 kms away. Like NK Bravo, Tabor are in their third season in the top flight.
After an unexpected 3-0 triumph on the opening day at champions
Mura, Tabor took only one point from their next four matches but then won three
of their next 4, 1-0 at Radomlj, 2-0 at Bravo and 4-0 at home to Aluminij. A
run of 7 consecutive losses was halted in the final game before Christmas, when
Celje were beaten 2-1 at home which took Tabor off the bottom of the table.
Winger Dino Stancic has 6 goals to his name whilst Cameroonian
midfielder Rodrigue Bongongui has scored 4 times.
NK Aluminij are 9th and play in Kidricevo
which is in north-east Slovenia, around 130km from the capital Ljubljana, and
are in their 6th consecutive season in the PrvaLiga. They drew 4 of
their opening 5 league matches but had to wait until game 8 for their first
win, surprisingly thumping Maribor 3-0 at home. Wins over the other top three
sides were also achieved, winning 3-0 in Koper and overcoming Olimpija 1-0 at
home but they managed only one other win ( 3-2 at home to Tabor Sezana ).
Serbian midfielder Armin Derlak was the top scorer with 4 goals.
Propping up the table are NK Radomlje, who come from Radomlje,
which is essentially a suburb in the north of Domzale, and is about 15km from
the capital Ljubljana. It’s football team were promoted as champions of 2.SNL
and are playing their third ever season at the highest level, having been
relegated on their two previous occasions after finishing bottom. The chances
are they could achieve a hat-trick ! However, home matches are being played at
the Domzale Sport Park, which is also home to NK Domzale.
They started the season unbeaten in three games, with a win at
Aluminij, but then lost 7 matches on the trot. The rot was halted with a run on
one defeat in six matches including three wins ( Olimpija A 3-2, Tabor Sezana A
1-0 & Celje H 3-2 ) but they ended the year with one win and three defeats
in their final 4 matches.
Radmolje’s home form has been an issue, with just the one win and
6 points gathered, whereas 4 wins have been earnt on the road. Bosnian Gideon
Guzina has scored 5 times from 12 appearances after joining from Croatian side
NK Istra 1961, and Ivan Saric, on loan from Hajduk Split, has 4 goals in 18
matches. Left-sided midfielder Marko Bozic was sold in the winter break to
Serie B side Frosinone for 120K Euros.
Slovenian Cup
The quarter finals were played in late October, with the results
being :
NK Radomlje 0-0 NK Cejle ( Celje won the penalty shoot-our 4-3 )
NS Mura 1-1 NK Bravo ( Bravo won the penalty shoot-out 3-2 )
NK Olimpija Ljubjlana 0-1 FC Koper
NK Maribor 1-2 NK Domzale
The semi-finals are scheduled to be played on April 20th,
with the draw being :
FC Koper vs NK Celje
NK Bravo vs NK Domzale
European Competitions
Champions NS Mura had a
decent run in Europa. After overcoming North Macedonian side Shkendija 6-0 on
aggregate in the first qualifying round, Bulgarian champions Ludogorets were
too strong, winning 3-1 on aggregate. Dropping down to the Europa League,
Lithuanian side FK Zalgiris were eliminated 1-0 on aggregate after a second leg
win in Vilnius, but Mura were then eliminated by Sturm Graz 1-5 over two legs.
Their home group matches in the
Europa Conference had to be played in Maribor, and they lost 5 out of 6
matches. However, a 2-1 victory was registered over Tottenham Hotspur in front
of a crowd of 6,100 thanks to a goal in the 94th minute from Marosa.
This was perhaps particularly sweet after a 1-5 loss in London. Matches against
Rennes and Vitesse Arnhem were lost both home and away.
NK Maribor entered the Europa Conference in the first qualifying round
and overcame Armenian side Urartu thanks to 1-0 wins in both ties, but then both
matches were lost to Swedish side Hammarby in the next round.
NK Domzale also entered the Europa Conference at the same stage as
Maribor, and squeezed past Luxembourg side Swift Hesperange 2-1 overall, with a
1-0 home win in the first leg proving decisive. Finnish side FK Honka were
next-up, and 1-0 win in Finland in the second leg was sufficient for a 2-1
overall success, which led to a tie with Norwegian side Rosenberg, where a 1-6
loss in Norway ended their interest in the competition.
Cup-Winners Olimpija Ljubljana
entered the Europa Conference in the second qualifying round, where they faced
a highly winnable tie against Maltese side Birkikara, but after both ties
finished in 1-0 home wins, Olimpija only progressed after winning the penalty
shoot-out 5-4. Portuguese side Santa Clara, from the Azores, won both matches
in the next round to eliminate Olimpija 0-3 on aggregate.
Next Fixtures
Round 17
Wednesday February 9, 2022
NK Olimpija Ljubjlana 1-0 NS Mura ( att : 750 )
Mulahusejnovic ( 8 og )
Round 21
Saturday February 12, 2022
NK Domzale vs NK Tabor Sezana
NK Celje vs FC Koper
Sunday February 13, 2022
NS Mura vs NK Bravo
NK Olimpija Ljubjlana vs NK Maribor
Monday February 14, 2022
NK Aluminij vs NK Radmolje
Round 19
Thursday February 17, 2022
NK Domzale vs NK Olimpija Ljubljana
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