2013–14 NK Maribor season

Season overview

Before the start of the 2013–14 season, Croatian manager Ante Čačić replaced Darko Milanič as the head coach at the club. Milanič, who has decided to accept an offer from Austrian Sturm Graz, has won a total of nine domestic trophies with Maribor, between 2008 and 2013, more than any other coach in the club's history. Weeks after the departure of Milanič, Sturm acquired Maribor's forward Robert Berić in a transfer reportedly worth one million euros.

The 2012–13 season was one of the most successful seasons in history of the club as Maribor won the domestic version of the treble, having won the league, cup and supercup titles. In addition, Maribor has qualified to the UEFA Europa League for the second successive year, where they have won four points in a group with Lazio, Panathinaikos and Tottenham.

The start of the 2013–14 season saw Maribor competing in their fifth successive Slovenian Supercup, which was played against the Slovenian PrvaLiga runners-up Olimpija. Although the previous Supercup editions were traditionally played at the venue of the league champions, this was not the case for the 2013 Slovenian Supercup edition, as the Football Association of Slovenia decided for a neutral venue in Celje. Nevertheless, Maribor prevailed and won the final 3–0, securing their third Slovenian Supercup title.

Under Čačić's leadership, the club did particularly well in the Slovenian PrvaLiga, maintaining a perfect score during the first six league rounds. During the 2013–14 UEFA Champions League qualifiers the team did not fare so well, managing only one win in six matches, however, Maribor did qualify for the group stage of the 2013–14 UEFA Europa League for the third successive season after they have eliminated Cypriot club APOEL (1–1 on aggregate). On 19 September 2013, the team played their first match in the group stage of the UEFA Europa League and was defeated by the Russian side Rubin Kazan. This was followed by the first league defeat against Zavrč three days later. In the following week, Maribor played at home against Rudar Velenje and away against Koper and managed to get only a point against the side from Velenje. A day after their 2–1 defeat in Koper, the club announced the termination of Čačić's contract. He was replaced by Ante Šimundža, who was an assistant manager at Maribor between 2008 and 2011 and has spent a total of 10 seasons at the club as a player in the 1990s.

With Šimundža at the helm the club continued with poor form in the top division, suffering two defeats in the first four matches with the new coach, however, they eventually won five out of eight matches, which ensured them a top place finish after the first part of the season, maintaining a two-point lead ahead of Koper. The club also managed to qualify into the semi-final of the Slovenian Cup after they have knocked out two second division teams, Radomlje and Šenčur. Maribor's biggest success, however, came in the UEFA Europa League where they have won seven points in the remaining five matches and finished on second place in their group, qualifying to the UEFA Europa League knockout phase for the first time in the club's history, becoming the first Slovenian club to play European football in the second part of the season. In the Round of 32 they played in a two-legged tie against the Spanish side Sevilla and lost by an aggregate score of 4–3.

However, the UEFA Europa League elimination did not affect the team in domestic competition as Maribor managed to win 12 out of 17 league matches in the second part of the season, losing only two in the process. The club eventually won their 12th league title, with eight point lead ahead of Koper. Things were looking bright for the team in the Slovenian Cup as well, when Maribor defeated Olimpija in the semi-final and reached the final for the fifth successive season. In the Cup final, that was played on a neutral venue in Koper, Maribor faced Gorica and were defeated with the score 2–0. The season was marked by Marcos Tavares who set two goalscoring records. He has become the club's all-time leading goalscorer when he passed Branko Horjak's 117 goals in official competitions. In addition, he has also passed a joint record previously held by Ante Šimundža and Kliton Bozgo (78) for the most goals scored for the club in the Slovenian PrvaLiga. The final match of the season was played on 25 May 2014 against Domžale and was marked by the farewell of Dejan Mezga who has spent eight seasons with the club and whose contract was due to expire at the end of the season.

Standings

Updated to games played on 25 May 2014.
Source: Slovenian PrvaLiga (Slovene)
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored
(C) = Champion; (R) = Relegated; (P) = Promoted; (E) = Eliminated; (O) = Play-off winner; (A) = Advances to a further round.
Only applicable when the season is not finished:
(Q) = Qualified to the phase of tournament indicated; (TQ) = Qualified to tournament, but not yet to the particular phase indicated; (RQ) = Qualified to the relegation tournament indicated; (DQ) = Disqualified from tournament.

Results by round

Last updated: 25 May 2014.
Source: PrvaLiga website
Ground: A = Away; H = Home. Result: D = Draw; L = Loss; W = Win; P = Postponed.

Matches

  Win   Draw   Loss

Round of 16

Quarter-final

UEFA Champions League

Second qualifying round

Third qualifying round

Play-off round

UEFA Europa League

Group D

Round of 32

Foreign players

Below is the list of foreign players who have made appearances for the club during the 2013–14 season. Players primary citizenship is listed first.

Appearances and goals

Correct as of 25 May 2014, end of the 2013–14 season. Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality. The players squad numbers, playing positions, nationalities and statistics are based solely on match reports in Matches sections above and the official website of NK Maribor and the Slovenian PrvaLiga. Only the players, which made at least one appearance for the first team, are listed.

Discipline

Correct as of 25 May 2014, end of the 2013–14 season. Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality. The players squad numbers, playing positions, nationalities and statistics are based solely on match reports in Matches sections above and the official website of NK Maribor and the Slovenian PrvaLiga. If a player received two yellow cards in a match and was subsequently sent off the numbers count as two yellow cards, one red card.