154. Eternal derby: Olimpija has a one-point lead over Maribor and has remained unbeaten 13 times in the last 15 matches
Although the cubs are in
Telemach First League
separated by just a point, it is perhaps not surprising that the bookmakers are already 154. the eternal derby more in favour of the home club. After all, Olimpija has become a real specialist in Maribor – in the last 15 eternal derbies, Ljubljančani remain undefeated 13 times!
They also won the last Slovenian Cup final, and won three and lost one in the previous season. It’s also a fact that Maribor fell into a bit of a results slump before the national team break, so it will be really interesting to see how strong and in the mood Josip Iličić and his teammates will return to the main stage after a short period without matches. On the other hand, the Dragons are already thinking about the Conference League, with their opening game in France next week…
Olimpija: “Watchable, likeable football with goals”
“A derby is a derby. These are the matches to win. Nothing else matters. Form and ranking before the derby have no influence on the course of events. Many things can happen. All points are important, every game counts the same, but the importance of such matches is at its peak. For players, staff, fans. We will go into the duel as committed as ever. We want to stay at the top, so we expect a good performance. We want to attract as many people as possible to the Olimpija match. Spectators must enjoy being in the stands and that is one of our goals. Watchable, enjoyable football with goals, and the right performance would of course help boost confidence at the moment in anticipation of new and very interesting and difficult challenges,“, before visiting his old rival for
club website
said Olimpija coach Joao Henriques.
The Portuguese admitted that the national break has been very good for the Dragons. “The national break has been really good for us. The national team call-ups have had a bit more work, but their return is on schedule. The rest of the team is as ready as possible. The players are fresher now and will be able to give their best in the derby. This is very important,” says Joao Henriques, who sees his club’s biggest strength in attack.We have the best attack in the league. We have scored 18 goals in six games, but it’s very bad to concede 12. We know why this has happened. We have analysed the meetings. They have discovered the reasons and the players are aware of it. Sometimes the unpredictable happens, but we have to be better at it. We always want to move forward. We are working on it and we will do our best to have the right balance in scoring and receiving goals.”
Maribor: ‘It will happen once’
Despite the modest results at the end of August, the Maribor camp is also optimistic ahead of the 154th season. Eternal derby to be played in Ljubljana the day after a charity match in Stožice for flood victims
for the flood victims raised more than €3.5 million
.
“We have had two busy weeks of work, separating the ‘physics’ and tactics parts of our preparations. The derby is a big challenge and I believe we will meet it prepared and with a great desire to turn the trajectory of our recent games upwards. Every Maribor-Olympia match, regardless of the position in the standings, is a derby. But there is no favourite in the derby. There can always be a home-field factor, circumstances of one kind or another. The statistics on the ratio of matches between the two teams in Ljubljana since 2019 might even fit us, because there is another part to the big number theory. One day it will happen…” believes Damir Krznar.
The Croatian added: “There are many. But I will tell you what I expect from my team. To never give up at any moment! From the first minute to the last minute, whatever the intermediate result, we must not deviate from our game plan. With the idea that everything is in our hands and that is how we have to position ourselves. We will not behave as if we had surrendered in advance. There is nothing better than deciding your own destiny. We need to realise that there will be no help from above. If it does, you have to challenge it yourself. So on Saturday and in all future matches: never give up and never quit!”
Tickets didn’t exactly go for honey
Tickets for the first eternal derby of the new season, which will be officiated by the experienced Matej Jug, a referee from Tolmin, did not sell very well. But the fact that interest in the eternal derby is somewhat lower is not surprising. The Ljubljana crowd is already preparing for Europe, there is a great deal of discontent in Maribor, and the attention of the entire Slovenian sports public has been much more focused on basketball, volleyball, cycling… Footballers can now prove that football is football – the king of sports.
Let’s add that 8th round of Slovenian league round starts today with Aluminij – Rogaška, the two clubs, who were second league players last season, will kick off at 17. hours. The Mura – Bravo match will kick off at 17.30, the eternal derby at 20.15. On Sunday there will be two more matches: Radomlje will organise a local derby with Domžale (15.00), Koper and Celje will play in the evening (20.15).
This text was automatically translated using AI.