2011–12 NK Maribor Season

The 2011–12 season was the 52nd season in the history of NK Maribor and the club's 21st consecutive season in the Slovenian PrvaLiga since the league establishment in 1991. The team participated in the Slovenian PrvaLiga, Slovenian Football Cup, UEFA Champions League, and UEFA Europa League. The season covers the period from 1 June 2011 to 31 May 2012. Darko Milanič was a head coach of the club.

The 2011–12 season was one of the most successful in history of the club as Maribor won the domestic double, having won the league and cup title. In addition, Maribor became the first Slovenian club that qualified to the UEFA Europa League. They have also finished the season as runners-up of the 2011 Slovenian Supercup.

Supercup

The 2011 Slovenian Supercup was the seventh edition of the Slovenian Supercup, an annual football match contested by the winners of the previous season's Slovenian PrvaLiga and Slovenian Cup competitions. The match was played on 8 July 2011, in Ljudski vrt stadium between 2010–11 Slovenian PrvaLiga winners Maribor and 2010–11 Slovenian Football Cup winners Domžale. Both teams contested for their second Supercup title. The match was played by the best two teams of the 2010–11 season. During the course of that season Maribor was a league champion with Domžale being the only serious contender through most of the season, eventually finishing as runners up. The two teams were the only ones in the league that earned 20 or more victories, with Maribor achieving 21 and Domžale 20. In addition, both teams were part of the Slovenian cup final, held on Stožice stadium in Ljubljana and won by Domžale with the score 4–3 after regulation. The match is arguably one of the best cup finals ever held, since the competition was first introduced during the 1991–92 season.

Domžale won the 2011 Slovenian Supercup with the score 2–1 after regulation and became the most successful team in history of the competition as the only club with more than one victory. This was the second consecutive victory for Domžale over Maribor in domestic cup finals in five weeks, after winning the Slovenian cup in May 2011. Controversies arose at the end of the match as Zlatko Zahovič, Maribor's director of football, publicly stated that Maribor was not allowed to win and was disappointed with some of the main referee's decisions in second half, especially the one in 82nd minute when a clear penalty was not ruled in favour of his club. Maribor later made an official press statement expressing their concerns with the referees regarding the club's upcoming league season.

Colour key: Green = Maribor win; Yellow = draw; Red = opponents win.

Slovenian League

July–September

Maribor began their campaign at Ljudski vrt stadium on 16 July against Gorica, with Aleš Mertelj captaining his side after the absence of Marcos Tavares. A header from Aris Zarifović in the 67th minute put Gorica ahead but the home side responded late in the second half with the goals from Nebojša Kovačević (own goal) and Dejan Mezga, which were enough for the first win of the season. The team faced Nafta Lendava in their first away match of the season with Slovenia international goalkeeper, Jasmin Handanović, between the posts for the first time after his signing with the club. A late goal in the 88th minute from Nafta was merely a consolation, as Maribor was at the time already leading with two goals difference and the match eventually finished with the score 2–1. The result was identical in the next round when Maribor defeated Rudar Velenje at home, with all three goals being scored in the final twenty minutes of the game.

The club's good form continued in their next away match against Triglav as they achieved their fourth straight 2011–12 victory (2–0) and topped the league table for the first time of the season. During the next round their run was stopped with a goalless home draw against the two times champions, Domžale. In the week that followed Maribor played another home match, this time against their rivals Mura 05. The team proved to be too strong against the visiting side, a team that played in the second division during the previous season, and comfortably won the match with the score 6–0. Dalibor Volaš and Agim Ibraimi each scored two goals. Days later club legend Ante Šimundža left the club and became the head coach of Mura 05. Saša Gajser replaced Šimundža as an assistant coach at Maribor. Immediately after their victory over Mura 05 the team traveled to Edinburgh where they faced Scottish champions Rangers in the second leg of the UEFA Europa League play-offs. The match in Scotland ended with a score 1–1 and Maribor proceeded to the next round with the score 3–2 on aggregate, thus becoming the first Slovenian club that qualified to the group stages of the Europa League. They were on the road again less than 72 hours after the historic night when they faced their "eternal" rivals Olimpija, the team considered as Maribor's main contender for the 2011–12 title, at the Stožice Stadium in Ljubljana. Unrecognizable during the first half Maribor went down by three goals at halftime and was unable to turn the result back in their favour. Eventually they lost the game 4–1 and sustained their first league defeat of the season. In addition, this was the first loss for Maribor after 17 consecutive league rounds without defeat (2 April 2011 vs Koper).

Due to the international break at the start of September it was almost two weeks before the next round was played. A timeout well needed by the club that played two matches per week for the better part of the season. After the break Maribor bounced back with another home victory, 5–2 against Celje. In the ninth round they salvaged a point against Koper who took the lead twice during the match. The final score at Bonifika stadium was 2–2. After the first quarter of the season Maribor was on first place, with three-point lead over Olimpija. Poor form continued when the club won only one point in matches against Gorica (1–1) and Nafta (2–0). The loss against the side from Lendava was the first home league defeat since 16 March 2011 when Maribor was defeated 1–0, also by Nafta. The final league match in September, against Rudar Velenje, was postponed as Maribor had obligations in the UEFA Europa League where they faced Birmingham City.

October–December

The club began October with a 2–0 home win against Triglav and continued their good form with two away wins, 4–1 over Domžale and 3–1 over Mura 05. With three consecutive victories the team was in high spirits as they faced their rivals Olimpija in the final match of the month. Before the 16th round the visiting team from Ljubljana was tied second on the league table and was four points behind the league leaders from Maribor, who still had a deficit of one game due to their postponed match with Rudar Velenje. The match against Olimpija was played in front of 12,500 spectators, the highest of the season, and after dominating the first phase of the game, Maribor found themselves a man down when in the 22nd minute Dejan Mezga received a straight red card for intentionally hitting an opponent. Soon afterwards Olimpija took the first lead in the match when Davor Škerjanc placed a superb volley shot past the home goalkeeper and into the netting. Although they were with only ten players, Maribor regained their composore and had a couple of great chances until the 45th minute when Olimpija's former member, Agim Ibraimi, scored an equaliser from a shot with his weaker right foot. However, one minute later in the injury time of the first half Olimpija took another lead when Dare Vršič's long effort was saved by Jasmin Handanović, and picked up by Filip Valenčič who easily put the ball into the empty net. During most of the second half Maribor had the upper hand and couple of chances when in the 69th minute Goran Cvijanović scored with an excellent shot from the distance. The home side tried to score the winning goal by the end of the 90th minute, however, the match eventually finished 2–2 with both teams earning a point, maintaining the four-point difference between them on the league table.

In the next round Maribor played against Celje on their Arena Petrol stadium and were losing 2–1 until the late equaliser from Cvijanović in the 88th minute. One minute later Dalibor Volaš

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