Slovenia's Celje make historic Europa League debut against Bayer Leverkusen

Historical first UEFA Europa League match ends in defeat for NK Celje from Slovenia, but the result nevertheless contains plenty of positives.

The Slovenian side made Bayer Leverkusen work hard in what was arguably the toughest away fixture of this season’s league phase, going down fighting against a team valued at 31 times more than Celje.

The ice has been broken, and Zoran Zeljković’s men can look ahead to their upcoming European fixtures with added motivation, CE Report informs via NK Celje's official website.

In front of just over 27,000 spectators at an almost sold-out and iconic BayArena, Celje withstood the early pressure from the “Werkself” and managed to settle into the game. The hosts nevertheless created the first chances. In the eighth minute, Schick tried a diagonal effort from inside the penalty area but sent it wide of the left post. Four minutes later, Tillman forced Celje goalkeeper Leban into an excellent save with a shot from around 20 meters, with the ball also hitting the post after his intervention.

Just three minutes later, Leban was again called into action, this time keeping the ball off the goal line following a header from Tapsoba. Bayer finally took the lead in the 15th minute. Garcia sent the ball into the Celje penalty area, where Sešlar made an awkward intervention and inadvertently turned it into his own net.

Celje gradually recovered and created an excellent opportunity in the 31st minute through Verbič, who beat two Bayer players with a single move before forcing Flekken into an impressive save. The hosts created several more opportunities before halftime, while Celje also had its chances, but both goalkeepers were in excellent form and the teams went into the break with Bayer holding a narrow lead.

The hosts immediately threatened again at the start of the second half, but even Garcia’s effort from five meters was comfortably dealt with by Celje goalkeeper Leban. Unfortunately for Celje, however, he was beaten by a teammate again in the 75th minute. Following a corner, Medina got to the ball and attempted a volley, but Tutyškinas inadvertently turned it into his own net.

The match then opened up, with BayArena witnessing an increasingly open and at times disjointed game, but there was no third goal.

NK Celje: Leban, Avdyli, Tutyškinas, Bejger, Širvys, Zabukovnik, Vešner Tičić (Daniel 81’), Dukuly (Ivanšek 61’), Sešlar, Verbič (Tusha 68’), Kučys (Kramer 61’).

Photo NK Celje