Why the Celje tie told us more than Touré's first seven wins
Nine days ago I wrote that Touré's first seven matches as Slovan coach told us almost nothing. He had opened with six wins, one draw and four clean sheets, against Iberia 1999 Tbilisi, Mjällby, Banská Bystrica and Ružomberok. I finished by asking readers to come back on 27 August. Celje dragged Slovan into the kind of tie those seven matches had avoided. Slovan were uncomfortable, lost control for stretches, gave up chances, needed Dominik Takáč and went to extra time. They found the decisions that took them through anyway.
The first leg
Roman Čerepkai scored after 15 minutes at Tehelné pole. Slovan had started aggressively, attacking through the wide areas and repeatedly finding balls into the box. Slovan then dropped their defensive line and let Celje take more of the ball, Milot Avdyli equalising before half-time. Celje had the better opportunities after the break and left Bratislava with a 1:1 draw.
Touré said afterwards that his players had allowed Celje to control the game after scoring and had shown them "až príliš veľa rešpektu", too much respect.
The return leg
Two starters changed for the second leg, Rahim Ibrahim replacing Alen Mustafič and Andraž Šporar replacing Čerepkai. Šporar, Slovan's captain, had suffered a muscle injury in the opening game of the season against Iberia on 21 July and had played only the final minutes in Bratislava. His coach started him a week later with Slovan's Champions League season resting on one match. Eighteen minutes in, Kenan Bajrić sent a long ball forward and Šporar controlled it before lifting his finish over Žan Leban. Svit Sešlar's penalty brought Celje level. The Slovenian federation said in its match report that Celje were the better side for much of the night, and the chances bear that out: Dukuly hit the post, another effort was cleared around the line, and Armandas Kučys missed an enormous opportunity in stoppage time. Čerepkai hit the woodwork for Slovan shortly before the end of normal time. Touré had said before the return that he was a good student and likes analysing matches. The 73rd minute brought his biggest change, Nino Marcelli replacing Tigran Barseghyan. Marcelli had only just come back after months out injured, his return arriving in the league at Košice four days earlier. His coach put him into a Champions League play-off with the score level. Twenty-seven minutes later Celje lost the ball around midfield. Marcelli carried it forward and released Cristian Martínez to his left, and Martínez saw Leban coming and lifted the ball over him to make it 2:1. Martínez's goal took Slovan through 3:2 on aggregate.
What we got wrong
I also got something wrong nine days ago. I said Slovan had cleared the Champions League third qualifying round only once before in their history. They had reached the play-off in 2014/15 and again in 2024/25, when they eventually beat Midtjylland to qualify for the league phase. My 18 August line was incorrect. I also said of Celje: "They are not good." Celje are not a Champions League-level side in the way the phrase will mean once Slovan start pulling opponents from four pots. They played Slovan essentially level across 210 minutes, created the chances that took the tie into extra time and reached the final half-hour with the score level. The core 18 August argument concerned Celje's level relative to Slovan. Celje were the first genuine test, and Slovan passed it. Slovan are now in Pot 4 for the draw. Pot 1 contains Paris Saint-Germain, Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, Liverpool, Inter, Manchester City, Arsenal, Barcelona and Atlético Madrid. Celje showed how readily Slovan surrender territory after scoring, and better opponents will get similar opportunities. Slovan are unlikely to get the same margin from the teams waiting in the league phase. On 18 August I refused to treat six wins and a draw against teams Slovan should have beaten as proof of an impressive start. Touré has now taken Slovan through a competitive Champions League play-off in his first job as a head coach, making consequential personnel decisions and getting a match-winning contribution from his bench. The two Celje matches give him evidence the first seven did not.
Touré said after qualification that he was happy and was already thinking about "what comes next." The Champions League league-phase draw begins at 18:00 CET.
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