Eternal derby of Slovenian football (2007)

This article is about the football rivalry first contested in 2007 involving NK Maribor and NK Olimpija, established in 2005 as NK Bežigrad. For the rivalry involving NK Maribor and NK Olimpija, established in 1945 and dissolved in 2004, see Eternal derby of Slovenian football (1962–2004). For other uses, see Eternal derby.

Večni derbi

Other names	Slovenski derbi
Location	Ljubljana – Maribor, Slovenia
Teams	Maribor Olimpija
First meeting	24 October 2007
Latest meeting	Maribor 1–1 Olimpija (29 November 2017)
Broadcasters	Kanal A RTV Slovenija
Stadiums	Ljudski vrt Stožice
Statistics
Meetings total	46
Most wins	Maribor (23)
Most player appearances	Marcos Tavares (43)
Top scorer	Marcos Tavares (8)
Largest victory	Olimpija 4–1 Maribor (28 August 2011) Maribor 4–1 Olimpija (29 April 2015)

The Eternal derby of Slovenian football, simply known as the Eternal derby (Slovene: Večni derbi) or Slovenian derby (Slovene: Slovenski derbi), is a major football rivalry between Maribor and Olimpija. The match between the two rivals was first contested on 24 October 2007 in a quarter-final match of the Slovenian Cup, which was won by Maribor 3–1.

Olimpija

Maribor

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Location of both teams

History and rivalry culture

Olimpija was founded on 2 March 2005 under the name NK Bežigrad. They later changed their name twice. First to NK Olimpija Bežigrad and finally to NK Olimpija Ljubljana. Although the board of the newly established club and its fans see the team as the spiritual continuation of the old club, they are not regarded as the legal successors of the old NK Olimpija and are not entitled to claim the honours won by the defunct club.

However, because the new Olimpija is supported by most of the fans of the previous Olimpija, including their ultras group the Green Dragons who has a long-standing rivalry with Maribor's own ultras group Viole Maribor, many see the matches between Maribor and the new club as the continuation of the rivalry and refer to it by the same name. The overall statistics are tracked separately by the Football Association of Slovenia and the Association of 1. SNL. The first match between NK Maribor and the new NK Olimpija took place on 24 October 2007 on a Slovenian cup quarter-final match that was won by Maribor, 3–1. At the time, Olimpija was still competing under the name NK Olimpija Bežigrad.

Fans

Besides the city of Maribor itself and the surrounding area NK Maribor also has a large fan base in the whole regions of Štajerska and Koroška. The club also draws significant number of supporters from northern Gorenjska and northeastern Dolenjska as well as the capital city of Ljubljana itself, due to a large number of students and workers from eastern part of the country. Olimpija on the other hand inherited much of the fan base that belong to the dissolved Olimpija Ljubljana and draws much of its fans from the central part of the country, the majority from the city of Ljubljana with the surrounding area of southern Gorenjska and northwestern Dolenjska. A significant fan base is also present in the region of Notranjska. Overall, the two clubs were always the most popular football clubs in the country.

Both, Maribor and Olimpija, always had support on their matches from ultras groups called the Viole Maribor, supporting NK Maribor, and the Green Dragons, who supports NK Olimpija. The two groups are the largest in the country and it is not uncommon that the matches between the two clubs were sometimes interrupted by violent clashes between the two groups or with the police. On many occasions, before or after the matches, the fans of the two clubs would also meet up and fight on the streets. One of the worst incidents occurred in April 2010 after the match, when a Maribor supporter stabbs a member of the Green Dragons who, with a group of friends, got into a fight with members of the Viole in Ljubljana's railway station. However, to date, there has not been any fatalities in the country related to football violence. Fans of Olimpija traditionally occupy the northern stands of the stadiums, while Maribor fans are present on the southern stands.

Honours

Official statistics of honours won by NK Maribor and NK Olimpija, established in 2005 under the name NK Bežigrad, as treated by the Football Association of Slovenia and the Association of 1. SNL.

Major honours won
Competition	Maribor	Olimpija
1. SNL	14	1
Cup	9	0
Supercup	4	0
Total	27	1

Top goalscorers

Includes all competitive matches.

Rank	Scorer	Club	Goals
1	Marcos Tavares	Maribor	8
2	Goran Cvijanović	Maribor	6
3	Etien Velikonja	Maribor	4
	Andraž Šporar	Olimpija
	Damjan Bohar	Maribor
	Dare Vršič	Both

Head-to-head

Matches

Slovenian First League

	Maribor – Olimpija						Olimpija – Maribor
Season	Round	Date	Venue	Attendance	Score	Report	Round	Date	Venue	Attendance	Score	Report
2009–10	4	08–08–2009	Ljudski vrt	6,000	1–0	Rep.	13	17–10–2009	ŽŠD Ljubljana	2,000	0–1	Rep.
	22	09–12–2009	Ljudski vrt	2,500	2–1	Rep.	31	16–04–2010	ŽŠD Ljubljana	2,000	1–1	Rep.
2010–11	13	16–10–2010	Ljudski vrt	8,000	0–0	Rep.	4	29–09–2010	Stožice	10,000	0–1	Rep.
	31	04–05–2011	Ljudski vrt	9,500	2–2	Rep.	22	12–03–2011	Stožice	5,000	0–0	Rep.
2011–12	16	30–10–2011	Ljudski vrt	12,500	2–2	Rep.	7	28–08–2011	Stožice	8,000	4–1	Rep.
	34	12–05–2012	Ljudski vrt	10,000	3–2	Rep.	25	21–03–2012	Stožice	8,000	1–2	Rep.
2012–13	14	20–10–2012	Ljudski vrt	9,000	1–0	Rep.	5	11–08–2012	Stožice	5,500	0–0	Rep.
	32	11–05–2013	Ljudski vrt	9,000	2–1	Rep.	23	10–03–2013	Stožice	2,000	1–1	Rep.
2013–14	13	06–10–2013	Ljudski vrt	6,500	2–0	Rep.	4	02–03–2014	Stožice	5,000	0–3	Rep.
	31	03–05–2014	Ljudski vrt	5,500	2–0	Rep.	22	15–03–2014	Stožice	100[A]	2–0	Rep.
2014–15	12	04–10–2014	Ljudski vrt	10,000	3–3	Rep.	3	08–04–2015	Stožice	5,000	0–0	Rep.
	30	29–04–2015	Ljudski vrt	8,500	4–1	Rep.	21	04–03–2015	Stožice	6,500	0–1	Rep.
2015–16	6	16–08–2015	Ljudski vrt	10,000	0–3	Rep.	15	21–11–2015	Stožice	13,500	2–2	Rep.
	24	05–03–2016	Ljudski vrt	12,160	0–0	Rep.	33	07–05–2016	Stožice	14,000	1–2	Rep.
2016–17	4	08–08–2016	Ljudski vrt	11,000	1–1	Rep.	13	15–10–2016	Stožice	13,770	1–3	Rep.
	22	25–02–2017	Ljudski vrt	12,000	1–0	Rep.	31	29–04–2017	Stožice	7,000	0–0	Rep.
2017–18	16	17–11–2017	Ljudski vrt	9,000	1–0	Rep.	7	27–08–2017	Stožice	13,000	0–0	Rep.
	34	12–05–2018	Ljudski vrt		–		25	17–03–2018	Stožice		–

• Total: Maribor 17 wins (50%), 14 draws (41,2%), Olimpija 3 wins (8,8%).

Slovenian Cup

Season	Round	Leg	Date	Venue	Attendance	Match	Score	Winner	Report
2007–08	Quarter-final	—	24–10–2007	Ljudski vrt	3,500	Maribor – Olimpija	3–1	Maribor	Rep.
2009–10	Round of 16	—	21–10–2009	ŽŠD Ljubljana	1,700	Olimpija – Maribor	0–1	Maribor	Rep.
2012–13	Quarter-final	First	27–02–2013	Stožice	4,000	Olimpija – Maribor	1–3	Maribor	Rep.
		Second	07–03–2013	Ljudski vrt	5,000	Maribor – Olimpija	0–1		Rep.
2013–14	Semi-final	First	26–03–2014	Ljudski vrt	7,000	Maribor – Olimpija	1–0	Maribor	Rep.
		Second	02–04–2014	Stožice	4,000	Olimpija – Maribor	1–1		Rep.
2016–17	Semi-final	First	05–04–2017	Stožice	6,000	Olimpija – Maribor	2–1	Olimpija	Rep.
		Second	12–04–2017	Ljudski vrt	10,500	Maribor – Olimpija	1–1		Rep.
2017–18	Quarter-final	First	11–11–2017	Stožice	7,000	Olimpija – Maribor	3–0	Olimpija	Rep.
		Second	29–11–2017	Ljudski vrt	3,000	Maribor – Olimpija	1–1		Rep.

• Series won: Maribor 4 (66,66%), Olimpija 2 (33,33%).

Slovenian Supercup

Season	Round	Leg	Date	Venue	Attendance	Match	Score	Winner	Report
2012	Final	—	08–07–2012	Ljudski vrt	4,157	Olimpija – Maribor	1–2	Maribor	Rep.
2013	Final	—	07–07–2013	Arena Petrol (N)	1,800	Maribor – Olimpija	3–0	Maribor	Rep.

• Series won: Maribor 2 (100%), Olimpija 0 (0%).

Statistics

The table below is accurate as of 29 November 2017.

	Maribor wins	Draws	Olimpija wins
1. SNL
At Maribor home	10	6	1
At Olimpija home	7	8	2
Total	17	14	3
Slovenian Cup
At Maribor home	2	2	1
At Olimpija home	2	1	2
Total	4	3	3
Slovenian Supercup
At Maribor home[B]	1	0	0
At Olimpija home	0	0	0
Neutral field	1	0	0
Total	2	0	0
Total
46	23	17	6

Ranking

Position	2009–10	2010–11	2011–12	2012–13	2013–14	2014–15	2015–16	2016–17
1		1	1	1	1	1	1	1
2	2		2	2			2
3								3
4	4	4				4
5
6
7					7
8
9
10

• Total: Maribor 7 times higher (87,5%), Olimpija 1 time higher (12,5%).

Footnotes

• ^A The match was played behind closed doors.
• ^B Olimpija Ljubljana was officially selected as the home team during the 2012 Slovenian Supercup, with a draw. However, the match was played at Ljudski vrt stadium in Maribor, the home of NK Maribor.