2017–18 Slovenian PrvaLiga

The 2017–18 Slovenian PrvaLiga (also known as the Prva liga Telekom Slovenije for sponsorship reasons) was the 27th edition of the Slovenian PrvaLiga since its establishment in 1991. The season began on 15 July 2017 and ended on 27 May 2018.^[2]

Slovenian PrvaLiga

Season	2017–18
Dates	15 July 2017 – 27 May 2018
Champions	Olimpija Ljubljana (2nd title)
Relegated	Ankaran
Champions League	Olimpija Ljubljana
Europa League	Maribor Domžale Rudar Velenje
Matches played	180
Goals scored	500 (2.78 per match)
Best Player	Senijad Ibričić[1]
Top goalscorer	Luka Zahović (18 goals)
Biggest home win	Domžale 6–0 Ankaran Celje 7–1 Ankaran
Biggest away win	Gorica 0–6 Maribor
Highest scoring	Celje 7–1 Ankaran
Longest winning run	11 matches Domžale
Longest unbeaten run	18 matches Olimpija
Longest winless run	11 matches Triglav
Longest losing run	5 matches Triglav
Highest attendance	13,000 Olimpija 0–0 Maribor
Lowest attendance	25 Triglav 2–0 Krško
Total attendance	214,675
Average attendance	1,199
← 2016–17 2018–19 →

Competition format

Each team played 36 matches (18 home and 18 away). Teams played four matches against each other (2 home and 2 away).

Teams

A total of ten teams contested the league, including eight from the 2016–17 Slovenian PrvaLiga and two promoted from the 2016–17 Slovenian Second League.

Stadiums and locations

Seating capacity only; some stadiums also have standing areas. Ankaran played their home matches in Dravograd and Nova Gorica since their stadium, ŠRC Katarina, did not met PrvaLiga criteria.

Aluminij	Ankaran	Celje	Domžale
Aluminij Sports Park	Dravograd Sports Centre	Stadion Z'dežele	Domžale Sports Park
Capacity: 600	Capacity: 1,918	Capacity: 13,059	Capacity: 3,100
Gorica	Aluminij Ankaran Celje Domžale Gorica Triglav Kranj Maribor Olimpija Krško Rudar		Krško
Nova Gorica Sports Park			Matija Gubec
Capacity: 3,100			Capacity: 1,470
Maribor	Olimpija Ljubljana	Rudar Velenje	Triglav Kranj
Ljudski vrt	Stožice Stadium	Ob Jezeru City Stadium	Stanko Mlakar Stadium
Capacity: 12,702	Capacity: 16,038	Capacity: 1,864	Capacity: 2,060

Personnel and kits

Team	Manager	Captain	Kit manufacturer	Shirt sponsor
Aluminij	Oliver Bogatinov	Matic Vrbanec	Zeus Sport	Talum, Zavarovalnica Sava
Ankaran	Vlado Badžim	Jan Pahor	Nike	None
Celje	Dušan Kosič	Jure Travner	Legea	Droga, Cinkarna Celje
Domžale	Simon Rožman	Dejan Milić	Joma	Tark
Gorica	Miran Srebrnič	Alen Jogan	Erreà	Hit, E 3
Krško	Alen Ščulac	Marko Krajcer	Erima	GEN, Kostak
Maribor	Darko Milanič	Marcos Tavares	Adidas	Zavarovalnica Sava, Nova KBM, Radio City
Olimpija Ljubljana	Igor Bišćan	Branko Ilić	Nike	None
Rudar Velenje	Marijan Pušnik	David Kašnik	Joma	None
Triglav Kranj	Siniša Brkić	Elvis Džafić	Peak	Domplan

Managerial changes

Team	Outgoing manager	Date of vacancy	Position in table	Incoming manager	Date of appointment
Celje	Tomaž Petrovič	29 August 2017[3]	8th	Dušan Kosič	1 September 2017[4]
Triglav Kranj	Anton Žlogar	25 September 2017[5]	10th	Siniša Brkić	25 September 2017[6]
Krško	Stipe Balajić	28 November 2017[7]	8th	Alen Ščulac	28 December 2017[8]
Aluminij	Slobodan Grubor	22 December 2017[9]	8th	Oliver Bogatinov	29 December 2017[10]

League table

Standings

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Olimpija Ljubljana (C)	36	23	11	2	61	17	+44	80[a]	Qualification for the Champions League first qualifying round
2	Maribor	36	24	8	4	76	28	+48	80[a]	Qualification for the Europa League first qualifying round[b]
3	Domžale	36	22	7	7	79	31	+48	73
4	Rudar Velenje	36	15	5	16	50	49	+1	50[c]
5	Celje	36	14	8	14	56	51	+5	50[c]
6	Gorica	36	14	5	17	40	48	−8	47
7	Krško	36	9	7	20	36	61	−25	34
8	Aluminij	36	8	9	19	40	63	−23	33
9	Triglav Kranj (O)	36	7	7	22	29	68	−39	28	Qualification for the relegation play-offs
10	Ankaran (R)	36	5	11	20	33	84	−51	26	Relegation to Slovenian Second League

Source: PrvaLiga (in Slovene), Soccerway, UEFA.com
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Head-to-head points; 3) Head-to-head goal difference; 4) Head-to-head away goals scored; 5) Goal difference; 6) Goals scored; 7) Away goals scored; 8) Fair play ranking; 9) Draw.^[11]
(C) Champions; (O) Play-off winners; (R) Relegated
Notes:

1. Olimpija Ljubljana were ahead of Maribor on head-to-head away goals scored: Olimpija 3 goals, Maribor 1 goal.
2. Olimpija Ljubljana qualified for the Europa League first qualifying round by winning the 2017–18 Slovenian Football Cup. However, since they already qualified for European competition based on their league position, the spot awarded to them as the cup winners was passed to the fourth-placed team.
3. Rudar Velenje were ahead of Celje on head-to-head points: Rudar 9 pts, Celje 3 pts.

Results

First half of the season Home \ Away ALU ANK CEL DOM GOR KRŠ MAR OLI RUD TRI Aluminij 1–1 2–2 0–1 0–3 4–2 2–3 1–2 0–2 2–0 Ankaran 1–1 1–2 1–3 0–2 1–1 1–5 1–3 0–3 0–0 Celje 1–2 4–1 1–1 1–0 0–0 2–1 0–0 2–1 1–1 Domžale 2–2 6–0 4–0 1–1 1–0 0–1 1–0 0–1 6–1 Gorica 1–0 2–2 2–1 1–3 2–1 0–3 0–2 1–0 0–3 Krško 2–0 2–2 3–1 4–2 2–1 0–5 2–4 0–3 1–1 Maribor 1–0 1–0 0–0 0–0 2–1 3–2 1–0 1–0 0–0 Olimpija 4–0 1–0 3–1 1–0 2–1 1–0 0–0 4–0 3–0 Rudar 0–0 3–1 2–1 2–1 2–0 0–1 1–2 0–0 1–2 Triglav Kranj 0–3 1–3 0–2 0–1 1–3 3–1 2–3 0–0 1–2 Source: PrvaLiga (in Slovene) Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Second half of the season Home \ Away ALU ANK CEL DOM GOR KRŠ MAR OLI RUD TRI Aluminij 1–1 1–2 1–2 1–0 1–1 0–2 0–2 1–3 3–1 Ankaran 2–1 0–2 0–4 0–2 0–0 0–3 0–3 3–2 2–0 Celje 2–2 7–1 2–1 2–0 5–0 0–4 1–1 1–3 5–2 Domžale 6–1 4–0 1–0 3–0 3–1 1–1 1–1 3–0 3–0 Gorica 1–0 4–1 3–0 4–1 2–0 0–6 0–1 1–1 0–2 Krško 1–2 1–1 0–1 1–2 1–0 1–2 0–1 1–0 2–0 Maribor 0–0 5–1 3–2 1–2 2–0 0–2 2–3 2–2 2–1 Olimpija 5–1 0–0 2–1 1–1 0–0 2–0 1–1 4–0 2–0 Rudar 4–2 2–3 2–1 1–4 0–1 3–0 1–3 1–1 0–1 Triglav Kranj 0–2 2–2 1–0 0–4 1–1 2–0 0–5 0–1 0–2 Source: PrvaLiga (in Slovene) Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

PrvaLiga play-off

A two-legged play-off between Triglav Kranj, the ninth-placed team in the PrvaLiga and Drava Ptuj, the second-placed team in the 2. SNL, was played in June 2018. The winner, Triglav Kranj, secured a place in the 2018–19 PrvaLiga season.

2 June 2018

17:00 CEST

Drava Ptuj	1–2	Triglav Kranj
Rešek 14'	Report	Zec 61' Poplatnik 81' (pen.)

Ptuj City Stadium, Ptuj

Attendance: 800

Referee: Matej Jug

6 June 2018

16:30 CEST

Triglav Kranj	4–2	Drava Ptuj
Elsner 42' Poplatnik 44', 81' Majcen 51'	Report	Bizjak 30', 34'

Stanko Mlakar Stadium, Kranj

Attendance: 1,500

Referee: Dejan Balažič

Triglav Kranj won 6–3 on aggregate.

Awards

Annual awards

PrvaLiga Player of the Season

• Senijad Ibričić

PrvaLiga U23 Player of the Season

• Luka Zahović

PrvaLiga Team of the Season

Handanović

Ilić

Džinić

Milec

Klemenčič

Ibričić

Požeg Vancaš

Poplatnik

Tavares

Alves

Bizjak

Slovenian PrvaLiga Team of the 2017–18 season – SPINS XI.

Player	Team	Position	Ref.
Jasmin Handanović	Maribor	Goalkeeper
Tilen Klemenčič	Domžale	Defender
Elvedin Džinić	Celje	Defender
Branko Ilić	Olimpija Ljubljana	Defender
Martin Milec	Maribor	Defender
Rudi Požeg Vancaš	Celje	Midfielder
Ricardo Alves	Olimpija Ljubljana	Midfielder
Senijad Ibričić	Domžale	Midfielder
Marcos Tavares	Maribor	Forward
Lovro Bizjak	Domžale	Forward
Matej Poplatnik	Triglav Kranj	Forward

See also

• 2017–18 Slovenian Football Cup
• 2017–18 Slovenian Second League