Maribor crashed to a 3-1 defeat away to Celje this afternoon.
Four days before hosting Celtic in the first leg of their Champions League play-off Ante Simundza’s side were well beaten with Celje three goals in front after 53 minutes before an own goal five minutes from time gave the scoreline a more respectable look.
The defeat comes on the back on Maribor’s 4-1 Super Cup win over ND Gorica in midweek and knocking Macabbi Tel Aviv out of the Champions League.
Maribor have been one of the victims of Legia Warsaw’s antics with a doubt remaining over whether Wednesday’s match with Celtic will go ahead.
The Slovenian champions have been selling tickets based on the visit of Celtic although the match won’t be confirmed until 5pm (CPT) on Monday when CAS give their verdict on the Legia appeal.
Legia have provided no grounds for their appeal other than they feel the punishment is unfair- having signed up to the rules and regulations of the competition it’s hard to see what the substance is to the Poles case.
Bleating on the club website Legia chief Dariusz Mioduski said: “We have asked CAS to suspend the 0:3 forfeit until the final decision, accept on-the-pitch result and reinstate our Club to the UCL play-off round.
“We are aware that making such a heavy decision requires not only a strong conviction about Legia’s legitimacy and chance for final success, but courage as well.
“We believe that CAS will investigate the case mainly on the level of rationality and proportionality of the decisions of UEFA disciplinary body and the spirit of the game. We still hope that finally football and fair-play will win.”
Unless CAS decide to introduce a ruling to give allowances for gross incompetence it seems certain that Legia’s Champions League involvement will be confined to watching from afar.