Jagiellonia will face Olimpija Ljubljana on Thursday evening in the last match league stage of the Europa Conference League. This is the first chance for Adrian Siemieniec's team to advance to the 1/8 finals, which can only be achieved by defeating the leader league Slovenian. The second chance will, of course, come in the spring playoffs, provided that the Polish champion ultimately finishes in positions 9-24.
One of the most ardent fans of Olimpia – but also of the Slovenian national team – is Matija Stemberger. On Instagram he writes about himself: “Someone much more than a jumper.” – I really regret that I can't go to Białystok – the 27-year-old admits in an interview with Sport.pl. – Jagiellonia is the favorite and has the advantage of playing at home, but don't be surprised if Olimpija returns to Slovenia with some points – he warns.
“They looked at each other and didn't know what to say.” The Slovenian ski jumper has been a fan of Olimpija since he was a child
Stemberger was born and raised in Ljubljana, he also represents the local club Ilirija, as he says, the oldest club specializing in training ski jumpers in Slovenia and one of the two best in the country. He also serves as a coach for youth up to 14 and 15 years of age. – Our club includes such jumpers and Nordic combined skiers as Lovro Kos, Urša Bogataj, Špela Rogelj, Ema Volavšek. I train myself, I take part in the Slovenian Cups, FIS Cups and sometimes as a pre-skipper in the World Cup, especially during the season finals in Planica – he says.
His passion for sports began very early. – Thanks to my parents, sport has always been a part of my life. I played football, basketball and hockey with my dad, and my mom taught me how to ski when I was two years old. So the fact that I am still in sportsis natural to me.
– I have lived in Ljubljana all my life, and Olimpija is the main club here and one of the largest multi-section clubs in the country, also achieving success in other disciplines, such as basketball, hockey and athletics. That's why I went to the Olympics at a young age, and my dad gave me her scarf, which I still wear to the stadium.
Stemberger couldn't go to Białystok in the middle of winter. – Being a jumper and coach, I don't have much free time, especially in winter. But whenever I have the opportunity, I go to the match. In Slovenia, everything is relatively close, so it's not a problem to go by car, but last season I also attended Europa Conference League matches in Lille, Bratislava and Rijeka. Moreover, I watched all the matches of the Slovenian national team at Euro 2024 in Germany from the stands – boasts our interlocutor.
There are plenty of funny situations during trips. – Last season, we flew to Lille with over 100 people, including: through Venice and Brussels. On the Italian-Belgian section, many businessmen and tourists traveled with us and had absolutely no idea what was happening when we started singing as a group at the airport and later on the plane. They were shocked, stared at us and didn't know what to say. Fortunately, they took it really well and wished them good luck for the match, says Matija Stemberger.
Dream? “Go in spring to an away match of Olimpija in the knockout phase of the Conference League”
How does the Slovenian ski jumper characterize his team, which is also Thursday's rival of Jagiellonia Białystok in the Conference League?
– Olimpija is currently a mix of young and promising players from the Slovenian adult team (Ratnik Vidovsek), the U-21 team (Brest, Kojić, Ristić), as well as players from abroad. There are not many stars there, the most appreciated is the Austrian winger Raul Florucz, but I would also pay attention to the defensive midfielder from Argentina, Agustin Doffo, who in my opinion is underrated, and when you watch him you get the impression that he is everywhere on the pitch, says Stemberger.
– The greatest strength of this team is the ability to adapt to circumstances. Thanks to this, the team can cope with various opponents, pitches and injuries. This season we had the opportunity to see the very offensive side of Olimpija, which defeated Rijeka 5-0 in the qualifiers, but we could also observe the team fighting hard defensively and launching dangerous counter-attacks after giving the ball to the opponents, as against Celje (1-0) a few weeks ago . The key to all this is the coach – the Spaniard Victor Sanchez, who taught the team all this – notes the 27-year-old.
Olimpija Ljubljana played in the Conference League a year ago, but had to admit their superiority in the group of Lille and Slovan Bratislava, ahead of KI Klaksvik from the Faroe Islands. Now the Slovenians know that they will definitely play in the knockout phase in spring.
– In Slovenia and Ljubljana, we are very pleased with this edition of the Conference League, because not only did we manage to advance to it after defeating difficult rivals in the qualifying rounds, but now the team is also successfully fighting in the league phase and is already certain to play in the play-offs. It's a great success, but you could still have scored a point in Heidenheim or the match against Cercle Brugge could have gone differently. I would say that Olimpija is very similar to the Slovenian national team – it believes that you can fight with anyone for a good result, even if your opponent is much higher ranked. “Faith” is a word that can be used to characterize the current Olympics, admits Stemberger.
Our interlocutor announces that Olimpija may cause a surprise in Białystok. – Jagiellonia is definitely the favorite, especially since it is playing at home, but don't be surprised if Olimpija scores a point or even three. I believe that the difference between teams is not as big as, for example, in budgets or on Transfermarkt.
– As a true Olimpija fan, I believe that any result is possible in this match. My main dream, however, is that Olimpija will get a good opponent in the next round, so that I can also go away, which I will not be able to do during the match against Jagiellonia – concluded the Slovenian ski jumper.
The match of the league phase of the Europa Conference League between Jagiellonia Białystok and Olimpija Ljubljana will take place on Thursday, December 19 at the Chorten Arena in Białystok. Starting at 9:00 p.m., live coverage on Sport.pl.