SK Slovan Bratislava
Also written as Slovan, Slovan Bratislava.
The club
Slovan Bratislava were founded on 3 May 1919 as I. CSSK Bratislava and took their present name in 1953. Since 3 March 2019 they have played at the Narodny futbalovy stadion at Tehelne pole, a UEFA category four ground holding 22,500. They are the Belasi, the Sky Blues, and are also called the white hawks of Tehelne pole. Ivan Kmotrik is the owner and president.
Recent seasons
Slovan have won the Slovak league in every season from 2020 to 2026. Domestic dominance is the constant; the question at this club is always Europe.
Honours and landmarks
Slovan have won 24 Slovak league titles and 17 Slovak Cups, and won the Czechoslovak First League eight times before the split. They remain the first and only club from Slovakia, and from the former Czechoslovakia, to win a European trophy: the Cup Winners' Cup of 1968/69, beating Barcelona 3-2 in the final in Basel on 21 May 1969.
Notable scorelines
Record European victory: 12-2 on aggregate against HPS in the 1963/64 Cup Winners' Cup. They also beat Pyunik 9-1 in 2017/18 and Milsami 9-2 in 2018/19. No reliable published record defeat was confirmed from the sources read here, though the 2024/25 Champions League league phase supplied several heavy ones.
European record
Slovan have played 222 matches in European competition to 31 August 2025, with 88 wins, 47 draws and 87 defeats, 314 goals scored and 322 conceded. The 1969 Cup Winners' Cup remains the summit.
Their modern high point is qualification for the 2024/25 Champions League league phase, the first Slovak club to reach the expanded competition. It went badly. They lost all eight matches, took no points and finished 35th of 36 with a goal difference of minus twenty. At home they lost 1-5 to Celtic, 0-2 to Manchester City, 0-4 to Atletico Madrid and 0-1 to Stuttgart; away they lost 0-3 at Bayern Munich, 0-3 at Milan, 1-2 at Dinamo Zagreb and 0-2 at Girona. The 0-1 at home to Stuttgart and the 2-1 at Dinamo Zagreb were the closest they came to a point.
Quotes
No directly quoted material was confirmed from the sources read here. The club's own site carries match reports rather than press-conference copy, and no Slovak-language interview page containing verbatim quotes from Yaya Toure or his players was successfully read.
Right now (2026/27)
Yaya Toure is the manager. He replaced Vladimir Weiss, who left after five years to take the Slovakia national team. Toure's assistants are Darren O'Dea and Serge Costa. The summer's business was modest: goalkeeper Aleksandar Popovic arrived free from DAC Dunajska Streda on 20 May 2026, defender Samuel Kozlovsky free from Widzew Lodz on 25 May, midfielder Cristian Martinez from Ironi Kiryat Shmona for 700,000 euros on 19 July, and midfielder Suleiman Camara from Racing Santander for 1,000,000 euros on 3 August. Robert Mak and Vladimir Weiss junior both retired, and Guram Kashia's contract ended.
The domestic season has started with two wins from two: 4-0 away at Dukla Banska Bystrica and 3-0 at home to Podbrezova, seven scored and none conceded, which had them third on goal difference through 9 August.
In the Champions League, Slovan entered at the second qualifying round and beat Iberia 1999 of Georgia, winning the first leg 2-0 away and drawing the return 1-1 at Tehelne pole to go through 3-1.
The tie they were in is now finished, and they came through it. Drawn against Mjallby AIF of Sweden in the third qualifying round, Slovan won the first leg 2-1 at the Strandvallen in Solvesborg on 4 August 2026, then won the return 2-0 at a sold-out Tehelne pole on 11 August in front of 21,350. The second leg was goalless at the break; Suleiman Camara finished from the left of the box in the 47th minute and Alasana Yirajang added the second on 78 after a run down the left. Slovan went through 4-1 on aggregate.
That puts them in the Champions League play-off round, the last step before the league phase, against the Slovenian champions NK Celje, who knocked out Ararat-Armenia. The first leg is at Tehelne pole on Wednesday 19 August 2026 at 21:00, the return in Celje on Tuesday 25 August at 21:00. Losing the play-off would drop Slovan into the Europa League league phase.
Sources
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C5%A0K_Slovan_Bratislava https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C5%A0K_Slovan_Bratislava_in_European_football https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026%E2%80%9327_%C5%A0K_Slovan_Bratislava_season https://www.skslovan.com/ https://www.skslovan.com/clanok13622-Belasi_v_playoff_Ligy_majstrov_.htm https://www.skslovan.com/clanok13625-Pozname_terminy_zapasov_playoff_Ligy_majstrov.htm https://www.espn.com/soccer/scoreboard/_/league/uefa.champions_qual/date/20260804 https://www.espn.com/soccer/scoreboard/_/league/uefa.champions_qual/date/20260811
Researched and written for not4quarters. Where a fact could not be established from the sources read, this page says so rather than guessing.