2005–06 FC Artmedia Bratislava season
During the 2005–06 Slovak football season, Artmedia Bratislava competed in the Superliga.
| 2005–06 season | |
|---|---|
| Manager |  |
| Stadium | Stadium FC Petržalka 1898 (domestic games) Tehelné pole (European matches) |
| Superliga | 2nd |
| Slovak Cup | Semi-finals |
| Champions League | Group stage |
| UEFA Cup | Round of 32 |
Season summary
Artmedia reached the group stages of the UEFA Champions League after wins over Kairat Almaty, Celtic and Partizan Belgrade. They beat Almaty 4–3 on aggregate in the first qualifying round despite a 2–0 defeat in the first leg. However it was on 27 July 2005 that they made their mark on the tournament, producing one of the shock results of Champions League history as they beat 2003 UEFA Cup finalists and 1967 European Cup winners Celtic 5–0 in the first leg of their Champions League second qualifying round match. The stunned Celtic side could not quite recover, only managing to win the return leg 4–0, and Artmedia held on to progress in the tournament. On 23 August 2005 they clinched a place in the group stages after overcoming Serbian powerhouse Partizan Belgrade 4–3 on penalties after a 0–0 aggregate scoreline, thus becoming the second Slovak club after 1. FC Košice in 1997–98 to reach the coveted Champions League group stages. Their success was even more remarkable considering Artmedia's entire annual budget was just over £1 million.
Artmedia also made history by becoming one of the first two clubs ever to advance from the first qualifying round into the Champions League group stage. The other club to do so was 2004–05 winners Liverpool, who were given a special entry into the first qualifying round of the 2005–06 tournament and managed to progress to the group stage.
Artmedia played their Champions League fixtures at the Tehelné pole ground of crosstown rivals Slovan Bratislava because their own ground did not meet UEFA standards for Champions League play.
On 28 September 2005, Artmedia made history once again by becoming the first Slovak side to collect a point in the Champions League group stage. In another famous upset, they came back from a 2–0 first-half deficit to defeat 2004 Champions League winners Porto 3–2 at Porto's home ground.
Eventually, they finished third in the group, parachuting them into the UEFA Cup, but not before missing a late chance to score a goal in the return fixture against Porto that would have sent them to the round of 16 at Rangers' expense.
In December 2005, goalkeeper Juraj Čobej underwent brain surgery to remove a malign tumor. He made a full recovery.
Artmedia lost the home leg of their UEFA Cup round of 32 tie with Levski Sofia 1–0 and were knocked out of the tournament after an away defeat of 2–0.
After the successful season, coach Vladimír Weiss left for FC Saturn Ramenskoe.[1] Several players left the club, including Ján Ďurica (to FC Saturn Ramenskoe), Balázs Borbély (to Kaiserslautern) and Blažej Vaščák (to Treviso).
Competitions
Superliga
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ružomberok (C) | 36 | 26 | 2 | 8 | 65 | 28 | +37 | 80 | Qualification for Champions League second qualifying round |
| 2 | Artmedia Bratislava | 36 | 23 | 5 | 8 | 58 | 33 | +25 | 74 | Qualification for UEFA Cup first qualifying round |
| 3 | Spartak Trnava | 36 | 21 | 5 | 10 | 57 | 31 | +26 | 68 | |
| 4 | Žilina | 36 | 18 | 6 | 12 | 69 | 44 | +25 | 60 | |
| 5 | Nitra | 36 | 12 | 9 | 15 | 42 | 48 | −6 | 45 | Qualification for Intertoto Cup first round |
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(C) Champion.
Slovak Cup
- August 31: Inter Bratislava 0-2 Artmedia Bratislava
- October 5: Artmedia Bratislava 1-0 FC Senec II
- October 25: FC Senec II 1-1 Artmedia Bratislava
- March 29: MFK Ružomberok 2-0 Artmedia Bratislava
- April 29: Artmedia Bratislava 0-2 MFK Ružomberok
Champions League
First qualifying round
| 12 July 2005 | Kairat Almaty  | 2–0 | | Central Stadium, Almaty |
| 15:30 | Fomenka  Artemov |
Report MatchCentre | Referee: René Rogalla (Switzerland) |
| 20 July 2005 | Artmedia Bratislava | 4–1 (a.e.t.) | | Národné tréningové centrum, Senec |
| 20:00 | Borbély Tchuř Kozák Staňo |
Report MatchCentre | Bogomolov |
Referee: Siarhei Shmolik (Belarus) |
Second qualifying round
| 27 July 2005 | Artmedia Bratislava | 5–0 |  | Tehelné pole, Bratislava |
| 20:00 | Halenár Vaščák Mikulič |
Report MatchCentre | Referee: Selçuk Dereli (Turkey) |
| 2 August 2005 | Celtic | 4–0 | | Celtic Park, Glasgow |
| 20:45 | Thompson Hartson McManus Beattie |
Report MatchCentre | Referee: Alberto Undiano Mallenco (Spain) |
Third qualifying round
| 10 August 2005 | Artmedia Bratislava | 0–0 | %3B_Flag_of_Serbia_and_Montenegro_(2003%E2%80%932006).svg.png){kind=small} | Tehelné pole, Bratislava |
| 20:00 | Report MatchCentre | Referee: Peter Fröjdfeldt (Sweden) |
Group stage
| 13 September 2005 | Artmedia Bratislava | 0–1 |  | Tehelné pole, Bratislava |
| 20:45 | Report MatchCentre | Cruz |
Attendance: 27,000 Referee: Eric Poulat (France) |
| 28 September 2005 | Porto  | 2–3 | | Estádio do Dragão, Porto |
| 20:45 | Lucho González Diego |
Report MatchCentre | P. Petráš Ján Kozák Borbély |
Attendance: 35,000 Referee: Massimo Busacca (Switzerland) |
| 19 October 2005 | Rangers | 0–0 | | Ibrox Stadium, Glasgow |
| 20:45 | Report MatchCentre | Attendance: 49,000 Referee: Arturo Daudén Ibáñez (Spain) |
| 1 November 2005 | Artmedia Bratislava | 2–2 | | Tehelné pole, Bratislava |
| 20:45 | Borbély Ján Kozák |
Report MatchCentre | Pršo Thompson |
Attendance: 26,525 Referee: Florian Meyer (Germany) |
| 23 November 2005 | Internazionale | 4–0 | | San Siro, Milan |
| 20:45 | Figo Adriano |
Report MatchCentre | Attendance: Closed doors Referee: Mike Riley (England) |
| 6 December 2005 | Artmedia Bratislava | 0–0 | | Tehelné pole, Bratislava |
| 20:45 | Report MatchCentre | Attendance: 25,000 Referee: Markus Merk (Germany) |
UEFA Cup
Round of 32
| 15 February 2006 | Artmedia Bratislava | 0–1 |  | Štadión Antona Malatinského, Trnava |
| 17:30 | Report | E. Angelov |
Referee: Laurent Duhamel (France) |
| 23 February 2006 | Levski Sofia | 2–0 | | Vasil Levski National Stadium, Sofia |
| 17:00 | E. Angelov |
Report | Referee: Gerald Lehner (Austria) |
First-team squad
- Squad at end of season
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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