Yaya Touré’s tough season as the first African coach in the Champions League has seen his Slovan Bratislava team set an unwanted record of games lost.
Slovan’s 4-0 defeat to LASK in Austria on Tuesday was the Slovak champion’s 14th straight loss in the competition’s main phase dating back to 1992.
That beat Marseille’s Champions League mark of 13 losses in a row from March 2012 until Nov. 2020. The all-time record is still 16 in the old European Cup format by Jeunesse Esch of Luxembourg.
“It’s very difficult, to be honest,” Touré, a Champions League winner with Barcelona in 2009, said after the record-setting loss to LASK. “They were more aggressive, maybe we didn’t fight enough, but sometimes you have to just respect it.”
Slovan’s dismal Champions League run started in Oct. 1992, losing to AC Milan home and away in the second round. The early stages then were still a knockout format in the inaugural season of a rebrand from the European Cup.
– Harry Kane falls short of Cristiano Ronaldo Champions League goal streak record
– Did Man United’s Champions League comeback save Carrick’s job?
– PSG send UCL records tumbling with 6-goal thrashing of Villarreal
There were eight defeats in 2024 in the inaugural league-phase format, plus four more this season.
Slovan have upcoming games hosting Real Betis and Shakhtar Donetsk to avoid sharing Jeunesse’s record in the competition’s 72-season history.
After Jeunesse drew 1-1 with Liverpool in September 1973, the team lost all 16 European Cup first-round games until a 1-0 win over Danish champion Aarhus in Sept. 1987.
Slovan also risk not being in the Champions League qualifying rounds next year for the first time in nine seasons. Touré’s team trail eight points behind unbeaten Slovakian league leader FC Dac.
“It’s not easy, but the season is long,” Touré said. “We’re fighting in multiple competitions, at the moment we’re playing every two or three days and the fatigue has accumulated with this set of players.”
Information from Associated Press contributed to this report.
