Archive · 27 Aug 2026
Yaya Touré Makes History in Champions League Group Stage
Yaya Touré is a former football star from Ivory Coast.
He is now managing Slovan Bratislava, a team from Slovakia.
On Wednesday, his team played Celje in an important Champions League qualifying match.
Slovan won 2-1 after the game went into extra time.
Cristian Martínez scored the winning goal in the 100th minute.
Slovan won both matches together by a score of 3-2.
This means the team reached the Champions League group stage.
Touré became the first African manager to achieve this.
Nigerian coach Ndubuisi Egbo had previously taken a team to the qualifying stage in 2020, but not beyond it.
Yaya Touré became the first African manager to lead a club into the UEFA Champions League group stage.
He achieved the milestone with Slovan Bratislava of Slovakia.
Slovan defeated Celje 2-1 after extra time in the second leg on Wednesday night.
Cristian Martínez scored the winning goal in the 100th minute.
Slovan won the two-leg qualifying tie 3-2 on aggregate, surpassing Ndubuisi Egbo’s 2020 achievement.
- Who
- Yaya Touré, Slovan Bratislava, Celje, and Cristian Martínez were central to the match; Ndubuisi Egbo was referenced as a previous milestone-holder.
- What
- Slovan Bratislava reached the UEFA Champions League group stage after defeating Celje 3-2 on aggregate.
- When
- Wednesday night; Cristian Martínez scored in the 100th minute of extra time.
- Where
- Arena Z’dežele, during the second leg in Slovakia’s qualifying tie.
- Why
- Slovan’s victory secured its place in the Champions League group stage and made Touré the first African manager to lead a club there.
- Manager
- Yaya Touré
- Club
- Slovan Bratislava
- Opponent
- Celje
- Second-leg result
- Slovan Bratislava won 2-1 after extra time
- Aggregate result
- Slovan Bratislava won 3-2
- Winning goal
- Cristian Martínez scored in the 100th minute
- Historical milestone
- First African manager to lead a club to the UEFA Champions League group stage