I think Maribor were league champions then too, but were not last season. They lost the league to Olimpija, who Nathan Oduwa played for.
In order to qualify for the EL, we played the team finished 4th in Macedonia, 2nd in Slovenia, 4th in Croatia and 7th in Russia who qualified via a technicality for the first time in their existence.
That is a very kind draw, all things considered.
Our performances in the group stages were far more impressive than the “simply qualifying” argument most people like to put up.