He was replaced by Ante Šimundža, who was an assistant manager at Maribor between 2008 and 2011 and has spent a total of 10 seasons at the club as a player in the 1990s. With Šimundža at the helm the club continued with poor form in the top division, suffering two defeats in the first four matches with the new coach, however, they eventually won five out of eight matches, which ensured them a top place finish after the first part of the season, maintaining a two-point lead ahead of Koper. The club also managed to qualify into the semi-final of the Slovenian Cup after they have knocked out two second division teams, Radomlje and Šenčur. Maribor's biggest success, however, came in the UEFA Europa League where they have won seven points in the remaining five matches and finished on second place in their group, qualifying to the UEFA Europa League knockout phase for the first time in the club's history, becoming the first Slovenian club to play European football in the second part of the season. In the Round of 32 they played in a two-legged tie against the Spanish side Sevilla and lost by an aggregate score of 4–3. However, the UEFA Europa League elimination did not affect the team in domestic competition as Maribor managed to win 12 out of 17 league matches in the second part of the season, losing only two in the process. The club eventually won their 12th league title, with eight point lead ahead of Koper. Things were looking bright for the team in the Slovenian Cup as well, when Maribor defeated Olimpija in the semi-final and reached the final for the fifth successive season. In the Cup final, which was played at a neutral venue in Koper, Maribor faced Gorica and were defeated with the score 2–0. The season was marked by Marcos Tavares who set two goalscoring records. He has become the club's all-time leading goalscorer when he passed Branko Horjak's 117 goals in official competitions. In addition, he has also passed a joint record previously held by Ante Šimundža and Kliton Bozgo (78) for the most goals scored for the club in the Slovenian PrvaLiga. The final match of the season was played on 25 May 2014 against Domžale and was marked by the farewell of Dejan Mezga who has spent eight seasons with the club and whose contract was due to expire at the end of the season.