NK Maribor 3 - 0 Hibs: One-paced Hibs side stare untimely exit from Europe in the face after Slovenians take them apart

Hibs will have to evoke memories of the past if their interest in this season's Europa League is to extend beyond next Thursday. Whether John Hughes' players can summon up the sort of performance which saw off Dino Zoff's Napoli in 1967 or Sporting Lisbon five years later remains to be seen, Hibs coming from behind to deliver crushing defeats on their opponents on both occasions.

But if, somehow, they can contrive to better the three goals NK Maribor scored last night then, surely, the fans of today will stream out of Easter Road every bit as delighted as the supporters of yesteryear, the only question being can one of Hughes' players write their names into club folklore in the way the likes of Pat Stanton, Peter Cormack and Jimmy O'Rourke did all those years ago.

Today, however, it seems a forlorn hope, Slovenia's most successful club having well and truly outplayed Hibs who were, in many eyes, lucky to be landing at Edinburgh Airport in the early hours of this morning with even the faintest of chances of turning things around in the second leg of this third qualifying round.

A forlorn Hughes admitted minutes after the final blast of referee Martin Ingvarsson's whistle to just how tough a task his side face but, argued Dutch star Edwin de Graaf, he and his team-mates have to believe they can do it although they now face themselves in an invidious position, desperately needing an early goal if they are to have a hope of testing Maribor's nerve but also well aware one more for the Slovenians will, finally, kill the tie stone-dead.

Something of a veteran of such occasions thanks to his efforts with NAC Breda in this competition last season, De Graaf admitted the clinical finishing of Maribor had served as a salutory lesson for his younger team-mates.

The 30-year-old said: "We gave goals away too easily, we lost the ball very simply twice in the second half and if you do that at this level the opposition score. Their finishing was clinical but we gave them the opportunities to do so."

De Graaf insisted Hughes' players had touched down in Maribor the previous day confident of being able to put themselves in the position of making further progress in the Europa League but insisted that despite the final scoreline the Eastern European side hadn't produced any surprises.

He said: "We knew they are a good team who have played in the Champions League and the Europa Cup most seasons. We had seen pictures from their games, we knew they could play well but we felt we could score, that was important." Despite being hugely outplayed over the opening 45 minutes, Hibs found themselves trudging up the tunnel at half-time only one goal adrift, Josip Ilicic, a 22-year-old picked up on a free transfer from a second division side and playing only his third match for Maribor, cutting inside Ian Murray, who slipped at the vital moment, before delivering a shot with pin-point accuracy which clipped the underside of Graham Stack's bar before bulging the net.

De Graaf admitted Hibs could well have been further behind by that stage, Stack clawing a shot from Dalibor Volas to safety and then superbly beating away an earlier effort from the irrepressible Ilicic but, as he pointed out, as long as it remained at just one, the Easter Road outfit were not only well in the game but the tie.

They might even have been level at the interval, Liam Miller hammering in a rising shot which Marko Pridigar, a virtual spectator in the home goal, acrobatically turned aside.

De Graaf said: "Had that gone in it might have been a different game but we could live with being a goal down."

Hibs' hopes, however, vanished in the space of six second-half minutes with both goals self-inflicted.

David Wotherspoon, who might have been caught from behind, surrendered possession too easily, allowing Ilicic to step in and float a precise shot over the head of the stranded Stack.

It was reward for Maribor's deliberate approach of standing off Hibs as they passed the ball around, largely to little effect, waiting for the Edinburgh club to make a sloppy pass or to be caught dithering, and again they punished Hughes' players as Kevin McBride saw Ilicic pick his pocket to set up captain Marcos Tavares for the third goal which has probably all but decided this tie. De Graaf, who saw a late effort which might have given Hibs that vital away goal and a much-needed lifeline saved by Pridigar, said: "It was really frustrating to lose that third goal. Perhaps their greater experience of Europe in recent years counted. But we are all really disappointed, we felt we had a chance of going to the next round. It's not gone, but it is going to be very tough. We have to do everything in our power next week, you have to believe in yourself and the team and go for it from the first minute. We'll also have to defend well but it will be important to get our fans behind us and go for an early goal to give them something to think about and lift our supporters."

Having said that, however, De Graaf revealed it's something he's never achieved in his career to date before adding defiantly: "There is a first time for everything." The Dutchman admitted, however, that to have any hope at all of doing so Hughes' players will have to lift the tempo of their game at Easter Road, Hibs rarely putting themselves in the position of being able to ask questions of Maribor.Hughes picked up on that theme, a possible explanation being that this was Maribor's fifth competitive match having seen off Hungarian side Videoton in the previous round of the Europa League in addition to having already completed two domestic fixtures.

The Hibs manager said: "They looked sharper than us, they've obviously been playing competitive games and I thought we looked a bit one-paced. I felt we passed the ball okay but we needed to do so quicker to try to get at them but they looked as if they are in front of us in terms of their preparations. Anyone can pass the ball but you have to do so with real purpose and pace while I felt we did it just for the sake of passing without wanting to go anywhere."

While Hughes conceded it will be tough to overcome such a deficit against such a proficient side as Maribor, the Slovenians' coach Darko Milanic was playing the diplomatic game, insisting the tie was not yet over although, deep down, he'll realise his players can only lose it now.

The former Slovenian international defender said: "We had seen DVDs of Hibs games last season and knew it was going to be tough but I also expect Hibs to play differently at home so I don't think it is over."

NK Maribor: Pridigar, Mejac, Rajcevic, Andelkovic, Viler, Mertelj, Bacinovic, Mezga (Cvijanovic 71), Ilicic (Pavlicic 79), Tavares, Volas (Plut 90+1). Substitutes: Radan, Dzinic, Jelic, Majer.

Hibs: Stack, Hart, Hogg, Hanlon, Murray, McBride (Riordan 68), De Graaf, Miller, Rankin, Wotherspoon (Galbraith 77), Nish (Stokes 68). Substitutes: Smith, Stephens, Thicot, Stevenson.

Referee: Martin Ingvarsson (Sweden).