Maccabi will compete with Serbian side TSC Backa Topola for a place in the Europa League group stages. The luck of the draw at UEFA’s Headquarters in Nyon Switzerland teamed Maccabi’s Head Coach Zarko Lazetic and his coaching staff with a return to their former club they all know so well. Now it is your turn to get to know TSC.
Although their European history stretches over four seasons only, TSC Backa Topola managed to gain international experience. Last season under Lazetic, TSC played in te Europa League group stage in a tough group that included West Ham United, Freiburg and Olympiacos Piraeus. While TSC finished bottom of their group. Olympiacos dropped to the Conference League and came back from a 4-1 deficit in Athens to beat Maccabi 6-1 at Backa Topola in the Round of 16 before winning the competition.
Following Lazetic’s departure to Maccabi, TSC appointed Dean Klafurić as his successor. Under the 52-year-old Croat, TSC played five league matches and are currently sixth in the Serbian table after winning two, losing two while one match ended in a draw. Klafurić began his coaching career in 2009 and unlike most of his peers didn’t have a playing career. For a coach who began coaching Croatia’s women team and then worked for three years at Dynamo Zagreb’s Youth Academy he made steady progress as he switched to Slovenia’s Gorica in 2017. The following year he recorded his most notable achievement – winning the Polish League and Cup double with Legia Warsaw (2018). Hrvatski Dragovoljac in Croatia and Greek side Ethnicos Achna were followed by Slaven Belupo, Budapest Honved in Hungary and Velež Mostar. In the summer TSC appointed Klafurić as the replacement of Lazetic who coached the club since 2021.
In his first season at TSC, Lazetic, steered the club to safety and solidified them in 2022/23 with a runners-up spot. Last season Backa Topola finished the season in third place which guarantees and automatic place in the Europa league Playoff.
Just like Maccabi had their league match against Hapoel Jerusalem which was scheduled to take place between the two legs postponed, TSC’s league encounter with Red Star Belgrade was also pushed back.
TSC’s two key players last season were their forwards Aleksandar Ćirković (22) who arrived from Russian side Kirila Sovtov and was the top scorer with 14 goals in all competitions. Twenty-one-year-old Miloš Pantović is another key player as the forward is responsible for 12 goals and 9 assists last season.
An interesting name is Marko Lazetic (20), the nephew of Maccabi coach who joined TSC in the summer on loan from Italian giants AC Milan. The youngster began the season in the starting line-up but in the past few matches Petar Stanić leads TSC’s attack.
While Ifet Đakovac who is also TSC’s regular penalty taker marshals the midfield, in defense the recent sale of Nemanja Stojić to Red Star Belgrade left Backa Topola seeking for alternatives to stabilize their defense this season.
