Two relative newcomers to European football meet in the knockout round playoffs of the Conference League on Thursday, when Backa Topola face Jagiellonia Bialystok at the TSC Arena.
This is the first knockout round tie for both clubs, who enjoyed very different routes to this stage of the competitions courtesy of their league phase performances.
Match preview
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One of the best adverts for the introduction of the league phase across all three UEFA competitions was the drama that ensued involving Backa Topola in their matchday six win over Noah in December.
Trailing 3-1 at home and on the verge of certain elimination, TSC then turned the game around to win 4-3 with three quick-fire late goals, and paired with Petrocub's late equaliser against Hearts, that allowed Jovan Damjanovic's men to sneak through in 24th on goals scored.
After losing 8-1 on aggregate against Maccabi Tel-Aviv in Europa League qualifying, very few would have expected TSC to end up getting this far, but seven points from six games proved to be enough.
TSC only made their debut in Europe last season, finishing bottom of a Europa League group involving West Ham, Olympiacos and Freiburg, but they have now followed that up by reaching their first ever knockout round.
The Serbian side had never even won a home fixture on the continent until this season, failing to win any of their first seven, including an astonishing 6-6 draw against FCSB in qualifying in 2020.
Damjanovic's side are not in the best shape ahead of this clash though, having made a poor return from the winter break, losing to Red Star Belgrade before suffering a 4-1 thrashing at Mladost at the weekend, leaving them down in ninth.
Jagiellonia will be the second Polish club to visit the TSC Arena this season, and they will hope for a similar outcome to the result Legia Warsaw managed in October, when they won 3-0.
This is Jaga's first ever European fixture against a Serbian side, in what is their maiden season on the continent, after winning the Ekstraklasa title last season.
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Adrian Siemieniec's men had been superb for the most part this season, but they suffered a surprise 2-1 defeat to Stal Mielec at the weekend - their first domestically since September.
After taking 26 points from a possible 36, it was certainly a shock to the system, missing the chance to go level on points with Lech Poznan at the top, especially considering they had thrashed Radomiak Radom 5-0 a week earlier.
Focus will now return to Conference League matters for the first time in two months, and Jagiellonia will hope to rediscover the form they showed at the start of the league phase.
With three wins from three, away to Copenhagen and at home to Petrocub and Molde, Jagiellonia looked certain to finish in the top eight, but they would take just two points from their remaining three matches.
Despite ending the league phase with the joint-best defence in the competition (five conceded), draws with Celje and Olimpija Ljubljana and a defeat at Mlada Boleslav meant they missed out on direct passage to the last 16 on goal difference.
That run coincided with a poor set of results across all competitions, because after winning nine in an unbeaten 10-game stretch, Jagiellonia have now only won one of their last nine in the league and in Europe.
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Team News
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TSC suffered a massive injury setback at the weekend, when Mihajlo Banjac broke his metatarsal, most likely ruling him out for the rest of the season.
Milos Pantovic is also currently struggling with an injury and would be a big miss considering he has scored five Conference League goals this season - only Chelsea's Marc Guiu has more.
The hero of the win against Noah, Ifet Djakovac has left the club to move to the Russian Premier League, but 17-year-old Stefan Mladenovic has arrived from Cukaricki and scored on his debut at the weekend, and may be rewarded with his first start.
While TSC could be without their continental top scorer, Jagiellonia's Afimico Pululu will be raring to go after five goals in league phase, and he has netted another three in two games since returning from the winter break.
Adrian Dieguez is the only known injury concern for the visitors at present, but recent recruit Enzo Ebosse, on loan from Udinese, has been unable to break into the side in his absence as of yet.
One signing that has caught the eye is that of Leon Flach on a free from Philadelphia Union, as the midfielder has quickly become a regular in the side, and should start here.
Backa Topola possible starting lineup:
Ilic; Djordjevic, Degenek, Capan, Radojevic; Mladenovic, Radin, Vulic, Stanic, Mboungou; Lazetic
Jagiellonia Bialystok possible starting lineup:
Abramowicz; Sacek, Stojinovic, Skrzypczak, Joao Moutinho; Kubicki, Flach; Hansen, Jesus Imaz, Villar Miki; Pululu
We say: Backa Topola 1-1 Jagiellonia Bialystok
On paper, Jagiellonia have more quality, and the league phase table proved that, but there are still a few doubts given their recent fall off in form, which has seen them win just one of their last nine games.
TSC suffered a chastening defeat to Jagiellonia's Polish compatriots Legia earlier in this competition, but after sneaking through in the final minutes of the league phase, they will be keen to make the most of the opportunity handed to them, and they should do enough to keep the tie alive heading into the second leg.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Andrew Delaney
