Legia Warszawa started the competition in the Conference League with a sensational win against Betis (1-0). In the second series of games, it will have a theoretically easier task, as it will face the Serbian FK TSC Backa Topola, a team that has recently played in Europe. There are ambiguous interests behind this.
Here is Legia Warszawa's closest rival in the Conference League. Backa Topola is completely failing in Europe. A shameful series
Last season, the team from the city with a population of 14,000 took third place in the league, behind only the two hegemons – Partizan and Crvena Zvezdej (runner-up and champion of Serbia, respectively). Thanks to this, they got into the European cups for the second time in a row, and the third time in history. However, she is very poor at them.
In the entire history of their appearances in Europe, Backa Topola has won only one match. Specifically, her debut in the 2020/21 season in the first qualifying round of the Europa League, she defeated… Petrocub, Thursday's rival of Jagiellonia Białystok. In the next phase, it fought an exciting duel with FCSB – after 120 minutes it was a draw 6:6! And only in penalties did the Romanians triumph 5-4.
Last season, the Serbian club easily lost to Sporting Braga in the third qualifying round of the Champions League (1:4 and 0:3) and landed in the LE group with West Ham, Freiburg and Olympiakos. Balance? A draw with the Greeks and five defeats. This season is no better, the fourth round of the LE qualifying is a painful lesson from Maccabi Tel Aviv (1:5 and 0:3). And in the first match of the league phase, LK lost against Astana (0:1), which means that the European series without a win now totals 12 matches.
Backa Topola is disappointing in European cups. In a club fueled by the money of Viktor Orban's government, it is not only about the result
What else is worth knowing about Legia's closest rival? For example, it plays matches at the TSC Arena (capacity 4.5 thousand seats), described by the local media as “the most modern stadium in Serbia”. It opened on September 3, 2021, in the inauguration Backa Topola played against the Hungarian Ferencvaros (2:1). The selection of the rival was absolutely not accidental.
The funds for the construction of the facility were provided by Janos Zsemberi, president of the club. He is a Serb, although his name and surname suggest Hungarian origins. This is true, he comes from the Vojvodina region, where several percent of the population has the same roots.
The activist made it clear that the descendants of the Hungarians could identify with Backa Topola. – This is a Serbian club that Hungarians helped reach the level we are at. The Hungarian government helped us and we have their support because of the Hungarian community living here and nearby. But we are a Serbian club, he said in an interview for The Guardian.
“TSC is currently sponsored by the Hungarian international oil and gas company MOL. Their academy was partially financed by the Hungarian federation, and the thorough modernization of the stadium involved a cash injection of approximately EUR 30 million,” we read in the British newspaper. The costs of works on the facility were to be approximately EUR 15 million, and the costs of construction of the football school were approximately EUR 10 million.
As Zsemberi mentioned, Viktor Orban, who appeared at the official opening of the academy six years ago, had a hand in everything. And he has his goals – at matches he can be seen wearing a scarf with the outline of “Greater Hungary”. This is an area where Hungarians are the ethnic majority – there are 5 million of them within the country's borders, and another 2 million in foreign countries (Serbia, Slovakia, Croatia, Slovenia, Ukraine and Romania). But why does he spend money on foreign bands for this reason?
This is why Viktor Orban spends millions on football. Michał Listkiewicz explains
– Orban decided that it was easiest to save identity through culture and sport, so he invested in clubs, centers and institutions. Just an order to the oligarchs. This is logical, since already during his first government he said that Hungary is the only country that neighbors itself, pointing to minorities – he explained in an interview with “Republic” Michał Listkiewicz, former international referee and president of the Polish Football Association, and a Hungarian by education who is well versed in the local realities. Polish fans may remember how five years ago Cracovia played in the LE qualifying round against the Slovak Dunajska Streda – this is a similar case.
At the same time, the Hungarian Prime Minister gives generously to Hungarian football and cares about its position. In 2026, the Champions League final will be held in Budapest, and the football progress is evidenced by the fact that the local team played at the last three Euros (in 2016, it even left the group) and competes in the A division of the Nations League.
However, the best club, Ferencvaros, has won the last six national titles and is playing in the regular phase of European cups for the sixth time, this time in the LE. And he finished the previous season in the 1/16 finals of the LK – he was eliminated by Olympiakos, the later winner, who took third place in the mentioned group with West Ham, Freiburg and Backa Topola (the Serbs, of course, were last).