Filip Tapalovic

The former Croatian international has been under contract with Borussia Dortmund since February 2025. Like his fellow countryman Robert Kovac, Filip Tapalovic is assistant to the new head coach Niko Kovac. For the former Bundesliga player, it is the first collaboration with the brothers and his sixth job as an assistant coach.

Playing career

Filip Tapalovic, who grew up in Gelsenkirchen and played for Schalke 04 in his youth, took his first steps in the professional game at VfL Bochum, where he played a total of 73 games (64 of which in the Bundesliga) from 1997 to 1999 and from 2002 to 2005 as a defensive midfielder. For VfL, TSV 1860 Munich and FC Schalke he played a total of 138 games in Germany’s top tier. In 2009 he finished his career in Croatia with HNK Rijeka. Tapalovic won three senior caps for Croatia.

Coaching career

After various coaching roles with the Münchner Löwen (2013 to 2015), Filip Tapalovic, who obtained his A-licence in 2017, became assistant to Marco Kurz at the Australian club Adelaide United (2017 to 2019). The following year, the coaching duo moved to Adelaide’s league rivals, Melbourne Victory. From 2021 on, Tapalovic worked alongside head coach Tim Walter at Hamburger SV (until February 2024) and for English Championship side Hull City (July to late-November 2024). “In Filip, we are gaining someone whom I personally know as a national team player and who was in Frankfurt with me at the time. He is actually like a brother too,” said Niko Kovac. It is worth noting that during his time as Bayern head coach (2018 to 2019), Tapalovic's brother Toni was already working under the current Dortmund boss as a goalkeeping coach.