Filip Tapalovic

The former Croatia international has been under contract with Borussia Dortmund since February 2025. Like his compatriot Robert Kovac, the 48-year-old is an assistant to new head coach Niko Kovac at the eight-time German champions. This is the former Bundesliga pro's first time working with the brothers and his sixth stint as an assistant coach.

"With Filip, we have gained someone I know personally as a team-mate from the national team and who stayed with me in Frankfurt back then. He's like a brother really," said Niko Kovac. Remarkably, during Niko Kovac's time as Bayern head coach (2018 to 2019), Tapalovic's brother, Toni, was a goalkeeping coach on the now Dortmund boss's coaching staff.

The parallels don't stop there: like his new BVB teammates, Filip Tapalovic grew up in Germany and gained experience at various clubs in the top tier of football. He made a total of 138 Bundesliga appearances for VfL Bochum, TSV 1860 Munich and FC Schalke.

After various coaching positions at the Munich club (2013 to 2015), Filip Tapalovic, who obtained his A licence in 2017, became assistant to Marco Kurz at Australian side Adelaide United (2017 to 2019). The following year, the coaching duo moved to Adelaide's league rivals Melbourne Victory. Most recently, Tapalovic worked alongside head coach Tim Walter at Hamburger SV (2021 to 2024) and English second-division club Hull City (2024).