Renovated Dečić ready for clash with Petković's Lijepaja

Dečić's fifth European adventure can begin - starting at 18 pm, they will visit the Latvian Lijepaja in the first round of qualifications for the Conference League.

Apart from their rivals, it is certain that the people of Tuz are also a stranger to themselves.

They went through a lot of changes during the summer. A large number of players left, and a large number came in. There was also a shake-up on the bench - Nebojša Jandrić was replaced by Ivan Brnović.

Although, unlike Dečić, Lijepaja is in a competitive rhythm, their form is not at a satisfactory level.

In their last five domestic league games, they have suffered four defeats and only one victory. It has cost them a lot - they are currently fourth in the table, 28 points behind leaders RFS.

Lijepaja's goal was consistently guarded by Danijel Petković until the end of May. However, since then, the Montenegrin international has been constantly "nailed" to the bench...

"We know that we are facing a quality and serious opponent. We have not yet done a detailed analysis, but we have some knowledge about them. Their advantage is that they are in a competitive rhythm and have a quality team, while we believe that they also have certain weaknesses that we will try to exploit when we analyze them in more detail," said one of the newcomers, Davor Kontić.

As preparations progressed, Dečić's form improved - as confirmed by the results of friendly matches.

At the start they drew with Vlaznija (1:1). This was followed by a triumph over Elbasani (3:0) and at the end of the preparations at the "Besa" arena they were convincing against Arsenal from Tivat, 4:1.

Dečić first appeared on the European stage in the 2021/22 season. The opponent was Kosovo's Drita, who managed to eliminate Tuzan. A season later, they met Dinamo Minsk and were eliminated again.

In the 2024/25 season, they started their European campaign in the Champions League qualifiers as the champions of Montenegro. They were then eliminated by TNS, and then moved to the Conference League, where they made history and won a European double for the first time - their rivals were Dinamo Batumi. However, after a better penalty shootout in the third qualifying round, they were stopped by Helsinki.

Last season, at the start of the Conference League qualifiers, they beat Macedonian Sileks, but ran into Rapid Vienna in the second round.