Behind every smoke there is fire. This is how it turned out with the information about the return of Krasi Balakov to his native football as a coach.
Lokomotiv (Sofia) will end the season with Bala at the helm! The coaching change comes after the brutal 4:0 fight that Botev (Plovdiv) inflicted on the hosts in “Nadezhda”. The legend will have the difficult task of maintaining the elite status of the “railwaymen”. His staff includes Armen Ambartsumyan, Svetoslav Spasov and Georgi Sarmov.
Balakov is the third coach to lead the “red-blacks” this season. Lokomotiv started the campaign with Stoycho Stoev, under whose leadership, however, the team recorded two wins and six losses and a breakup followed. Danilo Doncic came in his place, but the Serbian specialist did not live up to the management’s trust either.
Sofians enter the playoffs from 14th place, which gives the right to participate in a play-off to stay in the efbet Leaguea. Until the end of the season, the “railway players” have 5 games to play, and the goal of Balakov and his team is for the team to be part of the highest level in local football next year as well.
The ’94 USA bronze medalist was last at the helm in September (Sofia). Besides the capital team and Bulgaria, he was also in charge of CSKA 1948, Eter, Litex, Kaiserslautern, Hajduk (Split), Chernomorets (Burgas), St. Gallen and Grasshopper.
