"Blue and White" begin preparations for the new season: Buducnost embarks on its 31st campaign in the EHF Champions League

The OTP Group Budućnost handball team held their first training session and officially began preparations for the 2026/27 season, in which the "blue and white" will compete in the EHF Champions League, the highest-quality European club competition, for the 31st time.

Coach Zoran Abramović's team will spend the next period in Podgorica, where the bulk of the preparation process before the start of the new European season will be carried out.

During the preparations, participation in international tournaments is also planned, while the schedule of test matches is still in the finalization phase, bearing in mind that some of the clubs with which friendly matches were planned have in the meantime become Buducnost's rivals in the group stage of the EHF Champions League.

Compared to last season, the blue jersey will be worn by several new players in the upcoming competition year, who will further strengthen the team.

The ranks of Buducnost were strengthened by Montenegrin national team players Đurđina Jauković and Ivona Pavicevic, Hana Vuljak, Jovana Skrobić, Suna Hansen, as well as Žana Bulatović and Andrijana Popović.

Young handball players from the club's system – Sofija Delević and Maša Ulićević – were also added to the first team, and junior national team player Ivana Savić arrived as reinforcement.

"We are starting preparations with a stronger squad than last season and with the desire to be ready to face the challenges of the Champions League. Last season, we had the youngest team in the history of Buducnost, probably in the Champions League as well, so we had to strengthen ourselves in order to be more competitive. I believe that we have formed a team that will have better results than last season, but we have to prepare well. We are embarking on a new adventure full of enthusiasm and with the desire to be better than last season," said coach Abramović.

The new EHF Champions League season begins on the first weekend of September, when Buducnost will begin a new European challenge among the 16 best clubs of the Old Continent with a duel against Hungarian Ferencvaros.

Rivals in Group A, apart from Ferencvaros, will be Danish Esbjerg, Romanian CSM Bucharest, French Brest, Slovenian Krim, German Borussia and Norwegian Sola.

The two first-place teams will advance directly to the quarterfinals, while the teams ranked third to sixth will play in the round of 16.

"The team faces a period of intensive work, coordination and preparation, with the clear goal of being ready to welcome the start of the season and worthily representing the Capital and Montenegro on the biggest European handball stage," announced ŽRK Budućnost.