Bojana Popovic: “I have always believed in my dreams”

A full decade has passed since an unheralded club from Romania sensationally took Europe by storm.

In their debut EHF Champions League Women season, CSM Bucuresti made it all the way to the EHF FINAL4 2016 in Budapest, defeated Györi Audi ETO KC on a penalty shootout in the final, and returned to Bucharest with the most coveted trophy in women’s club handball.

“Surely the club will mark it in the right way,” new CSM head coach Bojana Popovic tells eurohandball.com when asked about the 10th anniversary of the club’s biggest success.

Popovic knows a thing or two about winning the EHF Champions League

The 46-year-old Popovic herself, of course, knows a thing or two about winning the EHF Champions League. In her playing career, she did it six times with three different clubs — Danish sides Slagelse FH and Viborg HK, and ZRK Buducnost in her native Montenegro.

“As for this season, what we are hoping for is that our health serves us and we go step by step towards our goals,” says Popovic, who took over as CSM head coach from Adrian Vasile during the winter break.

“For many years, CSM Bucuresti were not at the [EHF] FINAL4 and there is a great desire among everyone in the club and the players to reach that goal. A lot of teams want the same as us and the fight will be big this year.”

With four defeats from their first six matches, CSM had a below-par start into their first European top-flight season after the retirement of all-time top scorer Cristina Neagu.

But the tide has turned and they are now on a five-match winning streak — including the three matches in 2026 under Popovic’s guidance.

The Montenegrin great parted ways with Buducnost after five years in September, just two rounds into the group phase, and picked up a job with the Denmark national team as an assistant coach to Helle Thomsen, who was also CSM's head coach twice, in 2017/18 and again last season.

"I'm someone who likes challenges"

In late November, when Popovic was with Denmark at the 2025 IHF Women’s World Championship, CSM team manager Răzvan-Mihai Socolovici announced the signing, calling her “not only a huge name in handball, but a person capable of transforming a team.”

Stepping in mid-season to guide an ambitious, star-studded side into the right direction, certainly posed a challenge to Popovic.

“It's not easy to change the environment in the middle of the season, but I'm someone who likes challenges and when I decide something, I go with clear goals and strong faith in everything,” she says.

Listing internationals from Romania, Brazil, Denmark, Montenegro, the Netherlands, Slovenia, and Sweden, a vast part of CSM’s squad played at the World Championship.

“The biggest problem after the World Championship is to establish the right balance between the players who haven't competed for a month and those who are too tired from the competition and to fit it all into training,” Popovic says.

“My luck in everything is that I knew almost half of the team from previous collaborations. When I came to the first training, I felt like I had already been there and, honestly, I didn't feel like a newcomer or a stranger amongst them.”

"Everything starts with the right attitude, good energy, and discipline"

The chemistry has been mutual. CSM have remained unbeaten under Popovic, only dropping a single point in a domestic league match against EHF European League contenders CS Minaur Baia Mare.

A key element in Popovic’s contribution is the improvement of the communication on the court and, as a result, the self-belief of the team.

“From the very start, I insisted that they understand that everything starts with the right attitude, good energy, and discipline,” Popovic explains. “That they know exactly who is doing what, both in the attack and in defence, that there must be a lot of talking and that communication between them must be constant.”

Talking, according to the coach, will strengthen the belief in each other “and in what we prepare and do together. Everything else will come through good training, maximum focus, and giving to each other.”

CSM’s winning streak will be put to a serious test in round 12 when group B leaders Brest Bretagne Handball come to visit for the MOTW in Bucharest on Sunday at 16:00 CET, live on EHFTV.

A win would bring CSM (currently on 14 points) within two points from Brest (18), with duels coming up against FTC-Rail Cargo Hungaria (16) and Ikast Håndbold (14) in the last two rounds, as the battle for the top-two positions and direct entry into the quarter-finals heats up.

“Brest are a great team with excellent individuals in all positions. They play bravely, quickly, and with a lot of one-on-one duels, which makes the job in defence more demanding,” Popovic says about Sunday’s opponents.

“We will have to be at a high level in all phases of the game, because they are very good at punishing every mistake. Anna Vyakhireva is the initiator of everything in the attack and her teammates are skilled at using it in the right way when she starts creating.”

10 years since the ultimate triumph

The MOTW might give an indication of what is possible this season under Popovic, 10 years after the ultimate triumph put CSM Bucuresti firmly on the map of European club handball.

The Romanian side returned to the EHF FINAL4 in the following two seasons but have missed out on the competition’s marquee event every year since 2019.

Popovic sees title holders Györ as “the first candidates” for a place at the Raiffeisen Bank EHF FINAL4 in June but adds that there are “a lot of teams of similar quality” this season, including Brest, Odense Håndbold, FTC, Team Esbjerg or Metz Handball.

And CSM Bucuresti? “Of course, I can see us there, too, but we will not threaten, we will just work and believe in ourselves,” says Popovic, who aims to become the first woman to win the EHF Champions League both as a player and as a coach.

“I have always believed in what I do and believed in my dreams and set goals,” she says.

"With a little luck, everything is possible"

Once a leading star on the court who retired in 2012 — but made a brief comeback for the Rio 2016 Olympics — Popovic has long proven she can also be successful on the bench, most notably when she led Montenegro to bronze at the Women’s EHF EURO 2022.

“Winning the Champions League and a medal with the national team both as a player and as a head coach would definitely make my dreams real. I believe in that and I believe in my staff, my team, and my club,” Popovic says. “With a little luck, everything is possible.”

photos © Lau Nielsen (main and second in-text); Ivan Brkić (first in-text)