Dušan Mandić has just enjoyed one of the best years of his career.

After a season that saw him win the Champions League and Hungarian championship, as well as claim Olympic gold with the Serbian national team in Paris, Dusan Mandić returns to the Hungarian capital with renewed focus and ambition for the upcoming season.

Reflecting on his return to training with Ferencváros after such a successful season, Mandić spoke with Marton Takacs of Eurosport about the excitement of starting again: “It’s great because we left with the best possible memories last season. During the first training, I had the same feelings I had before our trip to the national team. We are a different team from last year; we have four new players. New energy has arrived, and maybe we will be stronger than last season, but we will see. We have to prove it in the pool.”

Looking back on Ferencváros’ victory in the Champions League Final Four in June, Mandić described it as one of the most memorable moments of his career. The semi-finals, against his two former clubs — Novi Beograd and Pro Recco — were intense battles. Fradi, led by their new coach Balázs Nyéki, stopped Recco from securing their fourth consecutive Champions League title, and Mandić played a key role in that historic triumph.

“One of the most beautiful memories of my life,” he said. “The match against Novi Beograd in the semi-final and Recco in the final brought very tough matches. Recco wanted to win their fourth Champions League trophy in a row, but we were the ones who stopped the Italians.”

One moment that will forever stand out in Mandić’s memory is his game-saving block in the final seconds of the match against Recco. As Francesco Condemi took a shot with a man advantage, Mandić’s block sealed the gold medal for Ferencváros. “It was a beautiful memory, a wonderful moment. When I saw the video of the incident, it seemed even more unbelievable because I was too deep in front of the goal—I shouldn’t have been moving like that. But somehow, I managed to block it.”

Last season was also special for Mandić because of the opportunity to play alongside water polo legend Dénes Varga, who captained the team. “It meant a lot. He is a legend. I learned so much from him last year. We had a very good relationship both in and out of the pool. It was an honour to be part of a team that he captained and to be part of his journey in his last club before retirement.”

On the international stage, Mandić helped Serbia secure their third consecutive Olympic gold medal in Paris. The tournament was far from easy, with a slow start for the team, but they found their rhythm when it mattered most. He cited the team’s 8-3 loss to Australia as a turning point, after which Serbia began to improve steadily, culminating in a dramatic quarter-final victory over Greece. “The turning point was winning the quarter-finals against the strong Greek team, and the way we won was important. It mattered a lot how much we wanted to score in those last seconds. It worked.”

A memorable highlight during the tournament was when Serbian tennis superstar Novak Djokovic visited the team after their loss to Australia. His words had a lasting impact on the players. “Even Novak was far from the gold medal at the time. He came to our apartment and shared legendary moments of his career, his biggest defeats, regrets, and also about the Olympics. The 10-15 minutes he spent with us meant a lot.”

Looking ahead to the new season, Mandić’s goals are clear. “The goals are clear: we want to win every possible trophy. The first test will be this Saturday against Jug in the European Super Cup. It will be a tough game—it’s still the very beginning of the season, but this is a very important trophy. Last year, we showed character throughout the season. When we were united as a team, no one could defeat us. I’d like to continue that way.”

Mandić has also formed a strong left-handed shooting partnership with Márton Vámos, which could prove to be a key strength for Ferencváros this season. “We expect a lot from him as a player—he’s an incredible water polo player. If we manage to combine our qualities while we’re in the pool at the same time, it will be very difficult for our opponents to defend against us.”

As the new season gets underway, Mandić is eager to add more trophies to his collection and build on what he considers the best year of his career. “We can definitely say this is the best year of my career. There have been successful years before, but this one stands out.”

The quotes of this article are attributed to Marton Takacs of Eurosport.