ABA League places Serbian clubs in two groups as the new season starts on September 25

The ABA League has published its 2026/27 schedule for a 20-team competition split into two groups. The season begins on September 25, with the regular stage continuing until the end of January. Serbia's six participating clubs are divided evenly between the groups, and Borac will host Crvena Zvezda during the opening weekend.

Three Serbian clubs appear in each group

Borac, Crvena Zvezda and FMP are in Group A. Their opponents in that group are Buducnost, Cedevita Olimpija, Cibona, Siroki, Igokea, Krka and Slovan Bratislava. Each club will meet every other team in its group twice, once at home and once away.

Mega, Partizan and Spartak are in Group B alongside Vienna, Bosna, Dubai, Ilirija, SC Derby, Cluj-Napoca and Zadar. The split gives each Serbian club two domestic opponents within its initial group schedule. It also means the regular stage is not a single table in which all 20 teams play one another.

After eighteen rounds, the teams move into two new groups

A group of ten clubs gives every team nine opponents. Playing each of them at home and away produces 18 regular-season matches. After those rounds, the top four teams from each group progress to the Top 8 phase, while the remaining twelve enter the lower group, called the Play-Out.

The group position therefore has a direct consequence for the next part of the season. Finishing fourth or better keeps a club in the leading eight-team phase. A lower finish sends it into the other section of the competition. The announcement does not present entry to the Top 8 as an immediate playoff place, and the two stages should not be treated as identical.

Results are carried into the second stage

The league says all regular-season results will be carried over into the next phase. The initial matches therefore do more than sort teams into different groups for a fresh start. Their results remain part of the competitive position after the first stage ends.

That makes consistency across the opening 18 rounds important. A club cannot assume that results against an opponent who later enters a different phase will simply disappear. The wording of the league announcement is explicit about carrying all results, rather than only a selected set of direct meetings.

Borac against Zvezda is the first Serbian club meeting

The calendar lists Borac at home to Crvena Zvezda on September 26. SC Derby are also scheduled to host Spartak that day. Those fixtures form part of the opening round, even though the competition itself begins on the preceding Friday.

On September 27, Mega host Cluj-Napoca and Partizan host Ilirija. FMP begin away to Slovan Bratislava. The opening assignments therefore combine a Serbian club meeting with several tests against opponents from elsewhere in the expanded league. Home and away status matters when reading the schedule: FMP's first game is not in Belgrade.

Further Serbian meetings arrive early

The published calendar places FMP against Crvena Zvezda in the second round on October 4, followed by Mega against Partizan on October 5. Both are meetings between teams already sharing a regular-season group, rather than special fixtures added outside the competition format.

For supporters following several Serbian clubs, the group split makes the early schedule easier to understand. Zvezda's regular-stage domestic opponents are Borac and FMP. Partizan's are Mega and Spartak. A possible later meeting between teams from different groups depends on how the competition develops beyond the initial phase.

Use the full fixture listing for match-day planning

The league's season announcement provides the format, groups and broad calendar. Individual match arrangements remain attached to the official fixture listing. Dates are useful for an overview, but travel and arrival plans should follow the final confirmed details for the specific game.

The new structure asks supporters to track two things at once: the club's position within its own group and the results it will carry forward. The opening weekend begins that process. For Serbia's six clubs, it brings a mix of familiar regional opponents and newer names, with the first eighteen rounds determining the route into the rest of the season.

Each club has nine home games and nine away games in that stage. Four fixtures are against the other two Serbian clubs in its group; fourteen are against its seven remaining opponents. Borac and Spartak therefore have the same number of domestic meetings, despite belonging to different groups.