Buducnost Podgorica – FC Noah Champions League, Qualification, 1st Round, Second Leg, Tuesday, 15.07.2025 at 21:00
When Buducost takes on Noah, it must be pretty early in the international season! If you’ve never heard of either club, you’re definitely not alone. So my Buducnost FC Noah tip is also meant to be a little geographical journey for you.
The visitors from Armenia have a narrow 1-0 lead, with the second leg taking place on Tuesday evening (9:00 p.m. CET) in Montenegro. My prediction: Once again, there won’t be many goals. I’ll explain my recommendation of “under 2.5 goals” in more detail in my current analysis.
In the case of this match, which I didn’t mention at the beginning, we are talking about qualification for the Champions League, or more precisely, the first round. FC Noah narrowly won the first leg 1-0.
The victory was deserved, although the 3-1 shot ratio does not necessarily mean that neutral spectators witnessed a spectacular game. Corners? Just one each, as both teams were determined not to make any mistakes.
FC Noah is the reigning cup winner in its country and also clinched the league title. Some of you may be familiar with the club, as it actually made it into the main competition of the Conference League!
Noah only took part in international qualifying for the first time ever in 2021/22, and in 2024/25 they went straight into the group stage of the Conference League. Their opponents: Chelsea, Heidenheim, Rapid Vienna, Mlada Boleslav, Vikingur, APOEL Nicosia, and Topola.
In the group stage, there was a historic 2-0 victory against Boleslav, and another point was added with a 0-0 draw against Vikingur. The other matches were lost: 0-1 against Rapid, 3-4 against Topola, 1-3 against Nikosia, and 0-8 against Chelsea.
In the end, the team gained a lot of experience and was praised for its courageous performances. Interestingly, all four points were scored at home. In the 2024/25 qualifiers, there were four wins at home but only one away.
So starting with a 1-0 home win against Buducnost is now a matter of duty, as FC Noah did not feel particularly comfortable in Europe away from home, at least in 2024/25.
As the new season in the Armenian first division does not start for a few weeks, FC Noah is obviously not yet in rhythm. However, the club can be pleased to be favored by the bookmakers.
When I look at our betting providers, who score points with particularly fast payouts, I see that the visitors are ahead with 1.20 to 4.30 in terms of pure progression – a draw would be enough for this.
The odds for a win are 2.10 to 3.20 on average, so things look a little different here. The team playing at home on Tuesday knows that it has some catching up to do.
Buducnost is based in Podgorica, which is in Montenegro, as we all know. I’ll also take a quick look at club number two to see what international results I can glean from recent years.
Here, too, the league season is still a while away, so neither team has an advantage. Buducnost has never managed to advance to the main round of European competitions.
The team tries its luck year after year, and in 2020/21 it made it to the third round of the Europa League qualifiers once. After only managing a single shot on goal in the first leg against Noah, the fans are likely to be skeptical about their chances of advancing.
Last year, Buducnost tried its luck in the Conference League qualifiers, but was knocked out in the second round by CSKA. Incidentally, you won’t find any stars here; there isn’t a single player with a seven-figure market value.
Admittedly, neither Buducnost nor FC Noah are among the cream of the crop in international top-flight football. However, after their narrow victory in the first leg, the Armenians have their sights set on advancing.
In a relatively uneventful match, the team was the better side and deserved the win. Now they can focus solely on defending, as a 0-0 draw would be enough to see them through to the next round.
I am therefore positioning myself on a side that is not exactly advocating a goal fest. Both teams had exactly one corner in the first match, with Buducnost having exactly one shot on goal. My bet is therefore:
There will be no more than two goals!
