By Rhys Livingstone

Aberdeen’s next Europa Conference League opponents respect the challenge the Dons will pose but are seeing monumental growth in their own squad.

Noah FC head coach Sandro Perkovic is looking to get the better of Aberdeen and show the world that Noah is not just in the competition to fill up the numbers.

The Armenian champions come to the North-East of Scotland looking for three points that would give them a massive step towards knockout football.

However, Noah was founded just eight years ago and have had an unsettled existence to say the least.

From changing their name, moving city and swapping owner three times, their start to life in the footballing world has been nothing short of remarkable. But with the investment of new owner, Vardges Vardanyan, who is an experienced businessman, their success has grown since his appointment in 2023.

With this investment from Vardanyan, Noah went on to win the Armenian Premier League and the Armenian Cup. However, their most impressive achievement was their European results. Noah became the first team to ever progress to the league phase of The Conference League while starting from the first qualifying round. They defeated Greek giants AEK Athens along the way and earnt themselves a trip to Stamford Bridge, which unfortunately ended in a crushing 8-0 defeat. But results aside, what an achievement for a Noah side who were born just eight years ago.

Noah have already achieved four points so far this league phase, after a 1-0 win over Rijeka of Croatia, a 1-1 draw with Romanian side Universitatea Craiova and 2-1 defeat to SK Sigma Olomuc of Czechia.

With Bosnian striker Nardin Mulahusejnovic scoring seven goals so far this season, Aberdeen will need to be wary of his presence up-front. He has scored in each of Noah’s three European ties so far this season and will be looking to get more.

Mulahusejnovic, in his recent press conference, said: “We will play for the win. We also know Aberdeen will play for the win. We have prepared well and we will do what we can to win the game. I believe in myself and I am here to help my team to be better in every game.

Noah FC head coach Sandro Perkovic (Image: Getty Images)

Sandro Perkovic said: “I don’t think there is a gap. In my opinion, we are a very good team. There are good teams in Armenia who don’t play in the group stages of Europe this season. We have good players and the quality is very high.

“Where the gap [lies is] the number of supporters, infrastructures and stadiums. Unfortunately, Armenia is not like Scotland, but hopefully that can change in the future.”

Strong words from both manager and star striker. However, this has got to be Aberdeen’s best chance of getting three points on the table. Noah have had just one win in seven and Aberdeen are in fine form with zero defeats in four, so they must use the home advantage and confidence from recent results to get the much-needed win.

Aberdeen v Noah

Thursday 27th November

Pittodrie Stadium, Aberdeen

Kick-off: 8pm

Pittodrie Debut: Who is Noah FC and how good are they?