Montenegrin clubs will advance again on the UEFA list

Sutjeska and Dečić did a fantastic thing by advancing to the second qualifying round for the Conference League. Not only for themselves, but also for Montenegrin club football, which has been severely shaken and tarnished by the ten-year suspension of Arsenal from Tivat for fixing a UEFA match in 2023.

For the second summer in a row, Montenegro will have three representatives in the second round of the Conference League qualifiers. Last summer, they even had two in the third round - they were Mornar and Dečić.

This time, the Tuzan team has a very difficult task to reach the third round, as their rival is Rapid Vienna, last year's quarter-finalist in the Conference League, but at least they managed to win two nice and challenging duels against the greats from Austria, the former club of the FSCG president and the best Montenegrin player of all time. Dejan Savićević.

That's why Sutjeska against Israeli Beitar Jerusalem and Buducnost against Moldovan Milsami are not without a chance - it would be fantastic if at least one of our teams played in the third round this year.

Thanks to the great results in the European qualifiers last summer, above all Mornar and Dečić, Montenegro has already secured its fourth representative in Europe - and will have it next summer, at the start of the 2026/27 season.

Meridianbet 1st Montenegrin Football League, which starts soon, will therefore have a slightly greater "value" in the upcoming season, as well as in the following ones - the champion will play in the Champions League qualifiers, the Cup winner will qualify for the Conference League, just like the second- and third-placed teams from the championship.

This year, as in the previous two summers, the list of Montenegrin teams on the international stage was one name shorter and the third-placed team did not play in Europe.

Why are the recent successes of Dečić and Sutjeska significant, and hopefully also Buducnost? So that Montenegro can have four representatives in Europe for as long as possible. Teams that qualify for Europe, as shown by the outstanding data related to UEFA's prize fund, also have the opportunity to make good money by qualifying for Europe. That is why the fight for European positions in the championship will be of higher quality and more uncertain, and clubs will have a reason to invest more (just not in the way Arsenal, or rather individuals from Arsenal, did).

Montenegro currently ranks 47th out of 55 countries in UEFA's national club coefficient rankings. This is an excellent ranking considering that our league was once the penultimate league, not so long ago, just three years ago.

It is certain that Montenegro will overtake Albania, whose clubs have not made a name for themselves on the European stage, and possibly Estonia and Liechtenstein this summer - in any case, new progress is almost certain.

It was particularly boosted by Sutjeska, which returned to the European scene in a big way, after two consecutive failures (elimination to Klaksvik from the Faroe Islands in 2022 and Santa Coloma from Andorra in 2023), and abstention from international competitions last summer.

Few people gave the Nikšić team a chance to advance after their 2:1 home defeat against Dinamo Brest, but the players believed, and so did the coaching staff.

- We repeated the game from the first match, but we were richer for that experience with them. We saw in that duel that we were the better team. Unfortunately, we were unlucky then, that followed us until the very end. However, I told the players to believe that we could score two goals, and that's what happened. All the credit goes to them - said the Sutjeska coach Milija Savović.

Montenegro is ranked 47th out of 55 countries in the UEFA list of national club coefficients. This is an excellent ranking considering the fact that our league, at one point, and that was not so long ago, just three years ago, was the penultimate. Now, new progress is expected.

Dečić had a lot of trouble preserving the 2:0 lead from the first match against Sileks in Skopje, but in the end he succeeded and advanced with a 2:1 defeat.

- It was difficult, but the players really gave their best. There was also luck, which must always be present, I believe they deserved it in the previous period and I congratulate them. I am glad that we managed to achieve our goal - he said Nebojsa Jandrić, coach of Dečić.

In any case, another busy European summer for Montenegrin clubs. July will be busy, hopefully August too.

It's devastating when it's different, and there have been such summers, in a row: from 2019 to 2023, for example.