STAVANGER — Viking FK ended a 34-year Norwegian title drought last season and are now living the Champions League nights they dreamed of, following a 3-1 defeat at Stuttgart with a remarkable 3-3 draw against Bayern Munich before Wednesday's visit to Aston Villa at Villa Park.
Viking led 2-0 at half-time against Bayern last time out before needing a last-minute goal to rescue a point, a result that left captain Zlatko Tripic — who joined the club in the second tier in 2018 — to tell Norwegian channel TV2: "I could have played another 90 minutes. I'm so incredibly proud. I've waited 34 years for this."
Tripic is central to a revival led by a rarity in modern football, joint head coaches. Former assistants Morten Jensen and Bjarte Lunde Aarsheim stepped up together in 2021 and led Viking to last season's title — their first since 1991 and ninth in total — and Viking are top again this season, three points above dethroned champions Bodo/Glimt having played a game more. Aarsheim, who spent the bulk of his playing career at Viking, said: "It's a special story. We were born Viking fans, we've been playing in Viking. We were working together as assistant coaches and the dream job in managing Viking came up. We said let's do it together." He added: "For us, Viking is Barcelona. The players have to understand that we see Viking as more than a club. In our heads, it's the best team in the world." Jensen, who was on Viking's books as a player but never made a first-team appearance, said: "If you dare sometimes to go against the strides then you can achieve great things. If you're going to follow and do whatever everybody else does, maybe we become a poor replica. So for now we're happily married here and we love working together."
This is Viking's first time in a European group stage since the 2005–06 Uefa Cup under Roy Hodgson, when they beat Monaco and went out only on goal difference. Last season they wrapped up the title on the final day by beating Valerenga 5-1 at home to maintain their one-point lead over Bodo/Glimt, completing a journey that saw them relegated for the first time in 31 years in 2017 under English manager Ian Burchnall and promoted at the first attempt in 2018 under Bjarne Berntsen with Aarsheim and Jensen as his assistants. Viking are one of Norway's most successful clubs, with six of their titles coming between 1972 and 1982, and have had several British managers including Bill Foulkes — the former Manchester United defender and survivor of the 1958 Munich air disaster — in 1985 and Hodgson from 2004 to 2005. Former players who went on to the Premier League include Erik Nevland, Brede Hangeland, Egil Ostenstad and Thomas Myhre, with Nevland — who also played for Manchester United — serving as sporting director since 2021. In Europe they famously knocked Chelsea out of the Uefa Cup first round in 2002 with a 5-4 aggregate win.
Aarsheim described the step up as "almost unreal", saying the club had talked about learning in the Conference League then the Europa League before jumping "into the best party ever", while Jensen called the fixture list "the whole buffet". He said: "We go to England, we go to Germany, we go to Italy, we go to Spain. We go to Napoli, Diego Maradona's old playground, against Atletico Madrid we'll be up against Diego Simeone's side which will be very interesting. And obviously Aston Villa as well, Norwegians are quite obsessed with English football so to go there to Villa Park and actually our old assistant coach Pal Fjall is set-piece coach there." Fan and podcaster Lars Risan told BBC Radio 5 Live last year: "A lot of people were very nervous and excited. I've never experienced it before. It's been 34 years. It's a big deal. It brings us all together and we can celebrate as a city."