Viking's unlikely journey to the Champions League  

For captain Zlatko Tripić, Viking's rise from Norway's second tier to the Champions League is difficult to comprehend.

When Tripić arrived in Stavanger in 2018, Viking, who historically have been one of the country's most successful clubs, had just been relegated to the second division. Eight years later, they are Norwegian champions and preparing to face Europe's elite after overcoming GNK Dinamo 5-3 on aggregate in the Champions League play-offs.

"I came to Viking in 2018 when Viking were in the OBOS-ligaen," winger Tripić recalls. "The club was in a completely different place from where it is now, let's put it that way."

David Villa draws the card of Viking during the UEFA Champions League 2026/27 League Phase Draw at Grimaldi Forum in MonacoUEFA via Getty Images

Promotion followed in 2019 along with a Norwegian Cup triumph. After a brief spell in Türkiye, Tripić returned to Stavanger and helped the club continue to progress, eventually winning the league title in 2025/26 by a single point from Bodø/Glimt – their first domestic championship in 34 years.

"Suddenly, last year, we won the league as well," he says. "To be standing here, eight years later, knowing that I'm actually going to play in the Champions League with the club I've been at for so long is completely surreal."

Not the only debutants

Viking are one of a number of sides breaking new ground across the UEFA men's club competitions this season.

In the Champions League, they are joined by three other first-timers in the league phase – Sabah from Azerbaijan, Austrian representatives LASK and Italy's Como.

For Tripić, Viking's qualification is an indicator of the improving standards in domestic Norwegian football.

"The Eliteserien keeps getting better and better," he explains. "There's more investment in facilities. Young players are given opportunities. Player development is being taken more seriously."

Two coaches, one vision

Perhaps the most unconventional part of Viking's rise is the job-sharing partnership at the heart of it.

Morten Jensen and Bjarte Lunde Aarsheim operate as joint head coaches, a model built on a decades-long friendship and years of discussions about how to improve the club.

Viking head coach Bjarte Lunde Aarsheim works in tandem with Morten JensenUEFA via Getty Images

"We basically started to see nothing but advantages in working together," says Lunde Aarsheim, who made over 400 appearances for the club as a player. "One was having complete loyalty to each other, and the other was being able to put our own egos aside and work for the good of Viking as a club."

That shared approach has helped create a team that is ambitious, aggressive and unmistakably Viking.

"If you just copy everyone else, you'll never become as good as the people you're trying to copy," says Jensen. "But we chose to go our own way and do things a little differently.

"We're not afraid to commit seven or eight players," he adds. "That's really what characterises Viking offensively, that we're fearless, brave and attack with a lot of force."

Viking players celebrate the team's second goal against GNK DinamoUEFA via Getty Images

Earning their place

The Champions League play-off against GNK Dinamo offered Viking a stern test – and the club passed it, winning their second leg 3-1 at home to secure a first European qualification since 2005/06, when they competed in the UEFA Cup group stage.

For Tripić, navigating a tie in which they initially went two goals down in the first leg in Zagreb before battling back to 2-2, confirmed that Viking belong on the biggest European stage.

"We come from a small country and we're a small club at that level," he says. "But at the same time, I'm proud to be able to sit here and say, in all honesty, that we deserve to be there."

Jensen feels the same.

"We won the league and became Norwegian champions, and then we had to prove ourselves against very strong opposition [GNK Dinamo] home and away," he says. "When you come through a tie like that, you feel you deserve to be in the Champions League."

Viking's players react after the UEFA Champions League 2026/27 play-off first leg against GNK DinamoUEFA via Getty Images

Now comes the biggest challenge.

"The natural progression would probably have been to first reach the league phase of the Conference League, then the Europa League, and finally the Champions League," says Jensen.

"Whereas we've just gone straight into the Champions League."

For Viking, that is no reason to feel intimidated. It is an invitation to discover just how far this remarkable adventure can go.

"We want to play Viking football and test it against the very, very best teams and see where we stand," Jensen says.

With an opening fixture against Stuttgart before they welcome European giants Bayern München, Viking’s compelling European journey is only just getting started.