In The Zone: How spirited Viking matched Bayern München
Wednesday, October 14, 2026
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UEFA Technical Observer Sean Dyche, working with UEFA’s game insights unit, analyses how league phase newcomers Viking held their own against Bayern on a UEFA Champions League night to remember in Norway.
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"I could have played another 90 minutes. I'm so incredibly proud. I've waited 34 years for this."
The words of home captain Zlatko Tripić, speaking to Norway's Tv2 about his own long wait to compete against Europe's elite, help capture the essence of a thrilling opening UEFA Champions League league phase night at the Viking Stadion.
In their first Champions League game on home turf since 1992, Norwegian titleholders Viking treated their supporters – not to mention enthralled viewers elsewhere – to a captivating spectacle, combining superb deep defending, clinical counterattacking and boundless desire to earn a 3-3 draw with Bayern.
Viking impress in first half
The video analysis, brought to you by FedEx, begins with Peter Christiansen's brilliant breakaway goal that made it 2-0 after 38 minutes.
As well as their threat on transitions, UEFA Technical Observer Sean Dyche noted Viking's "compact defensive shape, forcing Bayern to play round, not through, and their excellent defending of crosses".
Bayern coach Vincent Kompany, for his part, praised Viking for "a performance with a lot of emotions", yet his own side then dampened the mood with three second-half goals.
Bayern take charge but Viking respond
Harry Kane struck twice – becoming only the fourth player to score in nine consecutive Champions League matches – and then delivered the sublime pass over Viking's back line for Konrad Laimer to tee up Luis Díaz. That magnificent third goal, highlighted in clip two, illustrates Kompany's view that Bayern produced "some special moments of football".
Yet Viking got their first point by capitalising on a late momentum shift after Michael Olise's dismissal. "What impressed me was the mentality and hunger of our players," said Bjarte Lunde Aarsheim, one of Viking's twin coaching team. "We were also driven forward by the fans."
And they got their reward with Herman Haugen's 90th-minute equaliser, featured below.
To return to Tripić, Viking's inspirational skipper and source of two assists, he concluded that "standing there alongside a group of local lads" and managing to "match some of the world's best footballers" had been a "little bit surreal".
Yet if Bayern are the "benchmark" in this competition, as coach Aarsheim put it, Viking have shown us they belong.
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