Norwegian champions Viking earned one of the standout results in the club’s history by drawing with six-time European champions Bayern Munich in a dramatic UEFA Champions League contest.
Having played in Norway’s second division as recently as 2018, Viking struck twice before half-time to seize the initiative. Bayern captain Harry Kane then pulled the visitors level, converting a penalty before heading in at the far post.
Quick facts
- Viking drew with Bayern Munich in the UEFA Champions League.
- Harry Kane scored twice for Bayern, once from the penalty spot and once with a back-post header.
- Luis Diaz put Bayern in front with a close-range finish.
- Michael Olise was dismissed after two bookings in the same sequence, one for throwing the ball into a Viking player’s face.
- Viking last featured in the Champions League in the 1992-93 campaign.
Luis Diaz then appeared to have completed Bayern’s turnaround when he finished from close range. The Bundesliga side were soon reduced to 10 men, however, after Olise collected two yellow cards during the same phase of play.
One of those cautions came after Olise threw the ball into the face of a Viking opponent. His red card gave the home side fresh belief as they looked to make their extra man count.
The occasion carried major significance for Viking, who are playing in Europe’s leading club competition for the first time since 1992-93.
Although they entered the match as European outsiders, Viking are among Norway’s traditional powers. Founded in 1899, the club reached the Champions League after ending a 34-year wait for the Norwegian championship.
Viking have won nine Eliteserien titles, placing them level with Fredrikstad for the second-highest total in the history of Norway’s top men’s league.
Defender Henrik Falchener, who began the match against Bayern, was also included in Norway’s FIFA World Cup 2026 squad. He started Norway’s 4-1 group-stage defeat to France.
When captain Zlatko Tripić joined Viking in 2018, the club had just fallen into the Norwegian second tier. European nights such as this one were a distant prospect, with recovery and reconstruction the immediate focus.
Viking secured promotion in 2019 and also lifted the Norwegian Cup that year. Those successes began a steady rebuild based on developing players, establishing a defined playing style and restoring the relationship with the club’s supporters.
The rise continued with the 2025 Norwegian league crown, Viking’s first since 1991. They then came through Champions League qualifying, beating Dinamo Zagreb 5-3 on aggregate in the play-off round.
Tripić said his own memories of joining the club underline the scale of the change.
“I arrived at Viking in 2018, when the club were in the OBOS-ligaen,” he told UEFA. “Viking was in a completely different position to where it is today, that is for sure.”
A major factor in Viking’s revival has been the joint leadership of co-head coaches Morten Jensen and Bjarte Lunde Aarsheim. The pair have worked together to return the club to the forefront of Norwegian football.
Instead of operating with a conventional head coach and assistant, Jensen and Aarsheim share authority equally. Important tactical calls are made collectively.
They were appointed together in November 2020, although their relationship began much earlier. Both knew each other through Norwegian football and had long shared the goal of coaching a side together.
Viking’s next task is to make sure their rise is about more than one memorable European evening.
The route from second-tier football to the Champions League has included promotion, cup silverware, a domestic title and qualification for the continent’s biggest club tournament.
Their target is not merely to appear in the Champions League. Viking want to measure their football against elite opposition and find out how far their model can carry them.
They do not possess Bayern’s financial resources or long European pedigree, but Tuesday’s performance demonstrated their determination to challenge the game’s biggest clubs. Viking continued fighting until the last whistle.
For a team that has worked its way up from the second division, the display represented another marker of progress. Viking have shown they intend to keep defying expectations.
