One of Norway's most successful teams, it was only eight years ago that Viking FK were relegated from the Eliteserien with the club on the verge of bankruptcy.
Located in the historic city of Stavanger, Viking suffered the consequences of aimless heavy spending and required the late intervention of investors and supporters to spare De Mørkeblå of an unthinkable fate.
Relegation from Norway's Eliteserien for the first time in 31 years prompted a drastic overhaul in management personnel and the club's philosophy. Gone were the days of attempting to acquire overseas individuals, and instead Viking focused on developing local players and promoting homegrown talent.
Bjarne Berntsen, who managed the club between 1992 and 1995, returned as head coach. A rejuvenated Viking sealed an immediate return to the Eliteserien by winning the second-tier title, and in their first season back in the top flight, they sealed their first trophy in 18 years by winning the 2019 Norwegian Cup.
Bernsten stabilised Viking in the Eliteserien, overseeing finishes of fifth and sixth, but the club's hierarchy made the bold decision to relieve the hugely popular figure of his duties. Bernsten's assistants, Bjarte Lunde Aarsheim and Morten Jensen, were promoted into an unorthodox dual head coach role.
Despite the initial scepticism, the appointment of the duo transformed the club. Viking finished third in 2021 and 2024, but they finally ended a 34-year wait for an Eliteserien title in 2025, dethroning Bodø/Glimt to win the league by a singular point.
Champions status brought UEFA Champions League football to the door of the Viking Stadion. Overcoming Croatian side GNK Dinamo 5-3 on aggregate in the play-off round, Viking will now encounter continental heavyweights in the shape of Bayern Munchen, Aston Villa and Atletico Madrid on their return to Europe's elite club competition.
The club with two head coaches
Joint head coaches have historically been rare -- and largely unsuccessful -- in the UEFA Champions League, and yet Aarsheim and Jensen will hope the advantage of two minds working in tandem will enable Viking to produce a catalogue of underdog tales.
Aarsheim made over 400 appearances for Viking as a player between 1993 and 2005, while Jensen had a brief spell in the club's academy. Both are proud Stavanger locals, whose friendship dates back many decades.
Tactically versatile and impeccably organised, Aarsheim and Jensen have been aided by the smart recruitment process implemented by former Manchester United and Fulham striker Erik Nevland, the club's sporting director.
Viking's CEO Eirik Bjørnø described the duo of Aarsheim and Jensen as a "perfect match" and hailed their ability to recognise each other's strengths and weaknesses.
“They are very different personality-wise but they have the same idea of football and leadership," he told The Guardian. "They can kind of play off each other in a good way.”
Viking could have removed the pair at the end of the 2023 season after a run of one win in their final 14 Eliteserien matches resulted in them plummeting from fifth to 11th, but the club kept faith with their unique coaching model.
Their decision to stick with Aarsheim and Jensen was vindicated with finishes of fourth and third before their title-winning campaign in 2025. Kjetil Knutsen's Bodø/Glimt had a stranglehold of the Norwegian game until Viking embarked on a sensational 16-match unbeaten run, of which 14 were victories.
A 5-1 thumping of Vålerenga on the final day was an emphatic way to capture your first title of the century.
On his partnership with Jensen, Aarsheim told UEFA: "We basically started to see nothing but advantages in working together. 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."
Jensen added: "If you just copy everyone else, you'll never become as good as the people you're trying to copy. But we chose to go our own way and do things a little differently.
"We're not afraid to commit seven or eight players. That's really what characterises Viking offensively, that we're fearless, brave and attack with a lot of force."
As the Eliteserien season runs from March to November, Viking are in the hunt for back-to-back titles, trailing Bodø/Glimt by just three points.
Zlatko Tripic, the inspirational captain
There is one player who has featured on Viking's journey from Norway's second tier to the pinnacle of European club football, albeit with a brief stop at Göztepe in between.
A two-time Eliteserien winner with Molde in 2011 and 2012, Zlatko Tripic joined Viking following their relegation from Moldovan side Sheriff Tiraspol. It was a signing the club didn't think was feasible, but the Croatian-born winger embraced the idea of playing a prominent role in Viking's renaissance.
Tripic helped the club to promotion before skippering Viking to Norwegian Cup glory over Haugesund.
He left for Turkish side Göztepe in 2020, but returned to Stavanger 18 months later and Tripic has been a hugely influential figure in restoring Viking in the upper echelons of Norway's top flight.
Reclaiming the captain's armband, the former Norway U23 international reached double figures in both goals and assists in each of the past three seasons - an unprecedented accomplishment in Viking's history.
Having skippered the club to Eliteserien glory, Tripic admits the journey he's enjoyed with Viking has gone beyond his wildest dreams.
"The club was in a completely different place from where it is now, let's put it that way," Tripic told UEFA.
"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."
Eliteserien grows stronger
Viking's presence in the UEFA Champions League is yet another indicator of how Norwegian football is evolving.
With Bodø/Glimt also featuring in the league phase, it's the first time Norway's had two clubs in the main draw of the UEFA Champions League in 27 years.
Bodø/Glimt's successes in Europe have served as inspiration for their domestic rivals. Knutsen's men reached the quarter-finals of the UEFA Conference League in 2021/22 and defeated the likes of Olympiacos and Lazio on their path to the UEFA Europa League semi-final in 2024/25, but their European exploits scaled new heights in last year's UEFA Champions League.
Defeating Manchester City and Atletico Madrid to reach the knockout stages on competition debut, they conquered Serie A champions Inter 5-2 on aggregate before falling to Sporting CP in the last-16.
Viking will be hoping they can replicate Bodø/Glimt's triumphs on the grandest stage of all.
"The Eliteserien keeps getting better and better," Tripic added. "There's more investment in facilities. Young players are given opportunities. Player development is being taken more seriously."
The Norwegian Football Federation established the National Team School (NTS) training system in 2013 with the aim of developing Norway's next generation of football players. Now the Scandinavian country is reaping the rewards of their investment into grassroots football and the instalment of artificial pitches to combat the harsh Nordic winters.
Norway qualified for their first World Cup in 28 years during the summer and Stale Solbakken's men lived up to their billing as dark horses by reaching the quarter-finals of the tournament.
Whilst Erling Haaland and Martin Odegaard are the poster boys of this exciting chapter in Norwegian football, four members of Norway's squad ply their trade in the Eliteserien.
One member was Viking centre-back Henrik Falchener, who had made only two appearances in Norway's top-flight before moving to Stavanger in 2025 and playing an influential role in the club's title triumph.
Alongside the likes of Simen Kvia-Egeskoge and Henrik Heggheim, Falchener is one of several Norwegian's hoping to showcase their talent in the UEFA Champions League this season.
