Viking – Dinamo Zagreb

The Croatian champion will fight for victory in Norway.

Viking FK has returned to the forefront of Norwegian football over the past five years. However, for the first time since 1991, a team from Stavanger managed to win the national championship only in the most recent edition of the Eliteserien. Moreover, the title race with Bodø/Glimt was extremely tough. The long-awaited trophy for Viking came thanks to a long winning run at the end of the season. The club can secure its first participation in the Champions League in 34 years if it advances through just one qualifying round, which UEFA has allocated for the Norwegian champions according to its coefficient table. Since 2020, Viking has earned the right to participate in European competitions three times in different capacities, but has never managed to reach the main rounds of the Europa League or the Europa Conference League from the qualifiers. Dinamo Zagreb, unlike its opponent, is a far more experienced European campaigner. In the last 20 seasons, the Croatian club has almost always been the domestic champion; 18 times it earned a place in the Champions League qualifiers, almost always progressing to the main rounds of various continental tournaments, and in recent years has increasingly reached the playoff rounds of the secondary European competitions. Such a rich background made Dinamo the favorite going into the tie against Viking. However, neither Dinamo's edge in European competition experience nor the home-field factor in the first leg allowed the Zagreb side to capitalize. Although at the start of the match it seemed that Dinamo expected an easy contest. Already by the tenth minute, the hosts led 2-0. However, even before the end of the first half, the Norwegian guests managed to level the score, and in the second half they switched to a conservative approach to preserve the result. The 2-2 final score changed the balance of power, and Viking became the favorite going into the return leg. The home-field factor could help the Norwegians achieve a winning result in the return leg, but Viking will have to play as the side with the initiative. Undoubtedly, the home-field advantage Dinamo enjoyed a week ago in the first leg may be less noticeable in the forthcoming match, or disappear altogether. But one should not overlook the fact that the Croatian champion has a higher-quality squad, which is more than capable of avoiding defeat in Stavanger.