Stuttgart celebrate 133rd birthday with impressive Champions League win over Viking
VfB Stuttgart celebrated their 133rd birthday with a 3-1 win over Champions League newcomers Viking FK, as Ermedin Demirovic scored a hat-trick in an entertaining opening league-phase match.
It was Stuttgart’s first-ever victory over Norwegian opposition and a strong start to their second Champions League campaign in three seasons.
Viking arrived in Germany as Norwegian champions and were playing in the competition for the first time. The opening 20 minutes were cautious, but the game suddenly burst into life with four goals in 12 minutes.
Match highlight
Stuttgart struck first. Angelo Stiller broke into the penalty area and sent a dangerous low ball across goal. Demirovic met it, saw his finish hit the crossbar, and watched it bounce over the line.
The lead lasted only a little more than two minutes.
Zlatko Tripic raced through after finding space behind the Stuttgart defence, drove into the box and beat Fabian Bredlow with a powerful finish to level the match for Viking.
Morten Jensen would have wanted his side to settle after that equaliser. Instead, Stuttgart took the match away from them before half-time.
In the 26th minute, Deniz Undav played a fine pass through the defence for Demirovic. The Bosnia international ran clear and finished emphatically, with the ball again coming back off the crossbar before going in.
Undav and Demirovic combined once more six minutes later. Undav sent over a difficult ball, but Demirovic controlled it well and hit a fierce shot that Arild Ostbo could not keep out. His third goal gave Stuttgart a 3-1 lead and completed the hat-trick.
Stuttgart nearly added a fourth seconds after the restart. Jamie Leweling found himself free in the area, but his shot was blocked. Sebastian Hoeness’s side continued to exploit gaps in the Viking defence, while Undav came close with a chipped effort that landed on the roof of the net around the hour mark.
Undav also hit the post late on as Stuttgart looked for another goal. They did not need one. Three goals were enough to secure a comfortable win and three valuable points.
This may have been Stuttgart’s most manageable fixture on paper, but the job was to start with a win, and they did exactly that. Their next Champions League match is away to Slovan Bratislava.
Viking now face an even harder assignment. They return to Germany to play six-time European champions Bayern Munich.
