VfB Stuttgart vs Viking 3-1 - Champions League Matchday 1 Match Report

VfB Stuttgart and Viking met at MHPArena in the UEFA Champions League league phase, and the shape of the match explained the scoreline far better than the bare numbers do. Viking went down to 3-1 and spent the remainder of the evening trying to pull the game back. The turning point came at the 20 minute mark, when Ermedin Demirović turned the move into the opening the team had been chasing, and everything that followed was played in that new landscape. VfB Stuttgart won 3-1 and carried the points home. 57500 supporters filled MHPArena, and the noise never really left the players alone. Neither side arrived in the best form: the last five results read W L W L W for VfB Stuttgart and D W W W D for Viking, and both sets of players knew what a slip would cost.

Match facts

• Date: 2026-09-09
• Kick-off: 16:45 UTC
• Venue: MHPArena, Stuttgart, Germany (60469)
• Attendance: 57500
• Referee: Nenad Minaković (Serbia)
• Competition: UEFA Champions League 2026/2027 - Matchday 1
• Starting line-ups: VfB Stuttgart (3-4-2-1, Coach: Sebastian Hoeneß) / Viking (4-3-3, Coach: Morten Jensen)
• Scorers: Ermedin Demirović 20'; Ermedin Demirović 26'; Ermedin Demirović 32'; Zlatko Tripić 22'

VfB Stuttgart lined up with Fabian Bredlow, Finn Jeltsch, Jeff Chabot, Maximilian Mittelstädt, Jamie Leweling, Grischa Prömel, Angelo Stiller, Chris Führich, Deniz Undav, Bilal El Khannouss, Ermedin Demirović in a 3-4-2-1, while Viking answered with Arild Østbø, Henrik Heggheim, Gianni Stensness, Jesper Daland, Kristoffer Haugen, Tobias Moi, Joe Bell, Kristoffer Askildsen, Henrik Rørvik Bjørdal, Peter Christiansen, Zlatko Tripić in a 4-3-3. Sebastian Hoeneß and Morten Jensen led their respective sides from the touchline, and both had a plan for the first hour that they wanted to keep intact.

Goals and key moments

Goal details, minutes and scorers are the part of the record that separate one evening from another. At the 20' mark, Ermedin Demirović turned the move into the opening the team had been chasing, with Angelo Stiller supplying the pass that made it possible, and 1-0 was the consequence. It was a chance worth 0.314 expected goals, which is exactly why it was worth taking. 22': Zlatko Tripić struck it with quality, Henrik Rørvik Bjørdal helping it over the line, and it was 1-1 almost immediately. 26': Ermedin Demirović scored cleanly, Deniz Undav helping it over the line, and it was 2-1 almost immediately. 32': Ermedin Demirović found the far corner, Deniz Undav helping it over the line, and it was 3-1 almost immediately. That strike changed the temperature of the evening: from that point the leading side could play for the counter while the chasing side had to take risks in the spaces that had opened up. Not every opening was taken, though, and the chances that were missed told their own story. Taken together, the goals gave the evening a shape that the scoreline on its own never explained.

The tactical picture

VfB Stuttgart started in 3-4-2-1 under Sebastian Hoeneß, while Viking answered with 4-3-3 under Morten Jensen, and those two shapes decided most of what happened on the field. Neither manager was willing to hand the central ground over for free, and the shape of the game followed that refusal. The midfield was the part of the pitch both sides wanted, and the numbers show who managed to take it. The side that pressed high won the second ball, which left the other team unable to build from the back and forced them into hopeful passes. The width of the pitch worked against the team that kept attacking down the same flank, and they were closed down every time. Transitions were the story: one side moved the ball forward at speed, the other could not. The tactical conversation between the two benches was as much a part of the evening as the movement of the ball itself.

Tactical reading

VfB Stuttgart set up in a 3-4-2-1 against the 4-3-3 of Viking, and the two shapes decided how the ball actually moved: VfB Stuttgart completed 626 passes at 86% accuracy while Viking answered with 385 and 71%. The duel numbers underline the same story, as VfB Stuttgart won 45 duels against 49 for Viking, completed 7 tackles to 19 and read 11 passes compared with 6. Chance creation was the decisive column of the table, with VfB Stuttgart generating 4 clear chances and 11 shots from inside the box against 0 and 6, which is exactly why the goalkeepers had to make 2 and 0 saves between them. Sebastian Hoeneß trusted his 3-4-2-1 and Morten Jensen answered with 4-3-3, and the final 3-1 reflects which of the two plans survived the second-half pressure better.

Statistical comparison

The statistical picture is as revealing as the scoreline itself. Expected goals told the sharper story: 2.18 for VfB Stuttgart against 0.63 for Viking. VfB Stuttgart attempted 17 shots to Viking's 9, with 3 on target against 3. Possession finished at 62 per cent for VfB Stuttgart against 38 per cent for Viking, and it is worth noting which side actually used it. VfB Stuttgart won 3 corners to Viking's 5, and that is where most of the set-piece danger came from. VfB Stuttgart completed 540 of 626 passes against 274 of 385 for Viking, a difference that shows how differently the two sides circulated the ball. Fouls were committed 13 times by VfB Stuttgart and 13 by Viking, with 0 and 0 red cards in the official count. The goalkeepers made 2 and 0 saves respectively, and on a night like this that work decides how the result is remembered. The duels went 45 to 49, which is usually the cleanest single indicator of who was prepared to spend effort on the ball. Tackles were completed 7 times by VfB Stuttgart and 19 by Viking, and the duels that followed tell the same story as the rest of the evening.

Discipline and substitutions

Discipline and substitutions shaped the second half more than the scoreline suggests. VfB Stuttgart collected 0 yellow cards and Viking 3, and the caution count of 3 in total meant the referee had to manage a game that was becoming increasingly physical around the halfway line. Both coaches used their changes: 5 by VfB Stuttgart and 5 by Viking, with the last substitution of the evening coming late. The emotional temperature of the evening rose and fell with the challenges and with the decisions taken by both benches. Nenad Minaković took charge of the match and had a relatively straightforward evening by the standards of the competition.

Player of the match and the standout performers

Individual performances separated the two teams across a full ninety minutes. Ermedin Demirović of VfB Stuttgart was the player of the match with a rating of 9.7, and every touch that mattered carried his name on it. For VfB Stuttgart, the best individual rating belonged to Ermedin Demirović, and for Viking it belonged to Henrik Rørvik Bjørdal. The gap between the best performances on each side was the reason the result never really looked as comfortable as it was. Across the two squads the highest individual ratings read Ermedin Demirović (9.65), Deniz Undav (8.75), Angelo Stiller (8.41), Henrik Rørvik Bjørdal (7.93).

What the result means for the league phase

VfB Stuttgart on points from 3 matches, in 6 place with a goal difference of 5, and Viking on points from 3 matches, in 33 place with a goal difference of -4. VfB Stuttgart arrived with W L W L W in their last five and Viking with D W W W D, so the result fits the run both of them have been on. For the winner the three points are banked and the group is a shade closer to settled; for the other side the work still to be done, and this result has made that plain. What the numbers cannot show is how hard the result was worked for, and how differently the two sides will remember it. The next round of the league phase will tell more: whoever adjusts first in the coming days will be the one who controls the group.