Yet again, Sligo Rovers will go into a European tie as the underdogs.
es, they defied the odds to overcome SPL side Motherwell to progress to this stage, but this week’s opponents, Viking FK, represent a totally different challenge for the Bit O’Red.
Viking, known internationally as Viking Stavanger (the city they are based) are one of Norway’s most successful clubs, and have won the league eight times.
They finished third in Eliteserien in 2021, and are currently fifth in the table - with both Molde and Rosenborg ahead of them, teams Rovers are familiar with.
Roy Hodgson was manager from 2004 until 2005, with Uwe Rosler taking charge in 2007.
Viking underwent a difficult period from 2010 until 2017, where they were almost bankrupt and were relegated.
In 2018 local coach Bjarne Berntsen, a former player and club director, was appointed manager. At that stage, the club’s fanbase was relatively small, around 5,000-6,000 regularly attended games.
This difficult period led to a fresh start, and Viking started to rebuild.
They won the league in the second tier and were promoted back to the top division.
This encouraged fans to come back, and things began to improve both on and off the pitch.
The team was doing well in the league, and financially the club was improving, particularly with better gate receipts as attendances started to grow once again.
That improvement on the field led to more interest in their players from other clubs, something we are used to here in Sligo.
Viking sold their captain and topscorer Veton Berisha recently for a fee of €2million.
He scored 46 goals in 68 league matches since he arrived in 2020.
This was seen as a big loss, and although he has not yet been replaced, the transfer window opened this week in Norway and a replacement will be top of the list for the management team of Bjarte Lunde Aarsheim and Morten Jensen.
When Viking won the cup final in 2019, this was the start of something great as the city of Stavanger got behind Viking in a big way.
Viking are a well supported side, particularly in recent years.
At the minute, it is seen as ‘in’, in a fashionable kind of way, to support Viking.
The SR Bank arena holds around 16,000 fans, and it’s estimated there will be between 8,000 and 10,000 there on Thursday night.
Over the last five years, a fan group called ‘Felt O’ has grown from about 100 people to 900 people.
They provide the atmosphere on match nights, similar to Forza Rovers.
Viking’s turnover is in the region of about €12 million, a figure that is in stark contrast to that of Sligo Rovers whose budget for 2022 is set at €1.8 million.
Rovers will be more than aware of the fact that they are up against a steep challenge.
Viking’s most recent history in Europe isn’t much to write home about, but then again Rovers’ record in Europe isn’t exactly something to celebrate either.
Let’s not forget, before this season, the Bit O’Red had only ever won three games in Europe and had only ever won a tie once.
So this is all new to Rovers.
Viking, on the other hand, have played almost 70 games in Europe, featuring 51 times in the Europa League and 14 times in the European Cup/Champions League.
They were and have been regulars in Europe for years, until 2010 with Viking reaching the group stages of the 2005-06 UEFA Cup.
Famous wins in Europe include victories over Chelsea in 2002 (their most famous and most celebrated win abroad), Sporting Lisbon in 1999 (with Peter Schmeichel among their players) and Monaco in 2005 with Emmanuel Adebayor and Patrice Evra among their ranks.
More recently, they lost 2-0 to Aberdeen in 2020 in the qualifiers, and their last European game prior to that was 2008 when they were beaten by Finnish side Honka.
The surface at SR Bank is artificial.
In terms of players to watch out for, Viking’s captain is left winger/striker Zlatko Tripic.
Tripic is a local player who is revered as a hero among the home supporters.
Much of this is because he surprisingly came back to the club when they were relegated in 2018, despite a number of offers on the table for clubs enjoying more success at that time.
But for Rovers’ attackers, mainly Aidan Keena, the giant David Brekalo (a central defender), will be a challenge.
The Slovenian man is fast, duel strong and very solid and so Rovers’ star man has his work cut out for him.
While all our attention was naturally on Rovers beating Motherwell, Viking pulled off a shock of their own as they beat Sparta Prague with a late winner in the second-leg to progress to this stage.
The sides couldn’t be separated in their first leg, which was a 0-0 draw before the Norwegians won 2-1 in the second game.
Similarly to Motherwell, Sparta had not yet started their season before they took on Viking.
Reports from Norway tell us that Viking know they are favourites against Sligo Rovers, but are very aware that they cannot underestimate John Russell’s side.
Particularly as everyone at Viking remembers Rovers’ 2014 win over Rosenborg in Trondheim, despite the fact that Rovers went on to lose.
John Russell knows what his side will be up against, and Viking will be approaching this tie with caution as they will have their research done, and a representative who was at the Wexford cup defeat on Sunday will have seen Rovers at their worst.
Viking versus Rovers takes place at the SR Bank Arena at the earlier time of 6pm (Irish time).
With thanks to Stig Nilssen, Sports Editor of Stavanger Aftenblad, and Viking Oslo fan group.
