Zlatko Tripic Helped Lead Viking From Second Tier to Champions League

• Viking captain Zlatko Tripic said “I’ve waited 34 years for this” after a 3-3 draw with Bayern Munich in the Champions League.
• Viking ended a 34-year wait for the Norwegian title last season, having been in the second tier as recently as 2018.
• Joint head coaches Morten Jensen and Bjarte Lunde Aarsheim stepped up together in 2021 and led the club to the title.

Two Coaches Who Share One Job Built This Side

Zlatko Tripic had just helped Viking claw back a point against Bayern Munich when he spoke to Norwegian channel TV2. “I could have played another 90 minutes. I’m so incredibly proud. I’ve waited 34 years for this,” the Viking captain said.

Viking had led 2-0 at half-time in that Champions League match and needed a last-minute goal to rescue a 3-3 draw. Tripic was one of the heroes, setting up two goals including the equaliser. The result followed a 3-1 defeat at Stuttgart, and Viking then travelled to Aston Villa on Wednesday.

The club from Stavanger won the Norwegian title on the final day of last season, beating Valerenga 5-1 at home to hold a one-point lead over the dethroned champions Bodo/Glimt. It was Viking’s first league title in 34 years and their ninth in all. This is their first European group stage appearance after the 2005-06 UEFA Cup.

Viking fan and podcaster Lars Risan described what the title meant to the city. “It’s a big deal. It brings us all together and we can celebrate as a city,” he said.

Viking are top of the Norwegian table again, three points above Bodo/Glimt, with a game more played.

Joint Head Coaches Born Viking Fans

Few clubs at this level run with two head coaches. Morten Jensen and Bjarte Lunde Aarsheim were assistants who stepped up together in 2021, and they have shared the job from that point on.

Aarsheim spent the bulk of his playing career at Viking. Jensen was on the club’s books as a player but never made a first-team appearance. Both spoke to the BBC’s Euro Leagues show before the Champions League campaign began.

“It’s a special story. We were born Viking fans, we’ve been playing in Viking,” Aarsheim said. When the top job came up, the pair made a joint decision. “We said let’s do it together. It will be better and the chances to get the job will be better.”

Jensen said the arrangement works as they are willing to ignore convention. “If you dare sometimes to go against the strides then you can achieve great things,” he said. “If you’re going to follow and do whatever everybody else does, maybe we become a poor replica.”

In a recent interview Aarsheim explained how he sees the club. “For us, Viking is Barcelona. The players have to understand that we see Viking as more than a club. In our heads, it’s the best team in the world.”

The Champions League draw gave the pair a schedule that Jensen called “the whole buffet”, with trips to Villa, Atletico Madrid and Napoli and a home game with Bayern. Aarsheim said they had talked about starting in the Conference League and learning there, before the club “jumped into the best party ever”. Jensen pointed out that Villa’s set-piece coach, Pal Fjall, is their old assistant coach.

From Relegation in 2017 to the Biggest Stage

Viking’s rise began at a low point. They went down in 2017 under English manager Ian Burchnall for the first time in 31 years, with several British players in the team. Risan said money was part of the problem. “They spent too much money on players who weren’t good enough. A lot of things went wrong and it ended in relegation. But it turned out to be a good thing for Viking,” he said.

Bjarne Berntsen returned as head coach for the 2018 second-tier campaign, with Aarsheim and Jensen as his assistants. Viking won the division and went straight back up. They then won the 2019 Norwegian Cup, their first trophy in 18 years, with Tripic scoring the winner against Haugesund in the final.

Risan said the club went back to its roots. “There were a lot of local players, they invested in the youth academy,” he said. They built something that would be stable for years “and not relying on money from rich uncles, as we say in Norway”.

Berntsen was surprisingly sacked after a sixth-place finish in 2020 and replaced by his two assistants. “People were sceptical about it,” Risan admitted. Viking finished third in 2021 and 2024, then won the league last season after finishing with seven consecutive wins.

The Captain Nobody Expected

Tripic, now 33, joined Viking immediately after the relegation. He arrived from Moldovan side Sheriff Tiraspol, having won the Norwegian title twice with Molde in 2011 and 2012. Risan remembers how it felt to supporters. “It was a big surprise when Zlatko turned up,” he said. “He was a profile, someone we didn’t think [we could sign].”

Tripic left for Turkish side Goztepe in 2020 and came back 18 months later. The Croatia-born forward then reached double figures in both goals and assists in three consecutive seasons, something no Viking player had done before.

Viking have a long link with English football. Roy Hodgson managed them for 18 months from 2004 to 2005, and their 2005-06 Uefa Cup group included a win over Monaco before they went out on goal difference. Erik Nevland, who played for Manchester United and Fulham, is now the club’s sporting director. For a club that was in the second tier eight years ago, Tripic’s 34-year line says plenty about where they have come from.