EXCLUSIVE: Viking Stavanger coach says artificial pitch could unsettle Bayern stars

Football fever is sweeping through Stavanger, driven by an unprecedented era for Norwegian football both locally and on the global stage.

The city's local hype builds on a massive summer in which the Norwegian national team, led by Erling Haaland, made a historic run to the World Cup quarterfinals.

After winning their first Norwegian title in 34 years, local team Viking, which operates with a rare dual-head coach model led by Morten Jensen and Bjarte Lunde Aarsheim, stunned Croatian champions Dinamo Zagreb in the play-offs to qualify for the Champions League group stage for the first time in their history.

Now they prepare to host German giants Bayern Munich in what promises to be an enticing encounter at the Lyse Arena in Stavanger, which has a capacity of 15,900 spectators. Coach Morten Jensen says to Flashscore that he has been looking forward to this encounter ever since the draw was made at the end of August.

"It's really exciting times in Stavanger at the moment. It's a little like the city lives and breathes football at the moment. Everyone wants to talk about that game. Of course, the national team created a wave of football euphoria over the summer at the World Cup, and it sort of spilt over into the club season."

"Of course the defeat against Stuttgart (1-3 in the first match round) brought people back a bit to reality, but the euphoria is still there, especially also on the back of us leading the Norwegian Eliteserie. The match was sold out in 18 minutes but to be honest, I think we could have five times as many tickets." It's one of the biggest occasions ever in Stavanger", says Jensen.

Viking suffered a brutal welcome to the Champions League in the first round when they were put to the sword by VfB Stuttgart at the MPHArena, where the Norwegian champions lost 3-1 against a German side who did not waste any time punishing Viking errors.

"We showed a lot of bravery in Stuttgart, but we have to learn that mentally we have to be there for all 90 minutes. This is a different level, and if you make a mistake, it's punished straight away. Our ball-handling skills must be improved. Too many times we were dispossessed, and it disturbed the balance in the team; that must really be improved against Bayern, otherwise we will pay the price", says Morten Jensen.

While Viking head into the encounter on the back of an impressive 2-0 win away against Brann in Bergen to preserve their position at the top of the Norwegian Eliteserie table, Bayern has experienced a few bumpy performances at the start of the 2026–27 campaign.

For Vincent Kompany's outfit, travelling to Scandinavia presents an opportunity to bounce back from a dramatic domestic draw and establish early dominance in the Champions League standings.

Kompany's squad stumbled early over the weekend, conceding the fastest goal in Bundesliga history just 8.37 seconds into the game against Augsburg following a Manuel Neuer blunder.

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Despite dominating statistical metrics - including creating multiple big chances and relying on two Harry Kane assists—Bayern had to settle for a point after fighting back twice to level through Ismael Saibari and Nathaniel Brown.

The visitors emerged as 5-0 victors against Bodo/Glimt in matchweek one of the Champions League, and they have now won nine of their 10 most recent matches in the league phase of the competition.

On the road, the visitors have only lost one of their last 23 away contests, a period in which they claimed victory 18 times.

Morten Jensen is anticipating a difficult clash against an opponent who will no doubt be eager to return to winning ways after the disappointment during the weekend.

"We are going up against one of the best Bayern teams in history. They have the luxury of lining up with two potential Ballon d'Or winners in their squad, Harry Kane and Michael Olise, and it's almost impossible to defend against such quality."

"But it's not only Kane and Olise, but they have quality in depth all over the pitch, and almost all of them are national team players.

"The only way to defend against that is to give them very little time on the ball, but no team has the physical reserves over 90 minutes to accomplish that. In that case you have to be smart and of course we have a plan of how to stop Kane and Olise, but we will have to see if we can execute it", says Jensen.

Last season Bodo/Glimt used their artificial pitch to great advantage to unsettle some of Europe's greatest teams at the Aspmyra Stadium. Most Norwegian stadiums use artificial pitches to withstand the brutal winter climate, and among the top teams, players are used to executing quick, vertical passing combinations at a high-speed pace that visiting elite teams - who are accustomed to organic grass - struggle to adapt to.

Morten Jensen also believes that Viking Stavanger should benefit from a similar advantage at the Lyse Arena against Bayern. 

"There is no question that the artificial grass in Stavanger gives us an advantage; that is our secret weapon. We saw last season how important it was for Bodo/Glimt and how difficult it was for even big teams to adjust to it. We expect Bayern to have the same problems. 

"I don't think Harry Kane and Michael Olise will fancy coming to Stavanger on a cold Tuesday in October and play on artificial grass."

"That is certainly not something that they are looking forward to. They want to play under the same pitch conditions that they are used to at the Allianz Stadium, and it will be widely different in Stavanger. The different surface and perhaps also the risk of injuries on a different surface could very well stress them, and I hope that will play into our advantage."

Norwegian clubs have on different occasions proven that they can challenge even some of the best clubs in Europe, and Morten Jensen says that he has used some of those results to inspire his players leading up to the clash against the mighty Germans.

"We have spoken about when Rosenborg won against Real Madrid in Trondheim, when they won at the San Siro and the many times that Bodo/Glimt have pulled off surprise wins at the Aspmyra Stadium. That gives the players belief that it's possible to do something great. There is no question that Bayern will put us under a lot of pressure, but I am very confident that if we manage to perform at the peak of our abilities, we can beat them", ends Morten Jensen.

Viking take on Bayern Munich at the Lyse Arena at 20.45 CET on Tuesday evening. 

Svend Bertil Frandsen has been Senior News Editor for Flashscore News in Denmark since September 2022. He previously worked for UEFA and FIFA and is a former tennis pro.  He specialises in news around football, tennis, badminton and handball. You can also follow him on LinkedIn.