VfB Stuttgart hosted Viking at the MHP Arena on Tuesday evening, winning 3-1 in the opening League Stage match of the UEFA Champions League. The result settled the contest before the interval, with Demirović's brace and a Tripić strike leaving the visitors chasing shadows by half-time.
And here's the thing about minute twenty — Demirović found the net to open the scoring, then Tripić doubled the lead just two minutes later. By then the game felt decided, though Viking would push for something back before the break.
Demirović completed his hat-trick in the thirty-second minute, and the hosts kept their foot on the throttle. Askeildsen picked up a booking in the forty-second minute before the interval, while Christiansen and Bell would follow with yellow cards in the fifty-fourth and fifty-eighth minutes respectively.
Substitutions came thick and fast from the sixtieth minute, with Demirović, Leweling, Bell and Daland all coming off together. The visitors turned to their bench in the seventy-first minute, bringing on Haugen and El Khannouss, before Heggheim was replaced in the eighty-fourth and Mittelstädt in the eighty-sixth.
Stuttgart dominated possession at 62 per cent, creating five big chances compared to one for Viking. They registered 13 shots with three on target, while the visitors managed three shots on target and one off target. Expected goals stood at 1.82 for the hosts against 0.74 for the visitors.
The three-point margin means Stuttgart sit top of the League Stage after the opening round, while Viking drop to the bottom with nothing to show from their first match in the competition.