Viking face Bayern Munich test as Michael Olise targets more Champions League goals

Bayern Munich forward Michael Olise will be central to Tuesday’s Champions League meeting with Viking FK in Stavanger, as the German side seek a second successive league-phase victory and a place among the competition’s top eight.

The France international has scored four goals in five Bundesliga appearances this season and is expected to threaten from the right, cutting inside against a Viking defence that conceded three goals in a 3-1 defeat by Stuttgart on matchday one.

Viking have had three weeks to respond on home soil, winning matches in the Eliteserien and the cup. They beat Brann 2-0 on 9 October and have scored in each of their past five games, conceding only four goals during that run.

Olise’s Nigerian connection

Olise was born in France to a Nigerian father and an Algerian mother before growing up in England. The Nigeria Football Federation approached him in 2020, while reports said it also arranged talks with Olise and his family when he was 19 and playing for Reading FC in the English Championship.

Gernot Rohr attempted to invite him to Nigeria’s squad for Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers in 2019, but Olise did not take up the invitation. He later committed his international future to France and has since represented them at this year’s World Cup.

The 23-year-old scored twice in Bayern’s 5-0 win over Bodø/Glimt, another Norwegian club, on the opening matchday. Bayern are unbeaten in five games in all competitions, recording three wins and two draws, scoring 16 goals and conceding three. Their biggest result in that sequence was a seven-goal victory over Union Berlin.

Bayern’s latest match ended in a draw at Augsburg three days ago, despite four of their goals being disallowed before the final whistle. Harry Kane, the club’s third captain behind Manuel Neuer and Joshua Kimmich, has scored three Bundesliga goals this season and provided two assists in that match.

Viking are level with Bodø/Glimt at the top of the Eliteserien, both on 53 points from 22 matches. Each has won 17, drawn two and lost three, with a goal difference of +36. Viking captain Zlatko Tripic leads the league for assists with 19 and has scored six times, while Peter Christiansen has 10 goals in all competitions, including nine in the Eliteserien.

This will be the first meeting between Viking and Bayern Munich at any level. Viking reached the league phase after drawing 2-2 away to Dinamo Zagreb before winning the home leg 3-1. Bayern’s victory against Bodø/Glimt offers the only recent comparison, although the teams have different styles.

Kristoffer Haugen is expected to face Olise at left-back, while Christiansen will test Bayern’s centre-back pairing of Jonathan Tah and Dayot Upamecano. Bayern have conceded only three goals in their past five matches.

Bayern will be without Jamal Musiala, who is recovering from a muscle injury, and defender Tarek Buchmann, who is out after syndesmosis surgery. Josip Stanisic could return at right-back.

Bayern predicted XI (4-2-3-1): Neuer; Stanisic, Tah, Upamecano, Davies; Kimmich, Pavlovic; Olise, Saibari, Diaz; Kane.

Viking are missing Veton Berisha, Nicholas D’Agostino, Sondre Bjørshol and Anders Bærtelsen through injury. Kelvin Frimpong is not registered for the club’s league-phase squad. New Zealand midfielder Joe Bell is available after clarification that he has one league-phase yellow card, rather than the three previously reported.

Viking predicted XI (4-3-3): Østbø; Heggheim, Stensness, Daland, Falchener; Askildsen, Bell, Bjørdal; Christiansen, Botheim, Tripic.