Viking v Bayern München: Champions League preview, predicted line-ups & team news

Viking against Bayern München is the sort of Champions League night a club from Bergen might wait a lifetime for, and the visitors will not be in a mood to make it a memorable one for the wrong reasons.

This is the second round of the league stage, so nothing is decided yet, but the early shape of the table matters.

Bayern sit second after one game, level on three points with Paris Saint Germain and others, and the top eight go straight through to the last 16.

Viking have a harder climb, and the bookmakers have made their feelings plain: Bayern are 1/12 to win, with Viking at 20/1.

However, a home crowd and a big occasion have a habit of making a mess of the form book, at least for a while.

Viking got here through qualifying, and they did it with a bit of nerve. They drew 2-2 away to Dinamo Zagreb and then beat them 3-1 at home on 26 August to book their place in the league stage.

The league-stage opener was a tougher night. Viking lost 3-1 at VfB Stuttgart on 9 September, so they arrive without a point.

They have scored in all three of their European games this season, but they have also conceded in all three, six goals in total.

Bayern München needed no such drama. They opened with a 5-0 home win over Bodo/Glimt on 10 September, firing 25 shots and keeping a clean sheet.

The visitors took their time about it, though. Only one of the five goals came before the hour mark in the supplied data, which suggests Bayern like to wear opponents down.

Rotation is the question hanging over every Champions League midweek, and the answer here depends on what else is coming up for Bayern.

There is no league-position pressure forcing the issue in this competition, with Bayern already among the early leaders, so a few fresh legs would not be a surprise.

However, the squad is deep enough that a changed XI still looks formidable. Kane, Olise and Kimmich would still be hard to leave out for a trip to a side with Viking's record of conceding.

Viking, for their part, have little reason to tinker. They have a settled 4-3-3 and a handful of injuries that will make the selection for them.

Viking (4-3-3): Østbø; Heggheim, Falchener, Stensness, H. Haugen; Moi, Askildsen, Bell; Bjørdal, Christiansen, Tripić.

Bayern München (4-2-3-1): Neuer; Laimer, Tah, Upamecano, Davies; Kimmich, Pavlović; Olise, Saibari, Díaz; Kane.

There is some rotation risk on the Bayern side, with Saibari and Pavlović the likeliest to be swapped for more established names.

Kick-off at Lyse Arena is 20:00 BST on Tuesday 13 October 2026.

The Champions League is shown on TNT Sports where selected, and the page will be updated closer to kick-off if a specific channel is confirmed.

This is a league-stage fixture, not a two-legged tie, so there is no aggregate score and no extra time or penalties. The result after 90 minutes stands.