VfB Stuttgart and Viking meet at the MHPArena on Wednesday at 16:45 UTC in the opening round of the UEFA Champions League League Stage, with both clubs sitting on zero points from zero matches played. The 36-team table shows Stuttgart in 34th place and Viking directly below them in 35th, separated by no points whatsoever.
Stuttgart enter the match in the bottom third of the table and carrying five points from their last five matches across all competitions. Their recent record shows one win, two draws and two defeats, including a 4-1 victory over 1. FC Köln as their most recent outing and two heavy losses to Bayern München either side of that run.
Viking arrive with eight points from their last five matches, a sequence that includes two wins, two draws and one defeat. Their most recent result was a 3-1 victory over Dinamo Zagreb, and they also recorded a 3-5 win at Koper within that stretch. The Norwegian side sit in the bottom two of the League Stage table at the outset.
With the competition consisting of 36 teams in the League Stage, every point in these early rounds carries weight in a densely populated table. Stuttgart are in the bottom third and Viking in the bottom two, meaning both sides begin their European campaign with an immediate need to establish themselves on the board.
This is the first match for either club in this season's UEFA Champions League League Stage, and the points gap between them remains zero heading into kick-off. Wednesday's result at the MHPArena will mark the first movement on the table for both clubs in this competition.