VfB Stuttgart‘s Ermedin Demirovic scored the first hat trick of the Champions League season in the span of 12 first-half minutes against Viking on Wednesday.
Demirovic found his rhythm to strike in the 20th, 26th and 32nd minutes and give Stuttgart a 3-1 lead at halftime against the Norwegian newcomer. Viking captain Zlatko Tripić had leveled in the 22nd.
Demirovic’s hat trick was the first by a Stuttgart player in the Champions League and, at 31:21, was the fifth-earliest in the competition’s history
The 28-year-old Bosnian international trebled his career goals total in the Champions League.
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He scored just once in eight games when Stuttgart featured in the first edition of the new single-standings format two years ago. Stuttgart placed 26th and did not advance to the knockout phase.
Demirovic also did not score when starting all four of Bosnia-Herzegovina’s games at the 2026 World Cup, losing to the United States in the round of 32.
The only previous Bosnian player to score a hat trick in a Champions League game was Edin Dzeko for AS Roma in 2018.
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Demirovic’s first two goals were shots that went in after hitting the underside of the crossbar, and his third was too powerful for Viking goalkeeper Arild Ostbo’s attempted save.
Viking, which edged Bodo/Glimt to win the Norwegian league title last year, is playing in the main phase for the first time in the 35-season Champions League era.
The Associated Press and ESPN Research contributed to this report.
