Aston Villa vs. Viking FK: Can Norwegian minnows repeat Chelsea, Frank Lampard upset from 2002?

Aston Villa quadrate disconnected against Viking FK successful the Champions League connected Wednesday nighttime with the anticipation of making airy enactment of their opponents.

That cognition is justified. After all, the Norwegian nine person played conscionable 32 European fixtures - including qualifying games - since the past clip that they made the travel for a competitory lucifer successful England successful 2002.

However, not lone are determination respective statistic which suggest that Unai Emery volition have concerns implicit the Eliteserien champions, the past clip that they faced Premier League absorption saw them execute a effect that has stood the trial of clip successful their history.

Having lone finished successful sixth spot successful the 2001-02 Premier League and suffered a second-round exit to Hapoel Tel Aviv successful the UEFA Cup 12 months earlier, everyone astatine Chelsea were wary of different aboriginal exit from Europe.

Despite a summertime of concern wherever their lone notable summation was the signing of little-known Spaniard Enrique de Lucas connected a escaped transfer, Chelsea inactive possessed a squad that featured John Terry, Marcel Desailly, Emmanuel Petit, Frank Lampard and Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink.

Such was the prime successful the elder ranks that Chelsea yet achieved Champions League qualification that campaign, avoided going retired of concern and attracted Roman Abramovich to Stamford Bridge, but successful October 2002, Viking FK were knocking the West Londoners retired of Europe.

How Viking FK bushed Chelsea successful 2002-03 UEFA Cup

At this constituent successful their history, Viking FK were nary strangers to participating successful the UEFA Cup. In the erstwhile season, they had defeated Brotjno and Kilmarnock earlier losing 3-0 connected aggregate to Hertha Berlin successful the 3rd round.

Nevertheless, this was a Chelsea broadside that had started the 2002-03 Premier League with a seven-game unbeaten tally earlier losing to a Paolo Di Canio-inspired West Ham United astatine Stamford Bridge.

Nine days anterior to that setback, Chelsea had recorded a 2-1 triumph implicit Viking successful the archetypal limb of their first-round necktie astatine Stamford Bridge. Hasselbaink and De Lucas had fixed Chelsea a two-goal pb aft 69 minutes and each seemed to beryllium going to program heading into the last minute.

However, Ben Wright - a West German-born Englishman who had antecedently played for the likes of Kettering and Woking - scored a 90th-minute effort that halved the shortage and yet changed the absorption of the tie.

Although Chelsea travelled to Norway connected the backmost of that West Ham defeat, Claudio Ranieri named a beardown squad for the 2nd leg, 1 which included Carlo Cudicini, Jesper Gronkjaer and Gianfranco Zola arsenic good arsenic immoderate of the already-mentioned stars.

However, by the 35th minute, Chelsea were losing 3-2 connected aggregate, Morten Berre and Peter Kopteff putting Viking FK 2-0 up connected the night.

Lampard made it 2-1 conscionable earlier fractional time, scoring a potentially-pivotal distant goal, and successful the 62th minute, Terry would cancel retired an effort from Erik Nevland - formerly of Manchester United - that had been netted 2 minutes earlier.

Not lone did Chelsea stay level connected aggregate heading into the 88th minute, they were connected the brink of progression done the now-abolished away-goal rule.

Instead, Nevland nipped successful beforehand of Graeme Le Saux to nonstop a first-time decorativeness into the bottommost country from 10 yards, sparking pandemonium astatine the Stavanger Stadion that had conscionable 5,555 radical successful attendance. Viking FK would spell connected to suffer 4-1 to Celta Vigo connected aggregate successful the adjacent round.

However, it was the information that they did not play different European fixture for astir 3 years - a UEFA Cup first-round qualifying necktie against Northern Irish broadside Portadown - that truly emphasised the magnitude of their accomplishment that nighttime against Chelsea.

At the aforesaid clip arsenic Viking FK were experiencing the earliest signifier of the UEFA Cup, Chelsea were successful the infancy of the Jose Mourinho era, highlighting the antithetic courses that they had taken connected that chilly October nighttime successful 2002.