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Bodo/Glimt pulled off one of the biggest upsets in Champions League history by knocking out Italian giants Inter Milan on Tuesday.
The tiny Norwegian team won 2-1 at the San Siro to seal a 5-2 aggregate victory in the playoffs and secure its place in the round of 16 in spectacular fashion.
The result makes Bodo/Glimt the first Norwegian team to ever win a Champions League knockout tie.
In their first season in European club soccer’s top competition, Bodo/Glimt have produced one shock after another following wins against Manchester City and Atlético Madrid at the end of the league phase. But victory over two legs against last year’s beaten finalist Inter was their biggest feat yet.
“Can you believe it?” Bodo coach Kjetil Knutsen said after the win. “A team from a small town up north. It’s unbelievable.”
Second-half goals from Jens Petter Hauge and Hakon Evjen stunned the home fans in Milan and set Bodo/Glimt on course for a clash with City or Portugal’s Sporting CP in the next round.
Alessandro Bastoni pulled a goal back for Inter, but by then the damage had already been done.
“We’re disappointed. We want to go as far as possible in every competition. We tried, but they were better than us,” Inter midfielder Nicolo Barella said after the game.
Mairo Cinquetti/NurPhoto via Getty Images
To put Bodo/Glimt’s run into context: by the start of January it had yet to win its first game in the Champions League.
In a whirlwind few weeks it has taken down 2023 European champion City, three-time winner Inter and Spanish giant Atlético.
It becomes the first team from outside Europe’s top five leagues (England, Spain, Germany, Italy and France) to win four straight games in Europe’s premier club competition against opponents from those leagues since Ajax in 1971-72. Ajax went onto win the trophy that season.
According to stats firm Opta, a month ago it had a 0.3% chance of advancing to the round of 16 having picked up three points from six games in the league phase.
But those victories against City and Atlético have propelled its Champions League campaign and over two legs it was too good for an Inter team that tops Italy’s Serie A by 10 points.
Defending a 3-1 first leg win, Kjetil Knutsen’s team soaked up pressure until a mistake from Manuel Akanji was seized on by Ole Didrik Blomberg in the 58th minute. His shot was saved by Inter goalkeeper Yann Sommer, but Hauge was there to convert the rebound.
“We were unlucky. The ball simply didn’t want to go in. They did what they had to do, and all I can do is congratulate them,” Inter defender Yann Bisseck said.
Hauge now has six goals in this year’s tournament, the most by any player for a Norwegian club in a single Champions League season.
Akanji hit the post as Inter tried to mount a fight back, but Evjen lashed in a second for the visitors in the 72nd to send around 3,000 traveling fans wild.
“It’s been quite a journey to get where we are now, and there are so many people who have been part of that journey together,” Knutsen added.
Bastoni’s goal, which marginally crossed the line, never looked like being the start of a comeback for the Italians.
The Associated Press and ESPN Research contributed to this report.
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