Bodo/Glimt Deliver Historic Champions League Knockout Victory Against Inter At San Siro

Add as a preferred source on Google

Bodo/Glimt produced a major Champions League shock, knocking out last season’s runners-up Inter 5-2 on aggregate after a 2-1 win at San Siro. The Norwegian champions advanced to the quarter-final play-off round, where Bodo/Glimt will meet either Manchester City or Sporting CP for a place in the last eight.

The visitors struck first when Jens Petter Hauge punished a Manuel Akanji mistake, then Hakon Evjen doubled the lead with a precise finish. Alessandro Bastoni scrambled one back for Inter, yet Cristian Chivu’s side rarely looked capable of overturning the deficit as Bodo/Glimt managed the closing stages with control.

Bodo/Glimt’s success carries major historical weight for Norwegian football. No team from Norway had won a knockout tie in the European Cup or Champions League since Lillestrom beat Linfield during the 1987-88 first round. Bodo/Glimt are now the first Norwegian side to win at this stage of the modern competition.

Kjetil Knutsen’s team are also putting together an impressive sequence against clubs from Europe’s biggest leagues. Having already defeated Manchester City and Atletico Madrid in the league phase, Bodo/Glimt now have four consecutive wins over opponents from England, Spain or Italy in this season’s Champions League campaign.

That run places Bodo/Glimt alongside notable European campaigns from the past. They are the first club from outside the big five leagues to claim four straight wins in one European Cup or Champions League season against teams from those countries since Ajax in 1971-72, when Ajax went on to lift the trophy.

The tie had already tilted towards Bodo/Glimt after a 3-1 victory in Norway during the first leg. That result forced Inter to attack from the start at San Siro, and Chivu’s players responded with heavy pressure, recording 30 shots overall compared with only seven attempts from the visiting team.

Despite that volume, the underlying numbers showed a tighter contest. Inter led the expected goals battle by just 2.14 to 1.74, underlining Bodo/Glimt’s efficiency. The visitors converted their few opportunities, while Inter lacked precision in the final third and struggled to turn territorial dominance into clear chances.

Goalkeeper Nikita Haikin played a crucial role during Inter’s first-half siege. Haikin pushed Federico Dimarco’s dipping effort over the bar, then reacted sharply to keep out Davide Frattesi’s close-range header from another Dimarco delivery. Bastoni also headed over, while at the other end Evjen saw a header tipped away by Yann Sommer.

The away side seized control after half-time. In the 58th minute, Akanji misjudged a back pass, allowing Ole Didrik Blomberg to race through. Sommer saved Blomberg’s fierce strike, but the rebound fell perfectly for Hauge, who finished from close range to give Bodo/Glimt a four-goal cushion on aggregate.

Akanji then struck the post from short distance, before Bodo/Glimt stretched the advantage further in the 72nd minute. Hauge threaded a smart pass into Evjen, who controlled neatly and drove a low shot across Sommer into the far corner. Bastoni forced the ball over the line four minutes later, confirmed by goal-line technology, yet Inter created little afterwards.

Hauge again stood out, and now has six Champions League goals this season, the most ever by a Norwegian player for a Norwegian club in a single edition. Bodo/Glimt’s controlled display at San Siro, combined with earlier wins over Manchester City and Atletico Madrid, underlines the scale of this campaign as they await their next opponents.