How a Norwegian underdog pushed the Uefa Champions League landscape — Bodø/Glimt’s shock wins and what changes next
Impact-first: For Norwegian football, Inter Milan, and the knockout draw, Bodø/Glimt’s back-to-back results shift the immediate balance of power: the Arctic Circle side are within touching distance of the round of 16 and have handed a major European scalp that affects seedings, narratives and expectations. Their run in the uefa champions league now includes victories over Manchester City and Atlético Madrid, and those scalps matter first to the club, its rivals and the bracket they just altered.
Who feels the impact and why it matters now
Bodø/Glimt’s results change which teams advance directly from the knockout round playoffs and which face a tougher path. The Norwegian club — nicknamed Superlaget and managed by Kjetil Knutsen — produced a 3-1 win at home and followed it with a 2-1 victory in Italy to win the tie 5-2 on aggregate. Here’s the part that matters: those two results, including recent league-phase wins over Manchester City (3-1) and Atlético Madrid (2-1), make Bodø a genuine disruptor in the competition this season.
Event details and decisive moments
At home, Bodø/Glimt took the lead after 20 minutes on their artificial surface when Kasper Waarts Hogh backheeled the ball for Sondre Fet to finish. Francesco Pio Esposito later equalised after a blocked Carlos Augusto header fell to him. In the second half Jens Petter Hauge and Kapser Waarts Hogh struck inside three second-half minutes to complete the 3-1 victory. Key chances for Inter included Matteo Darmian hitting the post and Nicolo Barella shooting straight at goalkeeper Nikita Haikin; Lautaro Martinez hit the post later and Yann Sommer saved Hogh’s drive, but the woodwork and Bodo’s counterplay proved decisive.
In Italy the side from the Arctic Circle left the San Siro victorious with a 2-1 win that sealed progression to the next round. The visitors — described in match coverage as three-time winners of the competition — were stunned across the two legs and eliminated after the 5-2 aggregate outcome.
Uefa Champions League context and historic framing
- These clubs met previously only in the 1978-79 Cup Winners’ Cup; Internazionale won both legs that tie for a 7-1 aggregate (5-0 at home, 2-1 away).
- This tie is the second UEFA Champions League knockout-stage meeting between a Norwegian side (Bodø/Glimt) and an Italian side (Internazionale); the prior equivalent was Juventus eliminating Rosenborg in the 1996-97 quarter-finals, 3-1 on aggregate.
- Internazionale will have played a European match in Norway just three times overall: the team’s matches there include a 2-1 win at Bodø/Glimt in October 1978 and a 2-2 draw at Rosenborg in September 2002; this was the first Norwegian trip of that kind since the 2002 draw.
What’s easy to miss is how the chronology stacks: Bodø’s 3-1 home win came before the San Siro result, and the aggregated 5-2 scoreline combines both legs into a singular upset that carries historical echoes and new statistical angles.
Market numbers, mismatch rankings and the tournament picture
Market-value comparisons underline the scale of the surprise. One club-comparison table listed market values around €666. 80m for Inter versus €57. 13m for Bodø/Glimt; elsewhere figures were stated as €667. 3m for Inter and €57. 1m for Bodø/Glimt, a gap given as €610. 2m. That gap placed this result among the largest perceived mismatches in Champions League history, with past reference points including Lazio beating Bayern Munich (€734. 8m differential cited for 2023/24) and Porto’s 1-0 win over Arsenal (top-ranked at €857. 9m difference that same season).
Mini timeline:
- First leg at Bodø: 3-1, Hauge and Høgh among scorers; Sondre Fet opened the scoring.
- Second leg at the San Siro: 2-1 to Bodø/Glimt, sealing a 5-2 aggregate victory.
- Context: Bodø had also recorded 3-1 v Manchester City and 2-1 v Atlético Madrid in the league phase, a run that could make them the first Norwegian team to win three consecutive European Cup/UEFA Champions League matches.
- Timing note present in coverage: intermediate stage 2nd leg was listed as Tue, 24/02/2026 | 8: 00 PM hours; Tuesday’s matches included multiple decisive fixtures.
Next signal: the club will see where they slot in the round-of-16 bracket and whether those market-value narratives hold up under knockout pressure.
Broader knockout-round fallout
The first teams secured their round-of-16 places through the knockout round playoffs: Newcastle United booked their spot by eliminating Qarabag, and Bayer Leverkusen also advanced after eliminating Olympiacos. The wider knockout map has shifted because Bodø/Glimt took a ticket that many expected to belong to their higher-value opponent.
The real question now is how durable Bodø/Glimt’s momentum will be against the next opposition — the club could face either Manchester City (a team they have already beaten this season) or Sporting in the round of 16 as the bracket settles.
Match momentum — a measure that compares each team’s threat minute by minute and gauges who is more likely to score in a given minute — underlined how swings in danger moments favoured Bodø/Glimt across key passages. Recent updates indicate some details may evolve as the round-of-16 pairings are finalised.
