Inter - Bodø/glimt stun Inter Milan at San Siro to reach Champions League last 16
inter - bodø/glimt pulled off one of the Champions League's biggest shocks on Feb 24, 2026, beating Inter Milan 2-1 at the San Siro to win the playoff 5-2 on aggregate and secure a place in the round of 16.
Inter - Bodø/glimt complete historic aggregate win
Bodo/Glimt's 2-1 victory at the San Siro capped a 5-2 aggregate success over Inter Milan and made them the first Norwegian team ever to win a Champions League knockout tie. Jens Petter Hauge and Hakon Evjen scored in the second half to overturn the pressure from the hosts and seal progression to the last 16.
How the second half turned in Milan
Defending a 3-1 first-leg lead, Bodo/Glimt soaked up first-half pressure until a Manuel Akanji error was seized on by Ole Didrik Blomberg in the 58th minute; Blomberg's shot was saved by Inter goalkeeper Yann Sommer and Hauge was on hand to convert the rebound. Evjen lashed in a second in the 72nd minute after Akanji had hit the post in Inter's attempts to rally. Alessandro Bastoni later pulled one back for Inter, but the damage was already done.
A fairytale run, records and reaction
The win capped a remarkable campaign for the Norwegian side in their first season in Europe's top competition. Bodo/Glimt had earlier beaten Manchester City and Atlético Madrid in the league phase and completed a home-and-away double over Cristian Chivu's Inter. The club, based about 70 miles inside the Arctic Circle, had still not won a Champions League game by the start of January and had scraped just three points from six group games; Opta estimated a 0. 3% chance of reaching the round of 16 a month ago. Manager Kjetil Knutsen described the moment as unbelievable and said it had been "quite a journey" to get there.
Individual milestones and context
Jens Petter Hauge's opener took him to six goals in this season's Champions League, the most ever by a player for a Norwegian club in a single edition. Bodo/Glimt also became the first team from outside Europe's top five leagues to win four consecutive games against opponents from those leagues since Ajax in 1971-72, with Ajax going on to win the trophy that season. The Norwegians are the first side from their country to progress in a knockout-stage tie in the Champions League and the first overall in the European Cup since Lillestrom in 1987-88.
Pre-match squad notes and manager details
Inter entered the tie as Serie A leaders, sitting 10 points clear, and had a 3-1 deficit to overturn at the San Siro. Cristian Chivu was in charge of Inter for the tie; the club's recent history included a final defeat to Paris St-Germain just over nine months earlier. Ahead of the second leg, Lautaro Martínez was carrying a calf injury from the first leg and was not available for Bodø's visit; Marcus Thuram was expected to partner Pio Esposito in his absence. Federico Dimarco, unused in the Arctic Circle, was projected to start the second leg. Piotr Zieliński was set to operate at the base of midfield with Hakan Çalhanoğlu absent, and Nicolo Barella was due to return after missing Inter's 2-0 win over Lecce on Saturday. The preview for the game listed broadcast coverage on TNT Sports 1, discovery+, Paramount+, TUDN USA, UniMás, TUDN. com, Univision NOW and the TUDN app.
What comes next
Winners 2-1 on the night and 5-2 on aggregate, Bodo/Glimt will face either Manchester City or Sporting in the Champions League last 16. The club's dramatic progression — after beating City and Atlético and overturning Inter across two legs — sets up the next confirmed fixture: a round-of-16 tie against one of those two sides, with the opponent to be determined by the remaining playoff result.
