Bodo Glimt: how bodo glimt reached the Champions League last 16 with a San Siro upset
bodo glimt completed a shock 2-1 win at the San Siro on Feb 24, 2026 to seal a 5-2 aggregate victory over Inter Milan and reach the Champions League last 16 for the first time. The result matters because the Norwegian side had earlier beaten Manchester City and Atlético Madrid in the league phase and had been winless through the opening group games.
San Siro night: Inter Milan 1-2, 5-2 on aggregate
Bodo/Glimt won 2-1 in Milan to confirm a 5-2 aggregate success over three-time winners Inter Milan. The visitors defended a 3-1 first-leg lead and completed a home-and-away double over Cristian Chivu's men. Alessandro Bastoni pulled a goal back for Inter, but by then the tie was effectively decided.
That victory makes Bodo/Glimt the first Norwegian side to progress in a knockout-stage tie in the Champions League and the first Norwegian club to win a European Cup knockout tie since Lillestrom in the 1987-88 first round. The team will face either Manchester City or Sporting in the last 16.
Jens Petter Hauge and Hakon Evjen decide the tie
Jens Petter Hauge opened the scoring and later had a decisive role in the tie, his sixth goal of this Champions League season. The opener came after a mistake by Manuel Akanji was seized on by Ole Didrik Blomberg; Blomberg's shot was saved by Inter goalkeeper Yann Sommer but Hauge converted the rebound in the 58th minute.
Hakon Evjen lashed in a second for the visitors in the 72nd minute, a finish that sent around 3, 000 traveling fans wild. Hauge had been inspirational again; he also scored in Bodo’s 3-1 win the previous week and had earlier returned to the San Siro where he had a two-year spell with AC Milan. The move to Milan did not work out, but Hauge has slotted back in at Bodo.
Bodo Glimt's Arctic project and improbable run
Boss Kjetil Knutsen described the night as "a historical moment for Bodo and I think also for Norwegian football, " and added that it had been "quite a journey. " The club is based around 70 miles into the Arctic Circle, and its home games can often be played in harsh wintry conditions on an artificial surface at Aspmyra Stadium.
In their first season in European club soccer's top competition, the team pulled off one upset after another: they beat Manchester City and Atlético Madrid in the league phase and then eliminated last year's beaten finalist Inter over two legs. Bodo/Glimt failed to win any of their first six league-phase games and were left needing results against Manchester City and Atlético Madrid to reach the play-offs; a month earlier their chance of advancing had been put at 0. 3% after they had picked up three points from six games.
The Norwegians are also the first team from outside Europe's big five leagues to win four consecutive games in a European Cup/Champions League campaign against opponents from those leagues since Ajax in 1971-72; Ajax went on to win the European Cup that season.
Reactions from Inter, past misjudgements and Italian echoes
Inter coach Cristian Chivu pushed back at smugness from a reporter the night before the second leg, saying in astonishment, "And you’re laughing too, eh?" He added "Well done" with sarcasm and said, "Unlike you, we respect our opponents, " praising what Bodo did to his side, to Atlético in Madrid, to Manchester City and to Borussia Dortmund and saying that Bodo show that "with a healthy project and a clear set of ideas, you can carry on a beautiful thing. "
Inter midfielder Nicolo Barella said, "We're disappointed. We want to go as far as possible in every competition. We tried, but they were better than us. " Inter defender Yann Bisseck added: "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. " Akanji later hit the post as Inter tried to mount a fightback.
The result also reopened memories of five years earlier, when Roma lost 6-1 in the Arctic Circle and Jose Mourinho was left red-faced; a pundit reaction at the time called them "salmon farmers" on television, an assumption many felt would mean Bodo would rapidly fade. Instead, Bodo beat Roma twice in the 2021-22 Conference League, added one draw and one defeat in Rome in a later quarter-final tie, and then upset Lazio in the Europa League last year en route to the semi-finals. Monied suitors circled the club after those displays and Milan signed Hauge following the team's previous visit to the San Siro.
What the win means next
Beyond the immediate celebrations under the red girders of the Giuseppe Meazza and the stunned silence in the Curva Nord, Knutsen noted the collective nature of the achievement: "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. " The win completes a run that has taken down the 2023 European champion City, three-time winner Inter and Spanish giant Atlético and puts the Norwegian club into the last 16 of the Champions League for the first time.
