Inter Vs Bodø/glimt: Norwegian side complete historic upset at San Siro
Bodø/Glimt eliminated Inter Milan from the Champions League with a 2-1 victory in Milan, sealing a 5-2 aggregate triumph that sends the Norwegian club into the last 16 for the first time. The result matters because it confirms a run of giant-killing performances that has already included wins over Manchester City and Atlético Madrid and marks a rare advance for a club outside Europe’s biggest leagues.
Inter Vs Bodø/glimt: the San Siro tie and the scoreline
Bodø/Glimt’s 2-1 win on the night left the tie 5-2 on aggregate after the Norwegian side had taken a 3-1 lead in the first leg. Inter pulled one back through Alessandro Bastoni in the 77th minute, but the goal proved insufficient. Inter had needed at least two goals in the second leg to overturn the first-leg deficit, having lost that match 3-1, and their failure to do so ended their campaign in the playoff round.
Jens Petter Hauge and Håkon Evjen decisive for Bodø/Glimt
The visitors opened the scoring after sustained Inter pressure when Ole Didrik Blomberg seized on a loose pass on the edge of the Inter area and drove at goal in the 58th minute. Yann Sommer parried the initial effort, but Jens Petter Hauge reacted quickest to convert the rebound from close range. Håkon Evjen put the result beyond doubt in the 72nd minute with a precise right-footed finish into the far bottom corner.
Key interventions: Blomberg, Sommer and goalkeeper Nikita Haikin
Blomberg’s run created the opening that led to Hauge’s sixth goal of the campaign; Yann Sommer’s initial save could not prevent the rebound finish. Inter created a number of chances throughout the match but were repeatedly denied by resolute defending and the reflexes of Bodø goalkeeper Nikita Haikin. Those saves materially reduced Inter’s opportunities to find the two goals they needed to progress.
Cristian Chivu, Inter injuries and season context
Inter coach Cristian Chivu acknowledged Bodø’s quality, noting they had “proved” they belong after showing that level against Borussia Dortmund, Atlético Madrid, Manchester City and Inter twice. Inter were without Lautaro Martínez and Hakan Çalhanoglu through injury for the match, factors the club noted but did not present as excuses. Midfielder Nicolò Barella reflected on the narrow margins, saying one more point in the league phase would have avoided the playoff and lamenting that Inter could not score when it mattered, adding that the team had tried but Bodø were better.
The exit comes against a wider backdrop of upheaval at Inter: last season the club reached the Champions League final but were crushed 5-0 by Paris Saint-Germain, lost to AC Milan in the Italian Cup semifinals and finished runner-up to Napoli in Serie A. Simone Inzaghi was replaced by Chivu, whose only prior senior managerial post had been a few months at Parma. Inter’s squad rebuilding was modest, with new arrivals limited to Ange-Yoan Bonny, Luis Henrique, Petar Sučić and Manuel Akanji. Domestically, Inter sit 10 points clear at the top of Serie A and appear to be closing in on the title, even as they struggled in the Champions League: they won their first three group matches but then lost four in a row to finish the league phase in 10th, one point short of automatic advancement.
Historic consequences for Bodo/Glimt and the wider Champions League picture
For Bodø/Glimt, the win is being framed as a historical moment. Manager Kjetil Knutsen described the achievement as significant for both the club and Norwegian football. The club, based around 70 miles inside the Arctic Circle, had earlier in this campaign beaten Manchester City and Atlético Madrid in the league phase and drawn with Borussia Dortmund. They are the first Norwegian side to progress in a knockout-stage tie in the Champions League and the first club from Norway to go this far in European competition since Lillestrom’s appearance in 1987–88.
What makes this notable is that Bodø are also the first team from outside Europe’s big five leagues to win four consecutive European Cup/Champions League matches against opponents from England, Spain, Germany, Italy and France since Ajax in 1971–72. Jens Petter Hauge’s six goals this season set a new record for the most by a Norwegian player for a Norwegian club in a single edition of the competition. The club’s unusual context — many home games often played in harsh wintry conditions and the fact Bodø had failed to win their first six league-phase matches, leaving them needing results against Manchester City and Atlético to reach the play-offs — underlines the scale of the achievement. Bodø have not even begun play in Norway’s top flight yet this season, an additional detail that highlights the unconventional nature of their run.
With progression secured, Bodø/Glimt will meet either Manchester City or Sporting in the last 16. Elsewhere in the playoff round, Atlético Madrid advanced after Alexander Sørloth’s hat-trick helped beat Club Brugge 4-1 on the night and 7-4 on aggregate; that tie had featured a 3-3 draw in Belgium the previous week. In Madrid’s second leg, Sørloth scored in the 23rd minute, Joel Ordóñez levelled 13 minutes later, Johnny Cardoso put Atlético 2-1 early in the second half, and Sørloth completed his treble with goals in the final 15 minutes. Bayer Leverkusen also progressed after a 0-0 draw with Olympiakos sealed a 2-0 aggregate win following Patrik Schick’s double in the first leg; Leverkusen will face either Bayern Munich or Arsenal in the round of 16, with the draw scheduled for Friday.
Reactions and immediate aftermath
Reactions to the upset ranged from Inter figures acknowledging Bodø’s quality to external commentary branding Inter’s elimination as a catastrophe. Chivu emphasised the competitiveness of teams at this stage and conceded Inter could have performed better both in Norway and in Milan. Hauge, back at the San Siro after a two-year spell at AC Milan, said it “sounds not true” but expressed excitement about what the next matches will bring. The Norwegian club’s run — from failing to win early in the group phase to toppling last season’s finalists — leaves a clear tangible impact: Bodø/Glimt are through to the Champions League last 16 for the first time in their history, and European opposition must now reckon with a side that has repeatedly defied expectations this season.
