Bodo Glimt complete historic San Siro upset to reach Champions League last 16
bodo glimt beat Inter Milan 2-1 at the San Siro on Feb 24, 2026, sealing a 5-2 aggregate victory and clinching a place in the Champions League round of 16. The win — achieved by a club based about 70 miles inside the Arctic Circle — caps a campaign that included victories over Manchester City and Atlético Madrid and marks the first time a Norwegian side has won a Champions League knockout tie.
Bodo Glimt finish 2-1 at the San Siro
The decisive night in Milan unfolded in the second half. In the 58th minute Ole Didrik Blomberg pressured Manuel Akanji into a turnover, struck a shot that Yann Sommer parried, and Jens Petter Hauge reacted to score from the rebound. Hauge’s strike was his sixth of the competition this season, the most by any player for a Norwegian club in a single Champions League edition.
With Inter seeking a way back, Alessandro Bastoni later reduced the deficit, but Håkon Evjen restored a two-goal cushion in the 72nd minute, finishing a move that began with Bodo winning the ball in their own half and ended with Hauge curling a cross into Evjen’s path. Around 3, 000 traveling fans celebrated as Evjen’s finish went in. The night closed 2-1 on the night and 5-2 on aggregate, after Bodo had defended a 3-1 first-leg lead.
Knutsen, the club’s journey and those defining wins
Manager Kjetil Knutsen framed the achievement as historic for both club and country, and he reflected on the long build-up to this stage. The club’s European ascent has followed clear milestones: the first Norwegian league title in 2020, a Conference League quarter-final run in 2021-22, and a Europa League semi-final in the season immediately before their debut campaign in the Champions League proper. Yet the campaign was not straightforward — Bodo failed to win any of their first six group-stage matches and, by the start of January, had still not recorded a Champions League victory.
That changed in a dramatic few weeks when the team beat Manchester City at home and Atlético Madrid away to secure a place in the playoffs. Stats firm Opta calculated that a month ago Bodo Glimt had a 0. 3% chance of advancing to the round of 16; those victories altered the trajectory and propelled the club into the knockout round.
Inter’s form, reactions and tactical aftermath
Inter arrived in the second leg as Serie A leaders, sitting 10 points clear and undefeated in the league since 23 November, but they were unable to break down Bodo’s compact first-half shape and were outplayed after the interval. Cristian Chivu, Inter’s coach, was seen speaking with Knutsen after the final whistle and appeared bemused by how the tie unfolded.
Inter midfielder Nicolò Barella acknowledged the visitors’ superiority in the tie and said the team had failed to create openings. Defender Yann Bisseck described the night as unlucky for Inter and congratulated the opponents. Italian reaction included a front-page headline reading “No Excuses” and criticism that Inter had been predictable and lacking speed from figures such as Fabio Capello.
How one turnover changed the tie
The sequence that most clearly determined the outcome began when Blomberg forced the error from Akanji in the 58th minute. That pressure led directly to the opening goal; Hauge’s rebound finish converted the chance created by the turnover. The second goal — a patient passing move that started deep in Bodo’s half and culminated in Evjen’s right-footed finish — compounded Inter’s task and neutralized Alessandro Bastoni’s later reply. When Inter pressed, Akanji hit the post, but the earlier damage had already been done.
Historic implications and what comes next
Bodo Glimt are now the first Norwegian club to progress in a Champions League knockout tie and the first team from outside Europe’s big five leagues to win four consecutive games in this competition against opponents from those five nations since Ajax’s 1971-72 run, a campaign that ended with Ajax lifting the trophy. The Norwegian side’s success also echoes a longer national drought in the European Cup: the last Norwegian club to advance in a knockout tie of the European Cup was Lillestrom in 1987-88.
Hauge’s six-goal haul and the team’s back-to-back wins over giants such as Manchester City, Atlético Madrid and Inter underline the measurable impact of recent results. Bodo’s progress puts them into the last 16, where they will face either Manchester City or Sporting. The broader implication is clear: a sequence of high-impact wins transformed a campaign that, a month earlier, seemed almost impossible into a historic run deep into Europe’s premier club competition.
Unclear in the provided context: exact date for Norway’s domestic season start; for that detail the context states only that the domestic season does not begin until next month.
