Bodo Glimt complete historic last-16 berth with 2-1 win at Inter Milan
bodo glimt closed out a shock European night in Milan with a 2-1 victory that secured a 5-2 aggregate win over Inter and a place in the Champions League last 16. The result matters now because it crowns a rare sequence of upsets — including wins over Manchester City and Atlético Madrid — and marks several firsts for Norwegian club football.
Bodo Glimt's route to the last 16
The Norwegian side, based about 70 miles inside the Arctic Circle, entered the San Siro holding a 3-1 lead from the first leg and defended that margin to complete a home-and-away double over Inter. Bodo Glimt had earlier beaten Manchester City and Atlético Madrid in the group phase to reach the knockout play-off round; finishing the tie 5-2 on aggregate sends them into the last 16 for the first time in the club’s history. They will next face either Manchester City or Sporting in the last-16 tie.
San Siro drama and the key moments
The pattern of the match saw Bodo Glimt absorb sustained Inter pressure in the first half and then strike decisively in the second. At 58 minutes Ole Didrik Blomberg forced Manuel Akanji into an error, nicked the ball and produced a shot that stung goalkeeper Yann Sommer’s palms; Jens Petter Hauge finished the rebound with a calm prodding effort to open the scoring. After that goal the visitors grew in confidence and their passing sharpened; a move that began in Bodo’s own half culminated with Hauge curling a cross into the path of Håkon Evjen, who took one left-footed touch and smashed the ball past Sommer with his right for the second.
Jens Petter Hauge and Håkon/Hakon Evjen impact
Jens Petter Hauge scored the opener and set up the second; it was his sixth goal in this Champions League campaign, the most ever by a Norwegian player for a Norwegian club in a single edition of the competition. Hauge had returned to the San Siro where he previously spent two years with AC Milan. The second goal credited to Håkon Evjen (also presented as Hakon Evjen in some material) was celebrated by the forward as evidence of the team’s complete performance: “We have done something crazy, ” he told Norwegian TV 2, adding that the win felt surreal and that they had beaten Inter “fair and square – mentally, physically and everything else there is. ”
Kjetil Knutsen, Cristian Chivu and post-match reactions
At full-time Bodo Glimt boss Kjetil Knutsen and Inter coach Cristian Chivu stood chatting on the pitch; Chivu appeared bemused by the outcome. Knutsen described progression as “a historical moment for Bodo and I think also for Norwegian football. ” Inter midfielder Nicolò Barella conceded his side had failed to create openings and congratulated Bodo Glimt on winning both games. The Italian press framed the defeat with strong language: one newspaper ran the headline “No Excuses” and called Inter’s showing an embarrassment, while former manager Fabio Capello criticised Inter for being too slow in passing and unable to dribble past opponents. In Norway the media hailed the result; one headline read, “Glimt claim historic scalp – ‘This ends any discussion’, ” and commentator Lars Tjærnås described it as the biggest result by a Norwegian club side.
Milestones and context for Norwegian football
The achievement carries several measurable milestones. Bodo Glimt are the first Norwegian club to win a knockout-stage tie in the Champions League and the first Norwegian side to progress in the European Cup since Lillestrom in 1987–88. They are also the first team from outside Europe’s big five leagues to win four consecutive games in a European Cup or Champions League campaign against opponents from those leagues since Ajax in 1971–72. The club’s European rise has followed a rapid domestic and continental ascent: Bodo won their first Norwegian league title in 2020, reached the Conference League quarter-finals in 2021–22 and the Europa League semi-finals last season before making their Champions League debut this campaign.
That debut season was not straightforward: Bodo Glimt failed to win any of their first six group-stage matches and therefore depended on the later victories over Manchester City and Atlético Madrid to reach the play-offs. Norway’s domestic season has not yet started this year; it is scheduled to begin next month, a timing difference observers noted as part of the context for Bodo Glimt’s European form.
What this result means for Inter and the competition
Inter entered the tie as three-time winners of Europe’s top club competition and had been beaten by Paris St-Germain in last season’s final just over nine months earlier. They remain top of Serie A by 10 points and had been undefeated in the league since 23 November, but the two-legged defeat leaves them eliminated from this Champions League play-off round. The broader implication is that Bodo Glimt’s progression reshapes expectations about smaller-league clubs’ capacity to challenge elite opposition in European knockout matches.
