Bodo/Glimt make Champions League history after shock win over last year’s finalists

FK Bodø/Glimt produced one of the great modern European upsets by eliminating Inter Milan from the Champions League.

Their 2-1 second-leg victory at San Siro sealed a stunning 5-2 aggregate triumph and etched the Norwegian champions into history.

Few gave FK Bodø/Glimt a chance against three-time European champions Inter Milan, especially on Italian soil.

Inter, last season’s finalists, needed a three-goal win, something they had never achieved in a Champions League knockout match, but despite early dominance, they found no way past inspired goalkeeper Nikita Haikin.

Federico Dimarco and Davide Frattesi both came close in a one-sided first half, while Yann Sommer was forced into action to deny Håkon Evjen at the other end.

The breakthrough came just before the hour mark when Manuel Akanji’s misplaced pass allowed Ole Blomberg to pounce. His effort fell kindly for Jens Petter Hauge, who tapped home to silence San Siro.

Hauge turned provider in the 72nd minute, threading a superb pass through Inter’s defence for Evjen to finish calmly. Although Alessandro Bastoni pulled one back, the damage was done as Bodø/Glimt held firm to complete the upset.

The result made Bodø/Glimt the first Norwegian side to win a Champions League knockout tie and the first from the country to progress in Europe’s elite competition since 1987.

Remarkably, the club had never won a Champions League match before January, drawing three and losing three of their first six matches in their debut season, before beating Manchester City and Atletico Madrid.

Their fourth consecutive victory in this season’s campaign also makes them the first team outside Europe’s traditional “big five” leagues to achieve such a run against elite opposition since Ajax in 1971-72.

Having once faced a 99.7% probability of elimination earlier in the competition, Bodø/Glimt now march into the round of 16 draw, living proof that European football still has room for fairy tales.