Norway’s Bodo/Glimt continued their fairytale run in the Champions League as they knocked out last year’s finalists Inter Milan in one of the competition’s biggest ever upsets.
Following an impressive run in the Europa League, head coach Kjetir Knutsson’s side continued their impressive progress by advancing to the last 16 of the UEFA Champions League and making their first appearance in the tournament, a season after becoming the first Norwegian side to reach the semi-finals of a European competition.
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Bodo/Glimt were a team in the Norwegian second division in 2017 and are the northernmost team to ever compete in the Champions League. Based in the small town of Bodo, a 16-hour drive north of Oslo on the edge of the Arctic Circle, its population of 55,000 will still find plenty of empty seats even when traveling to Inter Milan’s iconic San Siro stadium. Bodo/Glimt’s operating budget is also a fraction of the size of Europe’s biggest clubs.
Bodo/Glimt have now beaten Manchester City, Atletico Madrid and Inter Milan to reach the last 16 of the Champions League (Getty Images)
It’s worth noting that Knutson’s team is also in the offseason. The Norwegian top flight Eliteserien ends on November 30, 2025 due to winter and will only resume when spring arrives in mid-March. But during that time, Bodo/Glimt defeated Manchester City, Atletico Madrid, and eliminated the Italian giant Inter Milan, the leader of Serie A, with home and away wins.
Bodo/Glimt go into the San Siro with a two-goal lead following their stunning 3-1 win in Norway last week, a superb record on the artificial pitch of the 9,000-capacity Aspmila Stadium. Then, on Tuesday night, they survived a long period of pressure and Jens Petter Hauge punished Manuel Akanji’s error to silence the San Siro.
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Haakon Evcan scored a brilliant second goal on the counterattack as Bodo/Glimt began to play with confidence and, despite Alessandro Bastoni pulling one back, Inter still had a mountain to climb. The 5-2 aggregate victory not only heralded a crisis for three-time European champions Inter Milan and Italian football as a whole, but would also send shock waves through the sport.
Bodo/Glimt’s players celebrate their victory at San Siro as they reach the last 16 in their first season in the Champions League (AFP via Getty Images)
In Norway, they will celebrate the first Norwegian team to win the knockout stages of the European Cup or Champions League since the 1987-88 season.
Bodo/Glimt are also the first team outside of England, Spain, Germany, Italy or France to play four consecutive games against teams from the five major European leagues since Ajax led by Johan Cruyff in the 1971-72 season. Ajax also won the European Cup that season.
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“Can you believe it?” Knudsen said. “A team from a small northern town, it’s unbelievable and today was a special game.”
This kind of thing should not happen in Europe today.
Trust the process – How Bodo started
Bodo/Glimt’s close-knit, team-first environment is often cited as a key factor behind their remarkable journey. Head coach Knudsen, who has been at the helm since 2018, has been linked with several big jobs and bigger leagues during the club’s rise, but has rejected offers to stay at Bodo/Glimt, with whom he recently signed a contract until 2029.
“For me, the people are the most important thing,” he said TV 2 January. “That’s more important than all the trophies. You’re always trying to win something and that’s great. But the joy of winning with someone is the most important thing. There has to be an environment where people care about each other – and I feel like we’ve created that at Bodo/Grinter.”
Kjetil Knutsen helps Bodo/Glimt advance from Norway’s second division into the last 16 of the UEFA Champions League (Getty Images)
Hauge, Bodo/Glimt’s top scorer in the Champions League this season and now with six goals in nine games, is an example of that spirit. The 26-year-old was signed by AC Milan in 2020 after helping his hometown club’s early rise, and has since played for Eintracht Frankfurt in Germany and Gent in Belgium in an attempt to progress at the higher levels of European football.
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But back in Bodo, Hauge had the same realization as some of his teammates: Home was the best place for him after all. It helps to enhance the sense of unity within the club and makes it feel like it has created something special.
Jens Hauge, who moved to AC Milan early in his career, celebrates a goal at San Siro (AFP via Getty Images)
There is also the influence of Bjørn Mannsverk, a former fighter pilot turned psychological coach whose unconventional methods are also part of the club’s story. When Mansverk arrived at the Norwegian second division club in 2017, he revolutionized the team’s behavior through a process of meditation and embracing it, rather than focusing on results on the pitch.
“It’s a fairy tale, almost a miracle,” Manswock told Associated Press last season. “How can you really go from Serie B to the Champions League in 2017… but I think it’s possible… if you have the right mentality and work hard over time.”
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The European tour continues
Bodo/Glimt won the Norwegian top flight for the first time in 2020 and repeated that success in 2021, 2023 and 2024, but their story has only become mainstream on the European stage.
They made their first major impact when they beat Mourinho’s Roma 6-1 in the 2021 Europa League group stage, becoming the first team to break through Mourinho’s defense six times. They also beat Celtic in the knockout rounds before losing to Roma in a bad-tempered quarter-final.
After gaining more experience in European football, Bodo/Glimt put together a formidable home record in last season’s Europa League, beating Twente, Olympiakos and Lazio on plastic pitches before losing to eventual champions Tottenham Hotspur in the semi-finals.
Bodo/Glimt comes from a small town of 55,000 people located above the Arctic Circle, 16 hours north of Oslo (Getty Images)
A first appearance in the Champions League wasn’t exactly what was planned after the first six games. Before hosting Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City in January, Bodo/Glimt were winless and their hopes of reaching the knockout stages were in jeopardy.
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But Erling Haaland’s return to Norway was overshadowed by a dominant display from Bodo/Glimt, who added their biggest scalp to date. Two weeks later, they played away to Diego Simeone’s Atletico Madrid, coming from behind to win 2-1 and advance from the league stage.
The play-off draw pitted Bodo/Glimt against a daunting draw with Italian leaders Inter Milan, last year’s Champions League finalists. Shockingly, their story is not over yet, as they face a rematch with Manchester City or Portuguese champions Sporting CP in the last 16.
“They are taking steps – I’m proud”
“It sounds unreal, but we were there and we were one of the last teams in the tournament,” Hauge said. “So it’s really exciting to see what the next two games bring.
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“It’s great what we did. I’m so proud of this team, the trainers and the medical staff. We’re all in this together and we’re very confident in our program.
“We have gained a lot of experience from this situation in the Europa League last season. We know today’s game will be very difficult.
“But time was going our way, so we knew that the longer we could keep it at 0-0, space would open up and we could really punish them on the counter-attack, which we did.”
Knutson added: “We’re in the last 16, I really can’t believe it. But the players are fantastic. They’re taking steps, they believe, they’re working harder, so I’m very proud.”
