Bodo/Glimt completed the greatest achievement in the Norwegian minnows’ history on Tuesday by winning 2-1 at Inter Milan and reaching the last 16 of the Champions League, 5-2 on aggregate.
Leading 3-1 from last week’s first leg in the Arctic Circle, goals in the second half from Jens Petter Hauge and Hakon Evjen stunned the San Siro and set up a tie with either Manchester City or Sporting of Portugal in the next round.
More than 3,000 fans travelled to Milan to watch their team continue a remarkable debut season in Europe’s elite club competition, a huge number for a club from a city with a population of around 50,000.
There were 20,000 more people at the San Siro than live in Bodo on Tuesday night and the vast majority left disappointed after Inter, who scored late through Alessandro Bastoni, failed to mount the comeback coach Cristian Chivu believed could happen.
Inter’s elimination was another blow for Italian football on the European stage, with all four Serie A clubs likely to be out of the Champions League come Thursday.
Juventus and Atalanta trail Galatasaray and Borussia Dortmund, respectively, with few giving either much of a chance of getting through ahead of their matches on Wednesday.
But it was a historic night for Bodo/Glimt, who have been crowned Norwegian champions in four of the last six seasons and will be a tough test for whoever they face next month.
Inter were, as to be expected, on the front foot from the off, and Pio Esposito headed over a great chance in the third minute from a Federico Dimarco cross.
Dimarco had a fizzing inswinger tipped over the bar by Nikita Haikin while Marcus Thuram watched on as his powerful long-range effort was deflected just over the bar.
But as the match wore on a pattern emerged of Inter bluntly attacking down the flanks and putting in crosses that were comfortably dealt with by Bodo/Glimt’s defenders.
Hauge pounced in the 58th minute following a confused passage of play in which Inter defender Manuel Akanji, who had only moments before returned to the pitch following treatment for a cut eyebrow, gifted the ball to Ole Didrik Blomberg on the edge of the box.
Blomberg failed to score one-on-one with Yann Sommer but Hauge netted his sixth goal in the Champions League to send the away fans delirious.
Akanji hit the post 10 minutes later but Evjen made absolutely sure of Bodo/Glimt’s passage in the 72nd minute when he expertly lashed home Hauge’s searching pass into the box.
Bastoni forced the ball over the line shortly afterwards but it mattered little for Inter who are left with trying to secure the Serie A title, which looks likely due to a 10-point lead over local rivals AC Milan.
Leverkusen through to Champions League last 16 after Olympiacos draw
Bayer Leverkusen are through to the last 16 of the Champions League after a scoreless home draw with Olympiacos on Tuesday, winning their play-off round tie 2-0 on aggregate.
Leverkusen were below their best but did just enough to qualify after last week’s comfortable first-leg win in Greece.
It was the first time Leverkusen made it through a two-legged Champions League knockout tie since they reached the final in 2002, when they lost 2-1 to Real Madrid.
The 2024 German double winners will face either Premier League leaders Arsenal or German champions Bayern Munich, who eliminated Leverkusen at the last 16 stage last season.
Leverkusen had not conceded at home in any competition since early January and were rarely troubled by the energetic but toothless Greek champions.
Olympiacos rested six starters in their Greek Super League match on Saturday in the hopes of reaching the Champions League last 16 for the first time since 2013-14, when they were narrowly eliminated by Manchester United.
Seeking to give his troops a little extra motivation, billionaire Olympiacos owner Evangelos Marinakis — who also owns Nottingham Forest — promised an “unprecedented” financial bonus for reaching the last 16.
Patrik Schick scored twice in four minutes in last week’s opening leg and the Czech striker was in the thick of things early on, heading just wide and dragging a lob over goalkeeper Konstantinos Tzolakis but past the far post inside six minutes.
After that early flurry, Leverkusen were content to sit back as the match wore on, forcing the visitors to try and create something.
Leverkusen’s best chance of the match came midway through the second-half when Alejandro Grimaldo blasted a shot against the crossbar with Tzolakis beaten.
Right-back Lucas Vazquez, a Champions League winner with Real Madrid, limped off late in the second-half in the only black mark for the hosts.
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