Tiny Bodø/Glimt is making a big splash in the Champions League and after back-to-back upsets over Manchester City and Atletico Madrid, it has set up a possible showdown with Real Madrid.
A 2-1 comeback win at Atletico on Wednesday saw the Norwegian club scrape into the playoffs. It means it will play either record 15-time European champion Madrid or last year’s losing finalist Inter Milan.
“The feeling is enormous, I am so incredibly proud,” Bodø/Glimt coach Kjetil Knutsen said. “I’m not going to compare it to anything, but we do what we do. We should be extremely proud of that. Achievements stand on their own.”
And given its habit of pulling off stunning upsets in Europe’s elite club competition, Madrid and Inter are unlikely to relish a two-legged tie against the team that’s located north of the Arctic Circle — farther north than any in Champions League history.
It was the second time in as many weeks that Bodø/Glimt has pulled off a shock result, following the 3-1 win against Manchester City. Pep Guardiola’s players were so apologetic to their fans that they refunded ticket costs for supporters who traveled to the match.
Despite that win, Bodø/Glimt needed to repeat it to secure a place in the top 24 of the standings in its first season in the Champions League.
And despite falling behind to Alexander Sørloth’s first-half goal, it rallied through Fredrik Sjøvold and Kasper Høgh to seal 23rd place.
Its reward is the potential of a clash with all-time king of Europe, Madrid, which dropped into the playoffs after losing 4-2 to former coach Jose Mourinho and Benfica.
Inter — a two-time finalist in the last three seasons — is also in the playoffs.
Should Bodø/Glimt pull off another unlikely win, it would face the possibility of a rematch with City or Sporting Lisbon in the round of 16.
It is turning into a spectacular debut in the competition for the Norwegians from the fishing town of Bodø, located more than 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) north of Oslo and with a population of around 55,000.
Brutal winter conditions and its artificial playing field at its 8,000-capacity Aspmyra stadium have helped it pull off shock wins against famous opponents like Roma, Lazio and Porto before the biggest upset of the lot against City last week.
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James Robson is at https://x.com/jamesalanrobson
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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
