{"id":230460,"date":"2026-02-25T19:37:00","date_gmt":"2026-02-25T19:37:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2026\/02\/25\/truly-unique-how-minnows-plotted-ruthless-giant-killing-run-thats-upended-champions-league\/"},"modified":"2026-02-25T19:37:00","modified_gmt":"2026-02-25T19:37:00","slug":"truly-unique-how-minnows-plotted-ruthless-giant-killing-run-thats-upended-champions-league","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2026\/02\/25\/truly-unique-how-minnows-plotted-ruthless-giant-killing-run-thats-upended-champions-league\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Truly unique\u2019: How minnows plotted ruthless giant killing run that\u2019s upended Champions League"},"content":{"rendered":"

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In the space of just over a month, three massive football names, Manchester City, Atletico Madrid, and now Inter Milan, have fallen to Bodo\/Glimt — a small Norwegian club based inside the Arctic Circle.<\/p>\n

Having already beaten Inter at home 3-1, the Scandinavians edged the Italians 2-1 at the iconic San Siro on Tuesday to reach the last 16 of the Champions League.<\/p>\n

\ufeffGet all the latest football news, highlights and analysis delivered straight to your inbox with Fox Sports Sportsmail. Sign up now!!!<\/a><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

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The victory over the three-time Champions League winners, who are sitting pretty atop Serie A, continued Bodo\u2019s surprise tour de force in the competition.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is the greatest club achievement ever by a Norwegian team,\u201d Norway coach Stale Solbakken told public broadcaster NRK.<\/p>\n

While their league season has been over since November, Bodo\/Glimt have won all their European matches since the start of the year.<\/p>\n

Before twice overturning leads by Inter, they beat Manchester City, led by compatriot Erling Braut Haaland, 3-1 in Norway, and also toppled Atletico 2-1 in Madrid.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a feat few would have seen coming.<\/p>\n

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Bodo\/Glimt’s Norwegian defender #06 Jostein Gundersen (C) celebrates with teammates at the end of the UEFA Champions League second-leg play-off football match between Inter Milan and Bodo\/Glimt at San Siro stadium in Milan, northern Italy, on February 24, 2026. (Photo by PIERO CRUCIATTI \/ AFP)<\/span>Source: AFP<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Bodo is a small coastal city north of the Arctic Circle, which many would struggle to find on a map, with only 50,000 inhabitants.<\/p>\n

Far from almost everything and battered by icy sea winds Bodo\/Glimt (\u201cglimt\u201d meaning \u201cglimmer\u201d in Norwegian) keep the flame alive in a city plunged into darkness during winter months.<\/p>\n

Their cramped and outdated Aspmyra Stadium — built in 1966 — can hold just over 8,200 spectators and the team came close to bankruptcy in 2016.<\/p>\n

It is made up almost entirely of Norwegians and they have been working wonders since a return to the Eliteserien, Norway\u2019s first division, in 2018.<\/p>\n

Since then, they have been crowned national champions in four of the last six campaigns.<\/p>\n

Last season they become the first Norwegian team to play in the semi-finals of a major European competition with their run in the Europa League.<\/p>\n

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Akanji error costs Inter dear | 00:24<\/p>\n

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\u2018FAIRYTALE\u2019<\/b><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s so important for football that Glimt are doing this, that in 2026 it\u2019s still possible for a small club to build itself up from almost nothing,\u201d Mads Skauge, vice-president of the club\u2019s supporters\u2019 group J-Feltet, told AFP.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt a time when there is so much money in football, it\u2019s truly unique. I can\u2019t find any other example in modern history of a run as close to a fairytale as the one Glimt have had,\u201d Skauge added.<\/p>\n

Today, Bodo\/Glimt\u2019s fan base extends far beyond the town, and even outside Norway.<\/p>\n

The club\u2019s shirts are sold in Asia, and media from around the world are coming to report on the phenomenon.<\/p>\n

The recipe for success is a team with no egos, where everyone knows their role. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a team in the truest sense of the word. There are no big stars, no freeloaders,\u201d Skauge said.<\/p>\n

\u201cEveryone clearly knows their role and if they don\u2019t fulfil it, they\u2019re out.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Glimt’s players celebrate at the end of the Champions League playoff soccer match between Inter Milan and Bodo Glimt, at the San Siro stadium in Milan, Italy, Tuesday, Feb.24, 2026. (AP Photo\/Luca Bruno)<\/span>Source: AP<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

They have also adopted a style of play focused on attack, no matter the opponent.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith so much repetition (in training), they play so fast that even the best teams struggle to keep up,\u201d Skauge said.<\/p>\n

To this they have now added a solid backbone.<\/p>\n

Bodo\/Glimt finished last season in second place with by far the best attack and the best defence of the Norwegian league.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve dared to follow our own path, to be bold, to find our own way of doing things and, each time, we assess and move forward, maybe even a bit more than we would have dreamed,\u201d coach Kjetil Knutsen told broadcaster TV2.<\/p>\n

Now confidence is sky-high — to the point where the players are daring to shed their traditional Nordic humility.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are incredibly strong. What we\u2019re achieving is simply huge, we can beat anyone,\u201d forward Jens Petter Hauge, who scored the first goal against Inter said.<\/p>\n

Their next opponents — who will either be Manchester City once again or Sporting Lisbon — have been warned.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In the space of just over a month, three massive football names, Manchester City, Atletico Madrid, and now Inter Milan, have fallen to Bodo\/Glimt — a small Norwegian club based inside the Arctic Circle. Having already beaten Inter at home 3-1, the Scandinavians edged the Italians 2-1 at the iconic San Siro on Tuesday to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":230461,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6807],"tags":[2228,1192,25363,4399,1429,5512,46422,10587,149,38063,70383,5250,2458,58972,2249,1433,5962,1415,70376,16017,1427,70,59293,70381,70384,70379,70375,70378,70382,5978,4007,2457,2902,5905,70377,70380],"class_list":{"0":"post-230460","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-leagues-cups","8":"tag-agence-france-presse","9":"tag-champions-league","10":"tag-doing-things","11":"tag-europa-league","12":"tag-europe","13":"tag-european-competition","14":"tag-european-run","15":"tag-fan-base","16":"tag-football-news","17":"tag-giant-killers","18":"tag-icy-sea-winds","19":"tag-internazionale-milano-f-c","20":"tag-italy","21":"tag-kjetil-knutsen","22":"tag-league-season","23":"tag-lega-calcio-serie-a","24":"tag-madrid","25":"tag-manchester-city-football-club","26":"tag-massive-football-names","27":"tag-milan","28":"tag-northern-europe","29":"tag-norway","30":"tag-norwegian-club","31":"tag-norwegian-defender","32":"tag-norwegian-team","33":"tag-norwegian-underdogs-backstory","34":"tag-nrk","35":"tag-play-off-football","36":"tag-playoff-soccer-match","37":"tag-province-of-madrid","38":"tag-san-siro-inc","39":"tag-southern-europe","40":"tag-spain","41":"tag-sporting-lisbon","42":"tag-stale-solbakken","43":"tag-tv2"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/230460","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=230460"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/230460\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/230461"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=230460"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=230460"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=230460"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}