Bodo/Glimt's fairytale run comes to crashing halt
Bodo/Glimt's dream run in this season's Champions League may be over, but they bow out with heads held high having made history. Playing their football in often freezing conditions in a town located just north of the Arctic circle, the Norwegians surprised many by reaching the knockout stage on their debut in the competition. They claimed some impressive scalps along the way - beating Manchester City and Atletico Madrid in the league phase before winning both legs against last season's finalists Inter Milan in the knockout play-offs.
But after winning their last-16 first leg match against Sporting 3-0 in Norway, the Portuguese side produced one of the great Champions League comebacks to win 5-0 at home and progress 5-3 on aggregate. "We did not play the game, we played the occasion, and it became far too big for us," said Bodo/Glimt boss Kjetil Knutsen. "Sporting CP went out there and didn't care about anything, while we were thinking about the consequences from the very first touch.
" From Bodo to Brentford - ranking this season's biggest overachievers This fairytale run to the knockouts will have felt unlikely for Bodo/Glimt after failing to win their first six league phase games, meaning they were left needing results against Manchester City and Atletico to qualify for the play-offs. A 3-1 victory over Pep Guardiola's men brought deserved attention and acclaim, but it was no one-off as Bodo overcame Atleti 2-1 in Madrid to claim a play-off spot. Knutsen's side lost to Spurs in the Europa League semi-finals last season, having become the first Norwegian side to reach the last four of a major European competition.
Key to their success has often been their ability to make their home games as tough as possible. In the north of Norway, Bodo can often be bitterly cold, snowy and windy during the long winter months, with temperatures deep into minus figures. The difficult weather conditions mean the team play on an artificial pitch made of plastic, something many sides used to playing on grass find difficult to deal with.
Those aspects, coupled with the players' determination and strong belief in their ability, means many have left Bodo defeated. They thrashed Jose Mourinho's Roma 6-1 at home in the Conference League five years ago, while Celtic, Besiktas, Porto and Lazio have also been victims in recent years. Bodo exit the Champions League having won their past three home games - seeing off Manchester City, Inter Milan and Sporting - and will look to their home record to serve them well once more when they next play European football.