On Tuesday night, Bodø/Glimt completed the double over Inter to reach the round of 16 of the UEFA Champions League, an achievement that saw them achieve a host of European pedigree which had been far-fetched for a side outside of the top five leagues.
From becoming the northernmost club to reach the round of 16 to extending their impeccable giant-killing record, we take a look at some of the milestones that fell in the wake of Kjetil Knutsen’s charges.
5 incredible Bodø/Glimt feat after Inter win
1. Extended giant-killing feat
Before kickoff on the night, the Norwegian side has won each of their previous three Champions League games against Manchester City, Atlético Madrid, and Inter in the first leg of the playoffs tie.
By winning the return leg, they became just the first team outside Europe’s top five leagues to win four consecutive games against teams from the top five leagues, in 54 years, since Ajax in the 1971-72 campaign.
2. Longest UCL winning streak by a Norwegian team
Bodø/Glimt have also assumed ownership of the record for the longest winning run by a Norwegian team in the Champions League with four consecutive victories.
Following their recent historic 2-1 win over Inter Milan at the historic Giuseppe Meazza, they extended their streak to four games, surpassing the previous benchmarks set by Rosenborg BK, which was the first to put the country on the map in European football.
Rosenborg managed streaks of two or three wins during their dominant period in the Champions League (most notably in the 1996/97 and 1999/00 seasons), but Bodø/Glimt’s current run is considered unique not just for its length, but for the caliber of opponents defeated during the streak.
3. Sixth team to do a KO double over Inter in Europe
Bodø/Glimt became just the sixth team to achieve a rare feat of completing the double over Inter in European competition, and just the third to do so in the UEFA Champions League.
Last time it happened during their treble defence campaign in Champions League in 2010-11, when they lost the first leg of the quarter-final clash at home by 5-2 to Schalke, who went on to win the second leg 2-1 in Germany.
Liverpool, under Rafael Benitez in 2007-08 were the first to do so in the Champions League era, while the duo of Olympique Marseille and Wolfsburg completed the list with wins in the UEFA Cup and Europa League respectively.
Bodo/Glimt, 3-1 and 2-1 in Italy joins this elusive list and will be up there among the achievements of any Norwegian team in the history of European football as a whole.
4. First Northernmost club to reach the UCL round 16
Following their 5-2 aggregate win over Inter, Bodø/Glimt have become the first northernmost to reach the UCL round of 16.
Additionally, they also became the first Norwegian club to go beyond the first knockout stage in the competition since Lillestrøm SK, who advanced past the first round by beating Linfield 5-3 on aggregate, then lost to Bordeaux in round 2 in the 1987-88 European Cup.
5. First Norwegian club to eliminate a Serie A team in Europe
Historically, no Norwegian team had ever eliminated Italian opposition in a two-legged European knockout tie until last year. However, Bodø/Glimt has shattered that record twice within the last ten months.
Their remarkable run began last season in the UEFA Europa League quarterfinals, where they successfully ousted Lazio. They followed this historic feat yesterday by eliminating Inter Milan in the Champions League knockout phase play-offs.
By dispatching the three-time European champions, Bodø/Glimt became the first Norwegian side to win a Champions League knockout tie in the modern era.
Kehinde-Hassan Afolabi
