UCL: Norway’s Bodo/Glimt beat Inter Milan 3-1 in play-off 1st leg

2026-02-18 - 22:16

Bodo/Glimt continued their remarkable debut Champions League campaign with a 3-1 victory over Inter Milan in the knockout play-off round first leg on Wednesday, as Kasper Hogh scored once and created two other goals. The Norwegians only snuck into the knock-out stage with shock victories over Manchester City and Atletico Madrid in their final two league-phase matches. Kjetil Knutsen’s men backed up those performances by adding last season’s runners-up Inter to their list of scalps. Cristian Chivu’s Serie A leaders will still be confident of turning the tie around in the second leg at the San Siro next Tuesday, despite struggling on the artificial pitch of the Aspmyra Stadion in northern Norway. But Bodo/Glimt, Europa League semi-finalists last term, have given themselves a chance of securing a major surprise, and a last-16 meeting with either Man City or Sporting Lisbon. The hosts took a 20th-minute lead with a fine team goal, finished off with aplomb by Sondre Brunstad Fet after he latched onto Hogh’s clever flick inside the area. But Bodo could not keep their advantage for long as Inter youngster Pio Esposito swivelled inside the box and fired home on the half-hour mark, with the goal surviving a lengthy VAR review for handball. Inter almost scored in the first minute after the restart when Lautaro Martinez’s instinctive close-range shot bobbled off