“This is unreal”
The sensation in the Arctic Circle is imminent
02/24/2026 – 6:16 p.mReading time: 4 minutes
FK Bodø/Glimt is the surprise of the Champions League season. Now the club from the Arctic Circle is facing the next sensation. In the middle: a former Frankfurter.
There isn’t really much to see in the Norwegian city of Bodø. A few museums, a town hall and the library, which opened in 2014, are among the biggest attractions in the community of around 43,000 people. However, Bodø is currently not in the headlines because of its high level of attraction for tourists. Rather, the local football club FK Bodø/Glimt is attracting a lot of attention across national borders these days.
Coach Kjetil Knutsen’s team is facing the biggest coup in the club’s history in the Champions League. In the first leg of the second round, Bodø defeated three-time title holders Inter Milan 3-1 at their home Aspmyra Stadium. In the second leg on Tuesday (from 9 p.m. in the live ticker on t-online), a draw or even a narrow defeat would be enough for Bodø to finally complete the sensation: a place in the round of 16.
Immediately after the first game against Inter in Bodø, they couldn’t fully grasp the historic opportunity they now have. “It’s unreal, to be honest,” said left winger Jens Petter Hauge on Prime Video. “We’ve played some fantastic games here before. But today was something different, it was in the knockout phase. We had everything to win and we played a good game.”
Reaching the round of the last 16 teams would be a sensation for several reasons. In the run-up to the duels with Inter, Bodø was considered a blatant outsider despite reaching the semi-finals of the Europa League last year. The squad value of the northernmost club in this year’s Champions League season is just under 57 million euros, while that of the southern Europeans is over 666 million euros. The two clubs are worlds apart not only geographically but also financially.
In the current season, Bodø was also represented in the group stage of the Champions League for the first time. Inter, on the other hand, were in the final of the premier class last year. A place in the round of 16 for Bodø would therefore be a small miracle.
Incidentally, in the first premier class preliminary round in the club’s history, the Norwegians faced some prominent opponents. But people in the Vestfjord were not impressed by this. On the second matchday, Bodø wrestled a 2-2 draw at home from Europa League winners Tottenham Hotspur. The Knutsen team achieved the same result despite being twice behind on matchday six away at Borussia Dortmund.
