Bodø Glimt stun Inter Milan in San Siro as Norwegian champions storm into Champions League last 16 with historic 5-2 aggregate triumph

When the final whistle blew at the San Siro, disbelief hung in the cold Italian air.

Bodø/Glimt — a club tucked deep inside the Arctic Circle — had just finished the job.

They didn’t sneak through. They didn’t scrape by.

They beat Inter Milan home and away.

Coming into the second leg with a 3-1 cushion, many expected Inter’s pedigree to take over.

After all, this is a club with three European titles and recent final experience, having fallen to Paris Saint-Germain in last season’s showpiece.

But football has a way of ignoring reputations — and Bodø/Glimt have made a habit of tearing up scripts.

Calm Under Siege

The opening stages in Milan felt like a siege.

Inter poured forward, waves of blue and black crashing toward the Norwegian goal.

But Bodø/Glimt didn’t panic. They absorbed. They stayed compact.

They trusted their structure — something manager Kjetil Knutsen has drilled into this team for years.

And when the moment came, they struck.

Jens Petter Hauge, once a player in this very city during his spell with AC Milan, delivered the opener.

It was his sixth goal of this Champions League campaign — a remarkable return and a national record for a Norwegian representing a Norwegian club in the competition.

Then came the second — Håkon Evjen finishing off a move that felt almost symbolic.

Calm. Precise. Clinical.

Inter won 2-1 on the night? No. Bodø did.

And 5-2 on aggregate tells the real story.

History Written in Yellow

This wasn’t just a win. It was a line in the history books.

Bodø/Glimt are now the first Norwegian club to win a Champions League knockout tie.

You have to go back to 1987-88 and Lillestrom SK in the old European Cup for anything remotely similar.

Even more striking — they’ve strung together four straight wins against teams from Europe’s so-called “big five” leagues.

That hasn’t happened since Ajax did it in 1971-72… and that Ajax side went on to lift the trophy.

It’s the kind of statistic that makes you pause.

From Arctic Darkness to European Spotlight

To understand how improbable this is, you need to understand Bodø.

The town sits around 200 miles inside the Arctic Circle.

Winter there is not a metaphor — it’s brutal reality. Snow. Wind. Temperatures that slice through you.

Their home ground uses artificial turf, partly out of necessity.

Visiting teams, used to pristine grass pitches, often struggle to adjust.

But weather and plastic don’t win matches on their own. Mentality does.

This is a club that once dismantled AS Roma 6-1 under José Mourinho.

A club that pushed all the way to the Europa League semi-finals last season.

A club that started this campaign terribly — six straight league-phase defeats — before somehow finding the resilience to beat Manchester City and Atletico Madrid when elimination seemed certain.

This latest chapter just feels bigger.

Belief Is Their Superpower

There’s no superstar wage bill here. No global marketing machine.

No squad stacked with household names.

What they have is clarity. Knutsen’s tactical identity is sharp — aggressive pressing, quick vertical passing, wide players who attack space without fear.

The team runs relentlessly. They trust the system.

Captain Patrick Berg summed it up best: nobody thought they could beat City, Atlético, and Inter. And yet here they are.

The round of 16 now awaits, with either Sporting CP or another meeting with Manchester City on the horizon.

Neither option will intimidate them.

Why This Matters Beyond Norway

Moments like this ripple outward. Smaller clubs across Europe will look at Bodø/Glimt and see possibility.

The financial gap in modern football is enormous.

The Champions League often feels predictable.

Yet here’s a team from a town of around 50,000 people elbowing past giants.

It’s a reminder that structure, patience, and long-term planning can still challenge raw spending power.

Norway’s domestic league may not carry the glamour of Serie A or the Premier League, but nights like this demand respect.

What’s Next?

The immediate focus shifts to the draw and preparation for the last 16. Squad depth will be tested.

The Norwegian domestic season’s calendar — which runs differently from most European leagues — could either help freshness or disrupt rhythm.

Scouts will circle. Players like Hauge and Berg will attract attention again.

Holding the squad together may prove as difficult as beating Europe’s elite.

But for now, Bodø/Glimt have earned the right to dream.

And based on everything we’ve seen, they won’t approach the next round just happy to participate.

Summary

Bodø/Glimt have done more than eliminate Inter Milan — they’ve shattered expectations.

A 5-2 aggregate triumph, historic milestones for Norwegian football, and another fearless European performance underline that this is no accident.

From Arctic conditions to the grand stage of the San Siro, they’ve shown that belief and preparation can outweigh reputation.