Norwegian surprise club Bodö/Glimt made a big statement at the start of these playoffs, defeating last year’s Champions League finalist Inter Milan 3-1 after a convincing performance.
With a 2-1 win over Atlético Madrid, Norwegian representatives Bodö/Glimt qualified for this year’s play-offs at the end of the league phase – and wanted to lay the foundation for another surprise in the first leg against clear favorites Inter Milan. And at first, it looked like it might happen for the Northern European club, which has been on the rise for years.
The Milanese, who are continuing their strong run under coach Cristian Chivu in his first year and recently cemented their position at the top of Serie A with a dramatic 3-2 win over Juventus in the Derby d’Italia, proved to be spoilsports from the very first minute. After a brief period of feeling each other out, the Nerazzurri applied pressure, pushed far forward and approached the opponent’s goal with early shots from Lautaro Martinez (5th minute) and Mkhitaryan (6th minute). However, little to nothing came of this, allowing a courageous Bodö to gradually gain the upper hand, generate possession and combine cleanly against the passive Northern Italians.
Fet ice-cold, Esposito from a turn
So clean, in fact, that they took a 1-0 lead in the 20th minute: after some combination football in a tightly packed midfield, Högh was played in centrally in the Milan penalty area, before he brilliantly backheeled the ball to Fet, who was positioned behind him.
Fet was not offside, appeared unmarked in front of Sommer and slotted home with ease to make it 1-0, which was celebrated loudly. This goal certainly rattled the Lombards, who created little in the following period.
It wasn’t until the 26th minute that they were able to make their presence felt in front of the opponent’s goal again – with a volley against the post from veteran Darmian (26′), a too central attempt from Barella after a backheel from Lautaro Martinez (28′), and the subsequent equalizer from Pio Esposito. Lautaro’s partner on the night was lucky to find Carlos Augusto’s cross from outside the box, reacting quickly to make it 1-1 from close range (30′).
By half-time, the now dominant Serie A club could even have been 2-1 up, but Darmian, among others, failed to convert another direct shot thanks to a good save by Bodö’s goalkeeper Haikin (37′). In the same minute, a few seconds earlier, Berg also had a promising set piece that was too central and ended up in the hands of Sommer.
Högh turns it on and Inter goes down
Speaking of Sommer: After Inter came out strong right after the restart with a shot off the post by Lautaro Martinez (46′) and a powerful long-range shot by Carlos Augusto (48′), Bodö also made its presence felt again.
Högh’s dangerous attempt from a tight angle was denied by a great save from the former Munich and Gladbach player, who got his fingertips to the ball (49′).
And it was precisely after this chance by Högh that the whole picture changed. Whereas FC Internazionale had been dominant at times up to that point, the small Norwegian club now took control and dictated the game until the final whistle. This included a resounding success: in the 61st minute, former Frankfurt and Milan player Hauge thundered the ball into the left corner, leaving Inter keeper Sommer with no chance (61′), before Fet played a fine chip to Blomberg, who, with only the Milan keeper to beat, calmly laid the ball off to Högh to slot home (64′). The scorer of the 3-1 goal thus became the match winner, having previously set up Högh for the 1-0 and 2-1 goals.
The score remained 3-1 for the underdogs from Northern Europe because the Nerazzurri, even with substitutes such as Thuram and Bonny, could not come up with anything else. In fact, Bodø’s substitute Helmersen almost made it 4-1, but Sommer was there to save (81′). In short, the Norwegians pulled off a big surprise in this playoff first leg and go into the second leg at the Giuseppe Meazza Stadium next Tuesday (9 p.m.) with a comfortable lead. Curiously, in addition to Inter, who are comfortably leading Serie A and have an away game in Lecce ahead of them before their reunion with Bodö (Saturday, 6 p.m.), Italy’s record champions Juventus were also given a big surprise at the start of these play-offs, losing 5-2 to Galatasaray.
