San Siro sets the stage for the return leg of an exciting UEFA Champions League knockout playoff tie between Inter and Bodo/Glimt. The Nerazzurri suffered a disappointing 3-1 defeat in the first leg last week and are now staring down the barrel of an early elimination.
Kjetil Knutsen’s side took full advantage of the Aspmyra Stadion’s synthetic pitch to catch Inter off guard. Despite heading into the halftime interval on level terms, Bodo/Glimt made Francesco Pio Esposito’s first-half strike irrelevant, as former Milan winger Jens Petter Hauge and star striker Kasper Hogh inspired the Norwegians to a historic win.
Indeed, Bodo/Glimt became the first Norwegian side to beat Italian opposition in a major European competition since 1996. Furthermore, they are now on the brink of becoming the first Norwegian team to progress from a knockout stage tie in the UCL since Lillestrom in 1987/88. However, Inter’s elimination is anything but a foregone conclusion.
Cristian Chivu’s men bounced back from the Arctic upset with a 2-0 win at Lecce last weekend. With Milan losing to Parma at home on Sunday, Inter are now ten points clear at Serie A’s summit. As such, Chivu is on course to win the Scudetto in his debut season at San Siro. Still, a standout result on the continental front remains one of Oaktree’s top priorities.
As such, Inter will likely do everything in their power to turn this tie on its head.
Inter
Keen to enact revenge on the Bodo outfit, Inter can draw confidence from their stellar form at San Siro. They’ve won their last three home outings across all competitions by an aggregate score of 11-4, including a controversial 3-2 Derby d’Italia victory over arch-rivals Juventus in their most recent such fixture.
Home and away, Chivu’s charges have won seven of their last eight competitive games (L1), scoring at least two goals in each win. However, Inter must set a new club record if they’re to progress into the next round without the burden of extra time. They need to win a Champions League knockout game by a 3+ goal margin for the first time in club history.
Worryingly, they have lost four of their last five Champions League matches (W1), including a pair of defeats to Liverpool and Arsenal on home soil. Defensive solidity could prove crucial here, not least because the runaway Serie A leaders have kept a clean sheet in 11 of their last 15 UEFA home triumphs.
Bodo/Glimt
Knutsen’s side defied the lack of competitive form in the first leg. Still, it’s worth noting that they had a number of advantages in that clash, including the synthetic surface, favorable weather conditions, and the buoyant support of their home fans. Therefore, Bodo/Glimt would be naive to write Inter off before tonight’s kickoff.
Nevertheless, the visitors ought to be confident after beating none other than Atletico Madrid, Manchester City, and Inter in their last three Champions League outings. As a result, they become the first team since 1971/72 from outside of Europe’s big-five leagues to record four consecutive wins in a single Champions League season against teams from those five leagues.
History doesn’t favor them here, though. Indeed, Bodo/Glimt have never beaten Italian opposition on the road (D1, L6), highlighting the size of the task awaiting Knutsen’s lads this evening. Luckily for them, they only need to avoid losing this fixture by a multi-goal margin to etch their names into the club’s history books and extend their dream maiden appearance in the knockout stages.
Inter lost star center-forward Lautaro Martinez to a calf injury in the first leg, with Marcus Thuram and Pio Esposito expected to lead the line now. Meanwhile, Federico Dimarco and Piotr Zielinski are likely to return to the starting lineup after being rested last week, with the latter replacing Hakan Calhanoglu as a deep-lying playmaker. Furthermore, Denzel Dumfries has returned from a lengthy spell on the sidelines, but he’ll probably start on the bench.
On the other hand, Bodo/Glimt have arrived in Italy without Nigerian forward Gift Sunday and Danish striker Mikkel Bro Hansen. Knutsen will put his side’s fate into the hands of Hogh, who has netted our goals and set up two more in his last three European appearances.
Inter (3-5-2): Sommer; Bisseck, Akanji, Bastoni; Henrique, Barella, Zielinski, Mkhitaryan, Dimarco; Thuram, Esposito.
Bodo/Glimt (4-3-3): Haikin; Sjovold, Bjortuft, Gundersen, Bjorkan; Evjen, Berg, Fet; Blomberg, Hogh, Hauge.
It would take a brave man to bet against Bodo/Glimt after everything that happened in the Arctic Circle last week. However, this is an entirely different setting, with the packed San Siro roaring behind the Nerazzurri. Therefore, we expect the home side to overturn a deficit in a Champions League knockout tie for the first time in 15 years and avoid the ignominy of failing to secure a place in the Round of 16 for the first time since 2020/21.
Prediction: Inter to Progress
