The Norwegian fairy tale just keeps on going. Bodo/Glimt produced another statement performance on their remarkable Champions League journey, dismantling Sporting CP 3-0 at a rocking Aspmyra Stadion to take a commanding lead into the second leg in Lisbon.
Manchester City, Atletico Madrid and Inter Milan have all been swept aside on this incredible run. Now it is Sporting who find themselves staring down the barrel, beaten convincingly by a club that had never even played in the competition proper before this season.
Bodo were dominant from the first whistle, pressing Sporting back into their own half and creating chances at will. Jens Petter Hauge saw an early volley go narrowly wide, and goalkeeper Rui Silva was called into action shortly after to deny Hakon Evjen. The pressure told in the 32nd minute when Sondre Brunstad Fet was brought down in the box and stepped up to convert the resulting penalty himself, sending Silva the wrong way with a composed low finish.
Sporting barely had time to reorganise before the second goal arrived in first half stoppage time. Ole Didrik Blomberg reacted quickest as the ball bounced through a crowded penalty area and slid a clinical finish into the net. Two goals to the good at the break, Bodo had been every bit as dominant as the scoreline suggested, generating well over twice the expected goals of their Portuguese opponents.
The second half saw Sporting make a triple substitution in search of a way back into the tie, but Bodo absorbed the pressure comfortably and sealed the win in the 71st minute. Kasper Hogh, himself a substitute, attacked Hauge’s hard driven low cross at the back post and converted from close range for his fifth Champions League goal of the season.
The numbers behind this run are extraordinary. Bodo have now become only the fifth club from outside Europe’s top five leagues to win five consecutive Champions League games, with none of their three scorers on the night having ever been called up for their respective national teams. Hogh equals the record for most Champions League goals in a single season by a Danish player, while Blomberg became the fourth Bodo player this campaign to reach five or more goal involvements in the competition.
Sporting travel back to Lisbon with a mountain to climb and very little to show for their efforts on the night. For Bodo/Glimt, the dream of a Champions League quarterfinal is now firmly within reach.
