Sporting CP 5-0 Bodø/Glimt (aet) [5-3 agg]: Sporting complete comeback to end Bodø’s fairytale Champions League run. | OneFootball

Goals from Gonçalo Inácio, Pedro Gonçalves and Luis Suárez brought the Portuguese side level on aggregate before Maximiliano Araújo and Rafael Nel’s extra-time strikes completed the comeback.

As it happened

Sporting started with incredible intensity and gave Bodø/Glimt their first warning sign in the opening minutes. Brilliant work down the left from Maximiliano Araújo, who’s clipped cross found a wide open Francisco Trincão but he failed to hit the target with a free header.

Just moments later, Trincão again had a chance to open the scoring. A long ball in behind the defence found the Portuguese attacker but he couldn’t get a good enough touch and it rolled behind for a goal kick.

The chances just kept coming for the home side in the opening ten minutes. Araújo’s long ball found the run of striker Luis Suárez, but his low-effort was brilliantly kept out by a strong hand from Nikita Haikin. Another chance went begging just minutes after as Pedro Gonçalves was inches away from getting on the end of a header back across goal from Araújo.

The visitors showed their threat on the counter as a quick break resulted in an opening for their danger man Kasper Høgh, but his effort was poor and well wide of the target.

Just as it looked as though Bodø had dealt with the Sporting storm, the hosts broke the deadlock after the half hour mark. Trincão’s corner found Gonçalo Inácio in the box, and the defender guided his header into the corner to give his side hope.

Bodø came so close to restoring their three goal lead in the tie from a set-piece of their own. Odin Bjørtuft rose highest in the box, firing a header off the crossbar, with the ball then dropping and hitting the bar again, and the follow-up failing to be turned in by any player in yellow.

The second half followed the pattern of the first with a big chance for Sporting. A slick team move finished with a chance at the back post for Geny Catamo, but his left footed effort could only find the side netting.

The chances were flowing again for the hosts, with captain Morten Hjulmand coming close with a couple of efforts, but still Sporting could not find their clinical touch.

But on the hour mark, they did just that. A brilliant pass from Catamo found Suárez in behind, he unselfishly played the ball across the box to Gonçalves who had a tap-in at the back-post. Sporting were back within a goal on aggregate and the home crowd were sparked back into life.

And then, after a VAR review, Sporting were given a spot kick for handball. The penalty was absolutely blasted home by Suárez, levelling the score on aggregate and sending the home fans into raptures.

It was nearly 4-0 soon after as substitute Nuno Santos rattled the woodwork with a powerful strike from the edge of the box as the Portuguese side relentlessly pursued a fourth.

Despite the efforts of the hosts to find the breakthrough before the final whistle, they were unable to do so and the game went to extra time.

That breakthrough came just over one minute into extra time, and Araújo was the hero. Trincão’s layoff was fired home at the near post by the Uruguayan and the comeback was officially complete.

Sporting sealed the victory in added time at the end of the second period of extra time. Bodø turned the ball over in their own half, and Daniel Bragança played in Rafael Nel who fired home at the near post to secure a first ever Champions League Quarter Final spot for the Portuguese champions.

Sporting produced an incredible performance to overturn their first leg aggregate defeat in Norway. They played the game at a relentless tempo, and with a more clinical edge to their game, they could have scored even more.

For Bodø, their underdog story came to an end in difficult circumstances. They were outclassed from beginning to end in Lisbon and ultimately deserved the defeat on the night. That does not take anything away from the unbelievable journey they have been on in the Champions League, and they will surely look back at their achievements with pride.