Rosenborg and Viking FK, Norwegian scalps before Bodö/Glimt’s European surge | OneFootball

Bodö/Glimt have delivered Norwegian football’s greatest European feat, sealing a 2-1 win at Inter in the Champions League play-offs after a 3-1 first leg on 18 February. The triumph followed league-phase victories over Manchester City, 3-1 on 20 January, and away to Atlético Madrid, 2-1 on 28 January.

According to L'Équipe, earlier Norwegian sides had produced one-off shocks against European giants, but nothing as sustained as this sequence.

The club from beyond the Arctic Circle had already reached the Europa League semi-finals last season, losing to Tottenham 1-3 and 0-2. They edged Lazio in the quarter-finals, 2-0, 1-3, then 3-2 on penalties.

It was the first time a Norwegian team had gone so deep in a continental competition. Previously, only quarter-finals had been reached, by Rosenborg in the 1996-97 Champions League and by Lyn, Brann and Valerenga in the now-defunct Cup Winners’ Cup in 1968-69, 1996-97 and 1998-99.

Rosenborg also stunned an imposing AC Milan on 4 December 1996, winning 2-1 at San Siro against a side featuring Franco Baresi, Paolo Maldini and Roberto Baggio. That final group-stage result knocked the Rossoneri out of the Champions League.

Viking, from Stavanger, improbably reached the UEFA Cup second round on 19 September 2002 by beating Chelsea 4-2 after losing 2-1 at Stamford Bridge. In 2017, during Europa League qualifying, Rosenborg ousted Ajax with 1-0 and 3-2 wins.

Source: L'Équipe