The arctic fairy tale lives on
Bodø/Glimt, the Cinderella club of this Champions League, wrote another incredible chapter this Wednesday. In its small Aspmyra stadium, packed with almost 8,000 souls, the Norwegian team beat Sporting Lisbon 3-0 in the first leg of the round of 16.
The Portuguese giant, creator of figures such as Cristiano Ronaldo, became the latest victim who traveled far north and ended up frozen within the Arctic Circle. Manchester City and Inter had already fallen here this year.
They now boast a remarkable streak of five consecutive Champions League wins — all during preseason in Norway.
A compelling advantage built step by step
Sondre Brunstad Fet opened the scoring from the spot in the 32nd minute. Ole Blomberg extended the lead just before half-time. And Kasper Høgh, the man on a roll, sealed the win in the 71st minute with his fifth goal in these five straight victories.
The most striking thing is that none of these scorers has yet played for their national team. Fet (29) and Blomberg (25) are waiting for their opportunity with Norway. Høgh (25) has not yet been called up by Denmark.
Nine of the eleven starters are Norwegian. Three play for their hometown team, which did not win its first league title until 2020.
Now, the fishing village team is one step away from making history. It would be the most unlikely qualifier for the quarterfinals in years. The winner of the second leg in Lisbon will play either Arsenal or Bayer Leverkusen.
The entire population of Bodø, barely 55,000 people, could fit inside the Arsenal stadium. But this Wednesday, his little Aspmyra was giant.
