Bodo/Glimt's fairytale run comes to crashing halt

Bodo/Glimt's dream run in this season's Champions League may be over, but they bow out with heads held high having made history.

Playing their football in often freezing conditions in a town located just north of the Arctic circle, the Norwegians surprised many by reaching the knockout stage on their debut in the competition.

They claimed some impressive scalps along the way - beating Manchester City and Atletico Madrid in the league phase before winning both legs against last season's finalists Inter Milan in the knockout play-offs.

But after winning their last-16 first leg match against Sporting 3-0 in Norway, the Portuguese side produced one of the great Champions League comebacks to win 5-0 at home and progress 5-3 on aggregate.

"We did not play the game, we played the occasion, and it became far too big for us," said Bodo/Glimt boss Kjetil Knutsen.

"Sporting CP went out there and didn't care about anything, while we were thinking about the consequences from the very first touch."

This fairytale run to the knockouts will have felt unlikely for Bodo/Glimt after failing to win their first six league phase games, meaning they were left needing results against Manchester City and Atletico to qualify for the play-offs.

And, against the odds, they provided them.

A 3-1 victory over Pep Guardiola's men brought deserved attention and acclaim, but it was no one-off as Bodo overcame Atleti 2-1 in Madrid to claim a play-off spot.

Knutsen's side lost to Spurs in the Europa League semi-finals last season, having become the first Norwegian side to reach the last four of a major European competition.

Key to their success has often been their ability to make their home games as tough as possible.

In the north of Norway, Bodo can often be bitterly cold, snowy and windy during the long winter months, with temperatures deep into minus figures.

The difficult weather conditions mean the team play on an artificial pitch made of plastic, something many sides used to playing on grass find difficult to deal with.

Those aspects, coupled with the players' determination and strong belief in their ability, means many have left Bodo defeated.

They thrashed Jose Mourinho's Roma 6-1 at home in the Conference League five years ago, while Celtic, Besiktas, Porto and Lazio have also been victims in recent years.

Bodo exit the Champions League having won their past three home games - seeing off Manchester City, Inter Milan and Sporting - and will look to their home record to serve them well once more when they next play European football.

Everyone loves an underdog story and there have been many over the years in the Champions League, with Bodo/Glimt's run ranking among the best.

Perhaps comparable in terms of club size and profile was APOEL's journey to the quarter-finals in 2011-12.

They became the first Cypriot side to reach the last 16 of the competition before beating Lyon to set-up a last-eight match with Real Madrid, which ultimately proved a step too far.

Another memorable run from an underdog includes Malaga in 2012-13.

The Spanish side were Champions League debutants and impressed as they topped a group containing AC Milan before beating Porto in their first knockout tie. Their run was ended by Dortmund in the quarter-finals.

Two seasons ago Club Brugge became the first Belgian side in the Champions League era to win a knockout phase game when they beat then Europa League holders Atalanta over two legs in the play-offs. They lost to Aston Villa in the last 16.

But perhaps what makes Bodo/Glimt's run so impressive is the size of their club.

Bodo play their home games at the Aspmyra Stadion, which has a capacity of about 8,500 - almost three times smaller than any of the teams mentioned above.

Pretty much the entire population of the town of Bodo - where their ground is based - could also fit inside in a ground like City's Etihad Stadium.

You only need to look at the squad value of Bodo/Glimt to realise just how impressive their progress has been.

According to Transfermarkt, they had the least valuable squad in the last 16 with a total worth of 57m euros (£49m). The next lowest value squad is Galatasaray's at 345m euros (£298m).

But what Bodo/Glimt's players have shown when facing more expensively assembled opponents is a great determination and belief they are more than the sum of their parts.

Their battling qualities were evident during their run to the knockouts, notably when coming from behind to earn results against Dortmund and Atletico in the league phase.

And their efforts in Europe have ensured the Norwegian side enjoy a significant payday as they exit pocketing about £40m - almost as much as the current value of their entire squad.