Norway’s Bodo/Glimt produce another Champions League shock by beating last year’s beaten finalists Inter Milan 3-1.
Champions League runner-ups Inter Milan became the latest scalp claimed by Bodo/Glimt in the Champions League, as the Italian giants lost 3-1 away in the first leg of their playoff.
The Norwegian outsiders have been the surprise story of this season’s competition after beating Manchester City at home and Atletico Madrid away to make the playoffs.
The club is located north of the Arctic Circle – which is farther north than any team in Champions League history.
Serie A leaders Inter were seeking a seventh straight win in all competitions but fell behind in the 20th minute on Wednesday when midfielder Sondre Brunstad Fet netted with a neat finish.
Although burly striker Pio Esposito equalised with an opportunist finish 10 minutes later, the home side picked off Inter with two goals in quick succession in the second half.
Both were similar, with quick passing and unselfish assists.
For the second goal, forward Kasper Hogh rolled the ball for Jens Petter Hauge to launch a powerful shot into the top corner in the 61st.
The winger, who once had a brief spell in Serie A with AC Milan, jumped and kicked the corner flag in celebration.
The fans at the 8,000-capacity Aspmyra Stadion were cheering again three minutes later when Hogh scored the third goal after being teed up by Ole Didrik Blomberg.
The return leg will be next Tuesday.
Elsewhere, Club Brugge’s Christos Tzolis tucked away a late equaliser to secure a dramatic 3-3 draw with Atletico Madrid in their Champions League playoff first leg on Wednesday as the Belgian side avoided defeat after an agonising own goal appeared to have cost them.
Tzolis slammed home an angled shot in the 89th minute to level the tie, although the goal was initially ruled out for offside, but was confirmed after a VAR check.
Brugge fought back from a 2-0 half-time deficit to level the score, but then looked to have thrown it away when Joel Ordonez turned the ball into his own net in the 79th minute.
Yet they head into next Tuesday’s return leg in Madrid with the scores level.
Bayer Leverkusen striker Patrik Schick struck twice in three minutes to steer his team to a 2-0 victory at Olympiacos in their Champions League last-16 playoff first leg on Wednesday.
The Czech forward slipped past his marker and slotted in on the hour mark before quickly bagging a second goal with a downward header from Alex Grimaldo’s corner.
In the early game on Wednesday, Anthony Gordon struck four times in the first half as Newcastle United thrashed Qarabag 6-1 away in their Champions League playoff first leg to all but book their place in the last 16.
Newcastle was 5-0 up by halftime against Qarabag as Gordon completed his hat-trick in 33 minutes at the Tofik Bakhramov Stadium in Baku and got a fourth in first-half added time.
Malick Thiaw was also on target for the Premier League team, which had 16 shots in a rampant first half.
Elvin Jafarguliyev pulled one back for Qarabag, which has been one of the surprise stories of this season’s Champions League after qualifying for the playoffs. But Jacob Murphy’s deflected strike completed the rout for Newcastle, which will be the fifth English team in the last 16 if they advance.
Source: Aljazeera.com
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