Havana, February 24 (RHC) – Norwegian side Bodo/Glimt today completed the feat of qualifying for the round of 16 of the European football Champions League, after beating Italian Inter 2-1 in the second leg of the play-offs.
Goals from Jens Petter Hauge in the 58th minute and Hakon Evjen in the 72nd stunned the Nerazzurri fans gathered at San Siro and put the visitors on course for a clash with either Manchester City or Sporting Lisbon in the next round.
Alessandro Bastoni scored a consolation goal for the Italians in the 76th minute, after a shot confirmed by goal-line technology.
The Norwegian side secured their passage with a 5-2 aggregate score after a 3-1 victory in the first leg, played on February 18.
From the opening whistle, Inter controlled possession, needing to overturn the deficit, but the significant absences of key players such as Lautaro Martínez, Denzel Dumfries, and Hakan Çalhanoğlu ultimately proved costly.
In another tie, Atlético de Madrid defeated Club Brugge 4-1 thanks to a hat trick from Norwegian Alexander Sørloth, securing a 7-4 aggregate victory after a 3-3 draw in the first leg.
Sørloth opened the scoring in the 23rd minute, and the Belgian club responded in the 36th minute with a goal from Ecuadorian Joel Ordóñez.
After the restart, American Johnny Cardoso put Diego Simeone’s team ahead 2-1 in the 48th minute.
In the final stages, Sørloth completed his hat trick with goals in the 76th and 87th minutes to guarantee Atlético’s passage to the next round.
Meanwhile, England’s Newcastle beat Azerbaijan’s Qarabag 3-2 for a 9-3 aggregate score, and Germany’s Bayer Leverkusen advanced with a decisive 2-0 victory over Greece’s Olympiacos after a 0-0 draw in the second leg.
