Bodo/Glimt’s surprising Champions League victory against Inter Milan – a statistical overview

Bodo/Glimt achieved one of the most remarkable upsets in Champions League history on Wednesday by eliminating last year’s finalists Inter Milan, thereby securing a spot in the round of 16.

Their 2-1 victory at the San Siro resulted in a 5-2 aggregate success over the Serie A club. Bodo/Glimt has also triumphed over Manchester City and Atletico Madrid during this extraordinary campaign for a team from the Arctic Circle.

A stunned Inter Milan coach Cristian Chivu remarked that the Norwegian champions had “demonstrated” their place among Europe’s elite, while Bodo/Glimt’s head coach referred to the outcome as “a historic moment for Bodo and I believe also for Norwegian football.”

Perhaps Inter should have been more aware of Bodo/Glimt’s capacity for giant-killing; Roma, Celtic, Besiktas, Porto, and Lazio have also fallen victim in recent years.

The statistics behind Bodo/Glimt’s Champions League success

• Bodo/Glimt has won their last four Champions League matches, defeating Manchester City, Atlético, and Inter twice. They are the first Norwegian team to achieve four consecutive victories in the Champions League proper.

• Bodo/Glimt’s win against Inter has made them the first Norwegian club to ever win a tie in the Champions League knockout phase. They are the first overall in the European Cup since Lillestrøm in the first round in 1987-88 (against Linfield).

• Inter attempted 30 shots during the match, their highest in a Champions League game according to Opta records (since 2003-04).

• Transfermarkt estimates Bodo/Glimt’s entire squad at €57.13 million, while Inter’s squad is valued at €666.8 million.

• Bodo/Glimt is the first team from outside Europe’s top five leagues to win four consecutive matches in a European Cup season against teams from those leagues (England, Spain, Germany, Italy, and France) since Ajax in 1971-72. Ajax won the European Cup that season.

• Bodo/Glimt’s victory over Inter represents the second-largest aggregate win by a team from outside Europe’s top five leagues against Italian opposition in the Champions League knockout stage. Shakhtar Donetsk’s aggregate win over Roma—6-2 in 2010-11—is the largest. Bodo/Glimt’s 5-2 aggregate win matches Club Brugge’s result against Atalanta last season.

– Stunned Inter Milan say Bodo/Glimt ‘proved’ they belong
– Champions League knockout rounds: Bracket, key dates, more
– From the archive: The secret behind Bodo/Glimt’s red-hot European run

• Bodo/Glimt forward Jens Petter Hauge is enjoying an impressive season. He is the fourth Norwegian to score 6 or more goals in a single Champions League campaign, following Erling Haaland (6x), Tore André Flo (1999-00), and Ole Gunnar Solskjær (2001-02). Hauge’s six goals are the highest by any player for a Norwegian club in a Champions League season.

• Hauge’s opening goal at the San Siro on Tuesday made him the first player from a Norwegian club to score in an away Champions League knockout stage match.

• Bodo/Glimt will compete against either Sporting CP or Manchester City in the next round, the latter of whom they defeated during the group stage. Prior to their 3-1 victory over City, the Opta supercomputer assigned Bodo/Glimt only a 0.3% chance of advancing to the round of 16.

• The population of the Norwegian town of Bodo is reported to be just over 42,000.

Information from ESPN’s Global Research contributed to this story