Bodo/Glimt have been given a major boost ahead of their upcoming clash against Tottenham Hotspur. Next week, Ange Postecoglou's side will host the Norwegian outfit at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium for the first leg of their UEFA Europa League semi-final.
The Lilywhites defeated Eintracht Frankfurt in the quarterfinal, winning 2-1 on aggregate. The Eagles held Spurs to a 1-1 draw in north London before Dominic Solanke fired Tottenham to victory at the Deutsche Bank Park.
Meanwhile, Bodo/Glimt needed extra time and penalties to get past Lazio. Kjetil Knutsen's side enjoyed a 2-0 win over the Italian giants on home turf before losing 3-1 at the Stadio Olimpico.
The Norwegian outfit held their nerve in the shootout and waltzed away 3-2 victors. Tottenham will face Bodo/Glimt in north London on Thursday, May 1, before meeting again for the second leg on Thursday, May 8.
Ahead of the first meeting, two changes have been made to the Eliteserien fixture schedule. Knutsen's team were initially set to face Fredrikstad on Thursday, May 1, but the tie has now been moved to Wednesday, July 16.
Bodo/Glimt's clash against Strømsgodset in the Norwegian top-flight has also been moved from Saturday, May 10, to Wednesday, July 30. Rather than squeeze a match between the Europa League semi-final ties – like the Premier League have done for Tottenham – Knutsen's side will have a week to recharge their batteries.
Before Spurs can begin preparations for the second leg, first they must face West Ham at the London Stadium on Sunday, May 4. The extra couple of days rest for Bodo/Glimt could prove decisive, giving them a significant advantage.
Speaking to reporters after Tottenham booked a place in the Europa League semi-final, Postecoglou addressed the growing number of games in the calendar. The Spurs boss said: "We know the demands of European football.
"Irrespective of the competition, particularly Europa and Champions League can have a serious effect on your capabilities as a club. Not just us but all clubs. You can see that.
"The two extra games in Europe which are going to be there consistently now, that puts extra strain, so that affects the size of your squad and the profile your squad has. But for me it doesn't really change anything. We need to continue on the profile we've started with. We've got an exciting young squad and we'll continue to improve.
"We've obviously had some challenges this year around particularly injuries and our ability to cope with Europe and domestic [fixtures], and I feel we're better placed to tackle that if we're in Europe next year."
On the manner of Tottenham's win over Frankfurt, Postecoglou said: "We’ve shown that before. A lot of our significant victories even this season have come away from home, whether that be Manchester City away or Man United away or Brentford away.
"Some of our best performances have been away from home, and a similar type performance. There’s always a difference when you play away in Europe. But again, that doesn’t fit into the narrative of me being fairly simple in terms of my tactical approach, that I only do things one way and that’s all I’ve done and all my success has been as a one-trick pony."
Postecoglou added: "We overcame a really difficult opponent. We deserved to go through. There was no luck about it. Over two legs we were the stronger team.
"We did it in a real convincing manner and just the prospect of being in a semi-final means you're two games away from being in a European final. That is hugely incentivising so maybe that was the pivotal game, but we won’t know that."