Tottenham Hotspur will be confident of overcoming Bodo/Glimt and progressing to the Europa League semifinal, but their opponents have just been handed a boost ahead of their showdown with the Premier League side.
Spurs fans were delighted to learn that the club will be facing Bodo/Glimt in the semifinal after a hard-fought win over one of the tournament favourites, Eintracht Frankfurt, in the quarterfinal.
While Tottenham Hotspur go into the semifinal clash as massive favourites, they certainly cannot take their opponents lightly, given the major scalps they have had in the tournament so far.
Bodo/Glimt beat both Porto and Braga in the league phase to finish ninth in the table before eliminating FC Twente, Olympiacos and Lazio in the knockout stage to set up a semi-final showdown against the Premier League side.
Bodo/Glimt handed fixture boost ahead of Tottenham clash
Football.London have now revealed that the Norwegian side have had a fixture rearranged in their Eliteserien schedule, thus ensuring they have sufficient time to prepare thoroughly for the Tottenham clash.
Bodo/Glimt’s away game at Fredrikstad, which was due to be played on Thursday, May 1, has now been moved to Wednesday, July 16.
That means that Tottenham’s opponents will have a full week to prepare ahead of their second leg at home against Spurs, which is scheduled to be played on May 8.
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The outcome of the second leg could be crucial in deciding the tie and Bodo/Glimt boast of an excellent record at home in the Europa League, thus making matters complicated for Ange Postecoglou’s side.
What does Tottenham’s schedule look like?
In stark contrast, Spurs have an unforgiving schedule and will be involved in some high-intensity games in the days preceding and following their two semifinal clashes.
Tottenham travel to Anfield just a few days before their first leg against Bodo/Glimt and they also have a derby against West Ham at the London Stadium sandwiched between the two semifinal clashes.
Spurs are also scheduled to play Crystal Palace just a day after the second leg, and one would expect Postecoglou to rest all of his key men for those Premier League clashes.