Bodo/Glimt will come up against English opposition for the second time in the Europa League this season when they travel to Tottenham in May. The Norwegian side have shocked quite a few in the 2024/25 edition of the competition after managing to progress to a semi-final showdown against Spurs.
Bodo/Glimt are now two games away from an unlikely place in the final after knocking out Lazio on penalties in the quarter-finals. Tottenham are the favourites to progress in the semi-final tie but it certainly will not be straightforward if Bodo/Glimt's results in the Europa League are anything to go by.
As part of the league phase, Kjetil Knutsen's side played Manchester United in one of their eight league games. They gave Ruben Amorim quite the challenge in his first game as Red Devils boss but the hosts eventually ran out 3-2 winners.
Speaking in his pre-match press conference ahead of the game, the Portuguese boss opened up on the threat Bodo/Glimt would pose his team.
"I'm expecting a very good team," he said, as reported by Manchester United's official website. "They can win the league this week I think, they run a lot and that's a very good thing for us at the moment. We need to improve that, so we know that in this game we have to run a lot.
"They have some special players in the wingers, they can play in the pockets very well and they have aura of winning games and this is also because they're winning all the time.
"I'm expecting a very intense game, a very good game and I hope to see different things. Improve some things we didn't do so well in the last game, so it will be a good game."
Amorim was certainly right about Bodo/Glimt's wingers as Philip Zinckernagel, formerly of Watford and Nottingham Forest, gave them a 2-1 lead on the night after they had initially trailed to Alejandro Garnacho's opener inside the first minute. United recovered from their losing position, though, and won courtesy of Rasmus Hojlund's double either side of the break.
In his time with TV broadcasters after the game, Amorim once again praised Bodo/Glimt and mentioned their threat on transitions.
“We knew that Bodo was a strong team. Very good on transitions," he said. "They have quality players, good connections, a very good team. But I think we had the first goal, like the last game and then we suffered two goals in transitions.
"We controlled the game, we controlled the tempo of the game. Just the last 10 minutes was tough for us. We had opportunities to kill the game and then in the end we suffer a little bit, but I think we deserved the win.”
Amorim was pressed even further on the Eliteserien side in his post-match press conference and he highlighted the speed and power they possess and also the fact they are a very impressive team.
"They are a very well worked team, so they know each other very well," outlined the 40-year-old. "You can understand that if you see that the goals were one touch, so they have the time that we don't have working together.
"They have a lot of speed and power. With the transitions you feel that in the game that they have a lot of power and it was a tough game in that aspect. But we controlled very well the tempo of the ball, We kept the ball so long that we controlled and was able to manage that. So they're a great team, I think they will win the league again. It was a tough match."
Tottenham are indeed in for a tough match and the challenge of Bodo/Glimt should not be underestimated. They have already taken some notable scalps and the next one on their list is that of Ange Postecoglou's side.
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