NICE, France : Norway’s Bodo/Glimt eased into the knockout playoff stage of the Europa League thanks to a 1-1 draw away to French Ligue 1 side Nice on Thursday, with the Norwegians just missing out on qualifying directly for the last 16 while Nice were eliminated.
With the top eight teams going straight through to the last 16 and those placed from ninth to 24th headed to the two-legged playoffs for the remaining eight spots, Bodo finished ninth on 14 points with Nice 35th of the 36 teams on three points.
After hitting the post in the first half, the Norwegian visitors took the lead in the 54th minute when captain Patrick Berg’s ball into the box found its way to fullback Fredrik Bjorkan, and he drilled the ball past Maxime Dupe to open the scoring.
That goal briefly put Bodo into the top eight but Nice, who have prioritised their Ligue 1 efforts over Europe this season, struck back 20 minutes later when substitute Gaetan Laborde pulled back the ball for Badredine Bouanani to fire home.
Nice created a number of decent chances following their equaliser but the visitors stuck to their guns and managed to hang on for the point that keeps them among the seeded teams for Friday’s knockout draw.
Bodo are set to face either Dutch side FC Twente or Fenerbahce of Turkey in the two-legged knockout playoffs, and victory there would set them up to face either Scottish side Rangers or Olympiakos of Greece in the last 16.
