Bodo/Glimt may be behind 3-1 on aggregate against Premier League side Tottenham Hotspur after the first leg of their Europa League semi-final in London, but the Norwegians have some pedigree against more illustrious foes.
And a late goal by midfielder Ulrik Saltnes gave the club from inside the Arctic Circle a lifeline ahead of the home leg.
“It was more of a relief that we were able to lift ourselves a little and get into the game,” Saltnes told Reuters. “We are still huge underdogs, but at least now it will be a battle!”
Bodo/Glimt are used to battling in Europe and have taken some notable scalps this season.
In the quarter-finals, they looked dead and buried in extra time of the second leg against Lazio in Rome, only for Andreas Helmersen to score an unlikely equaliser and force a penalty shootout, which they won.
It is the latest in a series of never-say-die performances in Europe that stems from a club ethos that favours process over results, allowing them to keep cool even when under the cosh.
Saltnes has experienced all the highs and lows of European football in this campaign, scoring twice in the first leg at home to Lazio but then being taken off after 57 minutes in Rome as that two-goal cushion was erased, forcing extra time.
The 32-year-old wondered aloud after the first leg if two chances he spurned in the second half might come back to haunt him, but as he sat and watched the penalty drama unfold, he said he could barely remember the misses.
‘NOTHING TO LOSE’
“No, not really – it was so emotional and exciting to watch that I couldn’t think about anything else but the game and supporting the lads,” he said.
Fortunately his teammates, and in particular goalkeeper Nikita Haikin, came to the rescue, winning the shootout in the cauldron of Rome’s Olympic stadium to put them one game away from a European final – if they can turn the two-goal deficit against Spurs around at home.
“I think they will play very similarly to the last game. We have absolutely nothing to lose, and we just have to attack as best we can,” Saltnes explained.
“We have to keep a cool head – it’s no use thinking we’re going to win the game in 10 minutes. A lot can happen, and we just have to focus on ourselves, even though we know it’s going to be an incredibly big challenge.”
Saltnes has spoken about how he considered quitting the game before Bodo began riding the crest of a wave that has seen them win four league titles since 2020.
A major catalyst came when performance coach Bjorn Mannsverk – a former Norwegian air force fighter pilot with no football background – was brought in, and together with coach Kjetil Knutsen, instilled a focus away from winning towards simply performing at their best in every moment.
Come Thursday, the town of Bodo will again troop down to the Aspmyra stadium, a ten-minute walk from the local airport, to welcome the team onto the field as fireworks are shot into the sky and AC/DC’s “Thunderstruck” blasts from the speakers.
Journalists visiting the tiny ground, which holds just over 8,000 spectators, will report to the world from a press room behind one of the goals that is located above a supermarket and used as a classroom during the day, complete with children’s drawings hanging on the walls.
With the final set to take place in Bilbao on May 21, Thursday’s second leg will be the last game of the current season at Aspmyra.
“Of course, making the final would be great, but I don’t think it would change much,” Saltnes said.
“The experiences you have along the way are much more important than where you end up, I think.”
