Berlin [Germany], February 26: Norway's surprise packages Bodo/Glimt completed their Italian job on Tuesday by humiliating storied Inter and reaching the Champions League last 16, where they will be joined by Bayer Leverkusen, Atletico Madrid and Newcastle United.
Bodo, based in the Arctic Circle, won 2-1 at the San Siro in their play-off second leg to go through 5-2 on aggregate and set up a meeting with Manchester City or Sporting. They already beat City in the league phase.
An error from Manuel Akanji led to Jens Petter Hauge's sixth of the competition on 58 minutes. He soon turned provider for Hakon Evjen before Alessandro Bastoni scrambled a goal back.
Evjen told TV2: "Look at this fantastic team. It's surreal and incredibly cool. I don't know what to say."
Bodo, the northernmost team in the tournament proper, are enjoying a dream Champions League debut having reached the Europa League semis last season after knocking out another Italian side Lazio.
Clear Serie A leaders Inter did not initially show enough urgency given the two-goal deficit from the away leg. The three-times champions and last season's runners-up have lost five of their last six games in Europe.
Leverkusen secured their last 16 spot after a 0-0 home draw with Olympiacos Piraeus.
They were 2-0 up from last Wednesday's first leg in Greece and had the better chances early on at the BayArena through Jonas Hofmann and Lucas Vazquez.
Olympiacos came back into it but the home defence stood firm before Leverkusen substitute Ernest Poku hit the bar.
The 2024 Bundesliga champions could face German rivals Bayern Munich in the knock-out stages for the second straight season or will be drawn with Premier League leaders Arsenal.
The Londoners and Bavarians finished as the best two of the top eight in the league phase who qualified automatically for the last 16.
Newcastle were all but guaranteed to go through given their 6-1 drubbing of Qarabag in Azerbaijan last week. They finished the assignment with Sandro Tonali, Joelinton and Sven Botman securing a 3-2 home win.
The 9-3 aggregate thumping sealed a date with Chelsea or Barcelona.
Alexander Sorloth booked Atletico a meeting with Liverpool or Tottenham Hotspur after his hat-trick in a 4-1 home leg victory and 7-4 aggregate success over Club Brugge.
"We just have to continue. We have to take the confidence we get from these types of games and build on it," the Norway striker, who scored twice in La Liga at the weekend, told UEFA.com.
A draw to decide the exact last 16 pairings - which will also decide future match-ups for the rest of the competition - takes place on Friday. The last 16 first legs are on March 10 and 11.
Four more play-off second legs are on Wednesday. Record winners Real Madrid host Benfica after the alleged racism case in the first leg, Atalanta play Borussia Dortmund, holders Paris Saint-Germain welcome Monaco and Juventus take on Galatasaray.
Source: Qatar Tribune
