Champions League

Inter embarrassed at Bodö ++ Leverkusen wins!

Too often, the Inter players could only watch their Bodö/Glimt counterparts...(Bild: APA/Thomas Andersen / NTB)

Bodö/Glimt has once again demonstrated its home strength in the Champions League round of 16 playoffs! Norway's soccer champions tripped up last year's finalists Inter Milan, who are in good form, with a 3-1 win on Wednesday. The Nerazzurri now face a tough task in Tuesday's second leg. Atletico Madrid squandered a 2-0 and 3-2 lead in a 3-3 draw in Bruges, while Bayer Leverkusen beat Olympiacos 2-0.

Norway's champions caused another heavyweight, Manchester City, problems on their artificial turf. The straightforward short passing game, with which Bodø had already defeated Austrian champions Sturm Graz 6-2 on aggregate in the qualifiers, proved to be Inter's undoing after the break. Jens Petter Hauge with a shot into the bottom corner (61') and striker Högh (64') made it 3-1 with a double strike. Högh also set up the 1-0 by Sondre Fet with a backheel (20').

Bodø/Glimt with an almost entirely Norwegian lineup
Inter, who had won eleven of their last 13 competitive games, did not perform badly and were also unlucky with two shots hitting the woodwork. Pio Esposito's goal to make it 1-1 (30') was well deserved at that point. In the second leg, Glimt, which fields an almost entirely Norwegian team and will not start the championship again until March, defended a two-goal lead in Milan. At the end of January, the Norwegians had won 2-1 at Atletico Madrid.

For the Spaniards, everything initially went according to plan in Bruges. Julian Alvaraz took the lead with a handball penalty (8th minute) and found Ademola Lookman in the center with a corner (45th+4). However, Raphael Onyedika's goal (51st minute) gave the hosts a boost, and Nicolo Tresoldi completed the Belgians' comeback (60th minute). An own goal by Joel Ordonez during a botched clearance attempt gave the Spaniards something to cheer about again (79'), but Christos Tzolis made it 3-3 late on (89').

Schick strikes again
Leverkusen missed big chances in Piraeus and were caught cold seconds before halftime. The Greek side's opening goal was disallowed for a narrow offside. Patrik Schick then struck on the counterattack (60') and with a header from a corner (63').