Preview: Bodo/Glimt vs Sporting Lisbon - prediction, team news, lineups

Norwegian upstarts Bodo/Glimt will continue their fairytale journey in the Champions League on Tuesday when they welcome Sporting Lisbon to Aspmyra Stadion for the first leg of their round-of-16 tie.

The Super Team once again defied the odds to eliminate last season’s runners-up Inter Milan in the playoffs, while the Portuguese visitors secured direct passage to this stage of the competition.

Match preview

The standout surprise of this season’s European elite, Glimt have taken the competition by storm in their first foray into the Champions League proper, a journey that has already featured a series of giant-killing acts.

The Norwegian outfit produced a late surge to secure a rare playoff berth after going unbeaten in their final three league-phase matches, first drawing 2-2 at Borussia Dortmund before stunning victories over Manchester City (3-1) and Atletico Madrid (2-1) lifted them to 23rd place in the 36-team table.

Already in control of their playoff tie following a 3-1 first-leg victory at Aspmyra, Kjetil Knutsen’s men pressed home their advantage in the return leg at San Siro, where second-half strikes from Jens Petter Hauge and Hakon Evjen sealed a 2-1 win over Inter despite a late response from Alessandro Bastoni.

Having become the first Norwegian club to record four consecutive victories in the Champions League proper, as well as the first side from the country to win a knockout-phase tie in the competition, Glimt will certainly not sell themselves short of extending their remarkable run.

The Super Team can also be confident of seizing control of this round-of-16 tie given their impressive home record in Europe, having won 12 of their last 17 continental matches at Aspmyra (D1, L4).

Glimt enter Wednesday’s clash with momentum on their side after a 2-1 victory at Molde last Thursday, which secured their place in the Norwegian Cup quarter-finals and extended their unbeaten run to nine matches across all competitions, with the last seven ending in victory.

The win also gave the recently dethroned Eliteserien champions a chance of domestic silverware after losing the 2025 top-flight title by a point to Vikings, and with no fixtures over the weekend, Knutsen’s side arrive for the mid-week game refreshed.

Having taken to the pitch more recently than their Scandinavian hosts, Sporting had to settle for a 2-2 draw at Braga on Saturday despite taking the lead twice in the first half through Goncalo Inacio and Luiz Suarez, with the Primeira Liga champions eventually conceding from a stoppage-time penalty.

While the result kept the Lions second in the Portuguese top-flight table and four points adrift of the summit, it also means Rui Borges’s men have now gone 12 games across all competitions without defeat (W10, D2).

That impressive run includes victory in the first leg of Sporting’s Taca de Portugal semi-final against Porto, as well as wins in the final rounds of the Champions League league phase, beating Paris Saint-Germain 2-1 and Athletic Bilbao 3-2 to secure a seventh-place finish in the 36-team standings.

While the Lisbon outfit bypassed the playoffs — where they were eliminated last season by Borussia Dortmund — they still have a precedent to contend with at this stage, having lost both of their previous round-of-16 ties, suffering a 12-1 aggregate defeat to Bayern Munich in 2008-09 and a 5-0 loss to Manchester City across both legs in 2021-22.

Those results contribute to Sporting’s continental struggles on the road, with the Portuguese side without an away victory at this stage or later in 15 European matches since 2005 (D6, L9), suggesting they could face a difficult test at Glimt on Wednesday.

Bodo/Glimt Champions League form:

Bodo/Glimt form (all competitions):

Sporting Lisbon Champions League form:

Sporting Lisbon form (all competitions):

Team News

Glimt appear to have a full squad available, with no players suspended for this encounter, although midfield duo Sondre Auklend and Patrick Berg are one booking away from a match ban.

Manager Knutsen has named an unchanged lineup in each of the last four continental outings and is expected to retain the same side here, with the attacking trio of Ole Didrik Blomberg, Kasper Hogh and Hauge likely to lead the line.

The latter has scored six goals in 10 Champions League matches and will aim to add to that tally after finding the net three times across his last two home games in the competition.

Meanwhile, Suarez has scored in each of his last five appearances across all competitions for Sporting and will be heavily relied upon in the visitors’ attack.

On the injury front, the Lions remain without Chelsea-bound winger Geovany Quenda (foot), while Giorgi Kochorashvili, Ricardo Mangas and Fotis Ioannidis could miss out again through injury.

Sporting will also be without left-back Maximiliano Araujo and midfielder Pedro Goncalves, with both players suspended due to an accumulation of bookings.

Bodo/Glimt possible starting lineup:

Haikin; Sjovold, Bjortuft, Gundersen, Bjorkan; Evjen, Berg, Fet; Blomberg, Hogh, Hauge

Sporting Lisbon possible starting lineup:

Silva; Fresneda, Diomande, Inacio, Vagiannidis; Hjulmand, Morita; Catamo, Trincao, Guilherme; Suarez

We say: Bodo/Glimt 2-1 Sporting Lisbon

Glimt have developed a reputation for making life difficult for opponents at Aspmyra, and after putting heavyweights Manchester City and Inter to the sword in their last two home games, the Super Team will be confident of getting the better of a Sporting side that has looked less convincing in continental outings on the road.

The Lions lost two of their four league-phase matches away from home (W1, D1), and they could struggle in the cold conditions in Glimt, although the encounter still has the potential to produce goals at both ends.

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