Bodo/Glimt condemned Italian giants Inter Milan to an early elimination from the UEFA Champions League last night.
According to Gazzetta dello Sport via FCInterNews, the Norwegians made the Nerazzurri pay for wastefulness in front of goal.
Inter dominated the game from the onset, applying constant pressure on their visitors’ defense but without creating much in the front third.
Despite having a clear game plan, Cristian Chivu couldn’t find a way to break down Kjetil Knutsen’s stubborn backline in the first half.
Unfortunately, Inter’s situation worsened in the second half as Manuel Akanji helped Bodo/Glimt take the lead.
Inter Milan Paid for Wastefulness in Shock Bodo/Glimt Defeat
Inter created 30 attempts, with seven on target, producing a solid 2.14 xG.
Yet, without star striker Lautaro Martinez, they lacked the clinical edge needed to convert their dominance into a comeback.
Francesco Pio Esposito and Marcus Thuram were unable to replace the influence of their injured captain.
Although Pio scored in the first leg, he failed to seriously trouble Bodo/Glimt goalkeeper Nikita Haikin tonight.
Meanwhile, Thuram delivered another quiet and unconvincing performance in Europe.
Turn to youth, give them playing time, they will grow both as players and in market value. They will make mistakes, but that’s the price we have to pay since we don’t have money to compete with rest of top clubs. Better to use them as rotational options and backup than to bring washed out older players like Goretzka, Bernardo Silva and similar to them (in the past Vidal, Kolarov, Alexis, Taremi…). We must faster offload players who are on downward career path, or way past their prime. This year we were late to replace a couple more players like that, and failed to bring adequate signings instead that can impact starting lineup immediately. Give Chivu some more time, he did fail in objective of getting into Round of 16 or quarter finals, but managed to get 10 points ahead in Scudeto race in which objective was qualification for next year CL.