MILAN — What a difference a year can make, or rather, even just nine months.
Last season, Inter Milan dazzled in their path to the Champions League final, achieving remarkable victories over Bayern Munich and Barcelona.
However, on Tuesday, the prestigious Italian side faced a stunning exit from the Champions League, suffering a 2-1 home defeat to Bodø/Glimt. This result marked their elimination from the playoffs with a 5-2 aggregate score, being labeled as one of the biggest upsets in the tournament’s history.
Inter’s coach Cristian Chivu insisted that this outcome was not by chance.
“We understand that the Champions League is highly competitive. If teams reach this stage, they have something special,” Chivu remarked. “They demonstrated that against Dortmund, Madrid, City, and us twice. They have energy and capability. We could have performed better in Norway and today as well, but things didn’t unfold as we hoped. We gave it everything to advance, but that’s football.”
Inter was missing key players Lautaro Martínez and Hakan Çalhanoglu due to injuries, but that can’t excuse a loss to a Bodo team that hasn’t even begun its season in Norway’s top league.
This isn’t Bodø/Glimt’s first major upset this season, as they previously achieved victories over Manchester City and Atlético Madrid, along with a draw against Borussia Dortmund.
Last season, signs of trouble were visible for Inter, as they made it to the Champions League final but were soundly beaten 5-0 by Paris Saint-Germain. They also faced setbacks, losing to AC Milan in the Italian Cup semifinals and finishing second to Napoli in the Serie A.
Following the departure of coach Simone Inzaghi, Cristian Chivu took over, having had limited experience in senior management previously with Parma.
Despite expectations for a major revamp of an aging roster, Inter made minimal moves in the transfer market, acquiring only Ange-Yoan Bonny, Luis Henrique, Petar Sučić, and Manuel Akanji.
This season, Inter sits atop Serie A, leading by 10 points and appearing to be on the verge of claiming the domestic title, yet their Champions League performance has faltered.
The Nerazzurri started the continental competition strong, securing victories in their first three matches. However, a subsequent four-match losing streak left them finishing the league phase in 10th, just one point shy of automatically advancing to the round of 16.
“Bodo won both matches, so they deserved to advance,” Inter midfielder Nicolò Barella stated after the playoff defeat. “They didn’t create too many difficulties for us today…the challenge was scoring, which we failed to achieve.”
“Naturally, there’s disappointment because we aim to compete on all fronts. We made an effort, but they were the better side. If we had earned just one more point, we could have avoided this playoff.”
Inter needed to score at least two goals on Tuesday to progress after losing the first leg 3-1 and came out aggressively. They created several scoring opportunities, yet solid defending and exceptional saves by Bodo goalkeeper Nikita Haikin prevented them from finding the net.
Statistics indicated Inter’s dominance aside from the score; they recorded 32 attempts compared to Bodo’s seven and completed 552 passes versus 192.
“We must credit our opponents and congratulate them for executing their game plan effectively,” Chivu acknowledged. “The Champions League level is high, and if you don’t convert chances and remain alert in front of goal, opponents will capitalize.”
This report includes information from The Associated Press.