Inter Milan Not Against the Impossible

MONDAY, MILAN – It's not impossible for Inter Milan to pull off a rimontare, or overturn a two-goal deficit, against Bodo/Glimt in the second leg of their Champions League round of 16 playoff on Wednesday (2/25/2026) at 3:00 a.m. WIB (Western Indonesian Time) at the San Siro Stadium. However, it's important to remember that Bodo/Glimt come to Milan with a positive record and the ambition of making another piece of Norwegian football history in the "Land of Espresso."

Inter is the only realistic representative of Italy to uphold the dignity of Serie A in the knockout phase of the 2025-2026 Champions League. Holding the status of the best team in Italy at present, having topped the standings with a 10-point lead, is a testament to the quality of "I Nerazzurri."

Unfortunately, the superiority in domestic competition has not yet been translated by Inter in the European arena. After failing to maintain a position within the top eight to qualify directly for the round of 16, Inter finds itself in a tight spot after a surprising 1-3 defeat at home to Bodo/Glimt last week.

Being two goals down in the second leg of a Champions League knockout tie is an unfamiliar situation for Inter. Their only previous triumph came in the 1964-65 Champions League semifinals.

In the semifinal stage at that time, Inter suffered a 1-3 defeat at Anfield Stadium. They managed to secure a 3-0 lead in the second leg at San Siro to advance to the final. This was Inter's path to winning their second Champions League title.

In addition, Inter should have been able to perform valiantly in the Champions League after facing difficulties in Serie A. This is certainly different from the two other Italian teams in the Champions League playoffs, namely Atalanta and Juventus, which also need to secure victories by a margin of more than three goals to continue their journey in this season's Champions League.

Atalanta and Juve are also in pursuit of entering the top four zone. As a result, their focus remains very divided. This compels the coaches of both teams to consider a scale of priorities in chasing the remaining targets for this season.

Inter coach Cristian Chivu is optimistic that his players can overturn the deficit against Bodo/Glimt. Chivu understands the difficult situation that the Norwegian representatives can present. However, Chivu continued, Inter has the ability and mentality to rise from a challenging situation.

"We have to be at our best. We believe the competition is still wide open. We realize we have to put in our best performance and give everything we can to qualify," Chivu said, as reported by La Gazzetta dello Sport, Monday (23/2/2026).

The only disadvantage for Inter is the potential absence of their main striker and captain, Lautaro Martinez, due to an injury during the visit to Bergen, Norway. Martinez is expected to be sidelined for about a month due to a calf muscle injury.

The situation forced the Argentine national team striker to only watch his teammates' struggle from the sidelines. Even without Martinez, Inter can still rely on the duo of Marcus Thuram and Francesco Pio Esposito. Chivu also has one backup striker, namely Ange-Yoan Bonny.

"Lautaro (Martinez) is our captain and he's sad he can't contribute on the pitch. However, he's been spreading passion and motivation throughout the squad. We have no excuse for the result when Lautaro doesn't play," Inter president Beppe Marotta told DAZN.

There is good news for Inter ahead of their match against Bodo/Glimt. Three key players, namely Hakan Calhanoglu, Denzel Dumfries, and Federico Dimarco, are fit to play. They participated fully in the training session on Monday. The three players did not appear in Norway.

Meanwhile, Bodo/Glimt arrived at San Siro with the determination to make new history. No Norwegian team has ever managed to eliminate an Italian representative in the knockout phase of European club competitions.

Bodo/Glimt once experienced a similar situation in the 1994-1995 Winners' Cup. They initially led at home with a score of 3-2 against Sampdoria, but fell 0-2 in Italy.

Not only to create a new record in the inter-club competition, Bodo/Glimt arrives with the memory of the miracle presented by the Norwegian national team at San Siro when they silenced Italy 4-1 in the final match of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers on November 17, 2025. That result certainly spurred the motivation of Bodo/Glimt players to replicate that magical night on the Champions League stage.

Midfielder Patrick Berg is the only player from the Norwegian club who played from the kickoff in that match. He faced Inter players such as Esposito, Dimarco, Nicolo Barella, and Alessandro Bastoni.

Bodo/Glimt's coach, Kjetil Knutsen, acknowledged that his team will take the field to prove that they possess better quality compared to the first match. According to Knutsen, the victory in the first game was based on the effectiveness of their attack, although the overall performance of his team was not particularly good.

"The second match will be a new game. We cannot just think about defending low and hoping for a counterattack," said Knutsen as quoted by the UEFA website.

He added, "We need to think about attacking. We will implement a medium block, a high block, defend well, and perform effectively. Certainly, the match at San Siro will be challenging."

In addition to Inter against Bodo/Glimt, Atletico Madrid will strive to conquer Club Brugge after both teams presented a 3-3 drama in the first match. Bayer Leverkusen and Newcastle United have already taken a step towards the round of 16 by securing victories at home against Olympiacos and Qarabag. (AFP)