Atletico Madrid were defeated in the last round of the main stage of the current UEFA Champions League season, at home, by Bodo Glimt, final score 1-2, and the “rojiblancos” group missed out on ranking among the top eight teams, while the Norwegian team “caught” a place for the play-offs in extremis. Alexander Sorloth opened the scoring in the first half of the game, scoring against his former team, while Fredrik Sjovold and Kasper Hogh turned the result on the scoreboard in the second half.

In the last round of the main stage of the current UEFA Champions League season, Atletico Madrid hosted Bodo Glimt on their home ground. In the general standings of the continental competition, prior to the match, the “rojiblancos” were in 12th place, with a total of 13 points, being tied in this respect with Chelsea, the advantage of the Londoners being reflected in the goal difference. On the other hand, the Nordic team was positioned in 28th place, two lengths behind Olympiakos, the last position holder that guaranteed a place in the play-offs.

Atletico Madrid badly needed a success against the Norwegians, precisely to still hope for direct qualification to the round of 16 of the competition, and this objective seemed achievable, considering the statistics according to which “los colchoneros” had won 13 consecutive times in their own “home”. Moreover, the last two such triumphs were recorded without conceding a goal, while Bodo Glimt’s record in away matches in European competitions, starting with the 2024/2025 season, was disastrous: one win, four draws and seven defeats.

In the most recent stage of the European competition, the club from the Spanish capital recorded a draw in Turkey, in Istanbul, in the company of Galatasaray, final score 1-1, unlike the Norwegian team that would produce the surprise by defeating them with a final score of 3-1 on Manchester City at home. Atletico Madrid, before this game at the “Estadio Metropolitano” could boast a percentage of 100% triumphs against teams from Norway, but the most recent such game was played before the arrival of Diego Simeone at the club.

Alexander Sorloth would face his former team, for which he played in 2015 on loan from Rosenborg, the Norwegian striker being in brilliant form, as he had managed to open the scoring in four of the last six official matches played on all “fronts”. Kasper Hogh had the chance to become, at the end of the UEFA Champions League match, the third player playing for a Norwegian team to achieve the feat of scoring at least ten goals in European competitions.

Antoine Griezmann was the only footballer from the “los colchoneros” squad that the Argentine manager of Atletico Madrid could not rely on for this match, as a result of a muscle problem that the French player was facing. For Bodo Glimt, the match played at the “Estadio Metropolitano” would represent the first match played in the company of a Spanish club since the team was founded and to date. The first dangerous chance to score in this game belonged to the Nordics, when Ole Blomberg’s deep pass reached Jens Hauge’s feet, and the former Eintracht Frankfurt player tried a lob over Jan Oblak, but Jose Maria Gimenez intervened.

The hosts’ reply was not long in coming, and David Hancko, after receiving a pass in free space from Pablo Barrios, decided to shoot strongly from a long distance, his execution going well over the crossbar of the goal defended by Nikita Haikin. A counterattack led by three men by Atletico Madrid allowed Nicolas Gonzalez to advance with the ball at his feet, and when the Argentine footballer of “los colchoneros” looked up, his cross found Alexander Sorloth free at the far post, but the Norwegian striker sent a header into the center of the goal, which was rejected by the visitors’ goalkeeper.

The scoreboard was unblocked following an ideal cross that David Hancko sent inside the opponent’s box, and Alexander Sorloth resumed unstoppably with a header to the far corner, the ball shaking the net of the Nordic team’s goals. The Norwegian striker managed, thanks to this success, which was recorded in the company of his former team, to reach the performance of opening the score in five of the last seven matches played by Atletico Madrid on all “fronts”. A new goal opportunity appeared in the account of the “rojiblancos” in the 19th minute of the match, when, from a corner, the ball reached the far post, after an erroneous rejection by the defense of Bodo Glimt, and, from the volley, Pablo Barrios was one step away from scoring, Odin Bjortfut managing to remove the ball from the goal line.

Alex Baena threw a ball into the mouth of the opponent’s goal from a shot from the corner of the field, and the back-to-back restart of the “nouar” team led from the sidelines by Diego Simeone was blocked by Nikita Haikin, although the ball touched the turf before being squared in the space of the Norwegian goals. The equalizer was established in the 34th minute of the game, when the lightness with which Marcos Llorente treated an action in the right corner of the field was “punished” by Fredrik Bjorkun, who recovered the ball and sent it on foot, into free space, where Fredrik Sjovold shot on foot, shaking the opponent’s net, to the joy of the away fans.

Atletico Madrid was one step closer to regaining the advantage on the scoreboard, after the cross sent by Marcos Llorente, but the header sent by Julian Alvarez from the center of the penalty area, the Argentine footballer being unmarked, fell into the opponent’s net. In the extra minute shown from the sidelines, the “rojiblancos” team missed the chance to take the lead in this match, the filtering pass signed by Marcos Llorente being completed with great force by Pablo Barrios, but the execution of the Spanish footballer hit the crossbar, and the cabins went in with a draw.

Bodo Glimt “made the blow” on the “Estadio Metropolitano” in the 59th minute of the confrontation, when, at the end of some ricochets that ran on a “conveyor belt”, Kasper Hogh took the ball in a crowd of players from both teams and pushed it into the net of the Atletico Madrid goal. The success signed by the Danish striker of the guests was validated by the Italian referee of the match, after an analysis that was carried out in the VAR booth. At the other end, Alexander Sorloth rose the highest of the players in the opposing box, but his header went wide of the Nordics’ goal.

Julian Alvarez chose to finish from the edge of the box with three minutes left in regulation time, but the Argentinean’s shot went over the crossbar. By the end of the 97 minutes, nothing conclusive had happened, so Bodo Glimt had secured all three points and finished the main phase of the continental competition in 23rd place, managing to stay in the UEFA Champions League. On the other hand, Atletico Madrid lost for the first time this season on home soil and, what’s more, the team from the Spanish capital lost to their own fans for the first time since April last year. The Iberians finished the first part of this continental competition in 14th place and will play in the play-offs.