Celtic will take the journey to Bodo/Glimt tomorrow night knowing that they need to win by 3 clear goals to progress to the last-16 of the Europa Conference League.
Indeed, the damaging 3-1 loss at Parkhead last week has put the Norwegian side in the driving seat. Celtic have been left wanting, and now must produce the performance of all performances to bag a spot in the next round.
in order to do that, the goal is clear. They must secure an extremely comfortable victory at the Aspmyra stadium. A victory by no less than 3 goals will be enough to win the tie without the need for penalty kicks.
However, Bodo/Glimt’s record at home is absolutely fantastic. So much so that they haven’t lost a single game at their home stadium – including in Europe – since July 2021.
In terms of losing at home by 3 goals? That hasn’t happened under Kjetil Knutsen with their last home defeat of that margin coming 4 years ago in 2018. Back before the club became genuine Norwegian title contenders.
A 3-0 home loss to Haugesland was the last time they suffered such an embarrassment. Bodo/Glimt are unbeaten in their last 14 at home, with 13 ending in victory. Their last defeat on their own turf came against Legia Warsaw, but even then, it was only 3-2. Not even that scoreline would be enough to do the business tomorrow.
Celtic up against it – only a blitz in Bodo will do
It’s a heck of a spot we find ourselves in. It shows just how damaging last week’s 3-1 loss at Celtic Park was. If we’re to seriously get the job done in Norway tomorrow, it’s going to take a surreal effort from both the players and the coaching staff.
Bodo just don’t lose at home these days, and they certainly don’t lose by 3 goals. Even 2-goal margin defeats are almost non-existent for them too. Celtic could squeeze through if they win by 2 goals and then secure a penalty shootout success. However, even that’s only happened once in the last 4 years.
The only time Bodo/Glimt have lost at the Aspmyra by 2 goals was against Molde in a league match back in June 2020. Outside of that, you’re again stretching things back to 2018.
So that shows the sheer level of the task ahead of us tomorrow night. It’s perhaps even unfair on the players to expect them to now progress given that record Bodo have. Instead, it’s more important we show the right side of ourselves and get a result.
If Ange manages to pull this off, words can’t describe how surreal that will be. It would certainly be a shock to the Bodo/Glimt camp who are so used to constant success on their home turf.
But records are of course there to be broken. Let’s see if Celtic can spring a shock on us.
In other news, Stefan Johansen’s brilliant comments on his time at Celtic; still keeps in touch with current player
Receive a digest of our best Celtic content each week direct to your mailbox
