Five-star Sporting stage fightback to sink Bodo/Glimt and reach quarter-finals
- By Reuters -
- Mar 18, 2026
Sporting staged a stunning comeback to end Bodo/Glimt’s fairytale Champions League run, thrashing the Norwegian side 5-0 after extra time on Tuesday to reach the quarter-finals with a 5-3 aggregate victory in their last-16 tie.
Trailing 3-0 from the first leg in Norway, Sporting attacked from the kickoff and went ahead in the 34th minute when Goncalo Inacio headed in from Francisco Trincao’s corner.
The visitors struck the crossbar before halftime, but Sporting scored again when Pedro Goncalves swept in Luis Suarez’s cross in the 61st minute and levelled the tie when Suarez converted a spot kick in the 78th after a VAR handball review.
Sporting needed less than two minutes of extra time to score the fourth as Maxi Araujo slotted in, with substitute Rafael Nel adding a fifth in added time, sending the back-to-back Portuguese champions through.
“We always believed that, with the help of this amazing crowd, we would be able to make it,” Araujo told reporters. “It was amazing, we put on a great effort and that paid off. I’m so proud of this group and happy to have helped give the fans a night to remember.”
Bodo had beaten Manchester City, Atletico Madrid and Inter Milan twice in a remarkable run of results before comfortably winning the first leg against Sporting in Norway.
Yet roared on by a raucous crowd, Sporting came flying out of the gate and fashioned 11 attempts in the opening 15 minutes but squandered three clear chances, with Trincao twice missing from close range and Goncalves misfiring a volley as the hosts laid siege to the Bodo goal.
INACIO STARTS THE COMEBACK
Their breakthrough arrived in the 34th minute. Trincao swung in a corner from the right and Inacio climbed above his markers to power a header into the net from close range.
There was a moment of panic before halftime when Odin Bjortuft’s header from a corner struck the crossbar, looped upwards and hit it again before dropping into a crowded box, with Sporting scrambling clear.
The visitors, who were trying to become only the second Norwegian club to reach the Champions League quarter-finals, were sharper after the break and enjoyed more possession, yet it was Sporting who struck next.
In the 61st minute, Suarez burst down the right on a swift counter-attack and crossed low for Goncalves, who fired a first-time effort into the top corner to leave the hosts one goal short of levelling the tie.
The third goal followed a lengthy VAR review after appeals for handball against Bjorkan. The referee was sent to the pitchside monitor and awarded a penalty, which Suarez blasted to the left beyond goalkeeper Nikita Haikin in the 78th minute.
Sporting pushed for a fourth in normal time. Haikin produced a fine save to deny Trincao from close range and Nuno Santos struck the post, but with the crowd singing “We believe in you,” the contest moved into extra time.
The decisive blow came just over a minute later. Trincao drove in from the left and squared for Araujo, who drilled a low shot just inside the left post, Haikin getting a touch but unable to keep it out.
Sporting were not finished. In the first minute of added time, Daniel Braganca slipped a clever square pass into Nel, who composed himself before lashing the ball into the roof of the net to complete a remarkable rout.