To channel Bjorge Lillelien and his famous commentary on Norway’s win against England in 1981: Pep Guardiola, your Manchester City boys took a heck of a beating here on the shores of the Norwegian Sea, below the skies of the aurora borealis, and on the Aspmyra Stadion’s artificial pitch graced by this immortal Bodø/Glimt victory which downed a continental superpower.
Jonas Gahr Støre was present to witness a win that came courtesy of Kasper Høgh’s two first-half goals plus Jens Petter Hauge’s curled peach after the interval, as Norway’s prime minister escaped Donald Trump’s curious obsession with the Nobel peace prize: another measure of how this result will never be forgotten.
To comprehend Bodø’s triumph, think Macclesfield’s FA Cup third round knockout of the holders, Crystal Palace; Guardiola’s team are not the European champions but they were three years ago, the same season they claimed a historic treble.
“We have to come back due to the feeling that results in 2026 are not good – in terms of the Premier League and today,” said Guardiola. “We have four days until Wolves [in the league] and then Galatasaray. We have the feeling that everything is going wrong in many details and we have to try to change.”
