To put it all into perspective: The last time a Norwegian team qualified for the Champions League, Spain’s 17-year-old superstar Lamine Yamal was a month and a half old. Then Rosenborg made it to the group stage, and that was the last time Norway was represented in the most prestigious club tournament in the world. Since then, Brann, Molde, Strømsgodset, Stabæk, Bodø/Glimt and Rosenborg have tried. Result: No Norwegian teams in the Meisterliga. But why is this so? Do you think Bodø/Glimt will make it to the Champions League? Yes No I don’t care Show result – Norwegian syndrome – There is a Norwegian syndrome in both the national team and the club team, so you need the last weasel when the going gets tough. There is something about the mentality, says Etzaz Hussain to news. He has also tried, but there were “only” games in the Europa League and the Serie A with Molde. – It’s about quality, says Rosenborg’s long-time goalkeeper André Hansen to news. In the last five years, both Rosenborg, Molde and Bodø/Glimt have made it to the playoffs, the last hurdle before the group stage. But in turn they have been eliminated from the championship game. NO: Dinamo Zagreb scores from a penalty and spoils Rosenborg’s Champions League dream in 2019. Photo: Terje Pedersen / NTB NO: Red-clad Molde players mourn after conceding a goal against Ferencvaros in 2021. Photo: BERNADETT SZABO / Reuters NO: Bodø / Glimt’s goalkeeper calms down after the champions league dream ended in extra time in 2022. Photo: Darko Bandic / AP AND NO AGAIN: Galatasaray’s Fredrik Midtsjø scores one of Galatasaray’s goals that crushes Molde’s champions league hopes in 2023. Photo: Svein Ove Ekornesvåg / NTB – It’s about about quality, first and foremost. At least when there are more than two games. Then there are individual matches where something has often been talked about in Norwegian football for a long time: The cynical bit, says André Hansen. Cynic Bodø/Glimt Kjetil Knutsen and Bodø/Glimt were very close in the Champions League group stage two years ago, but after extra time their dream was shattered against Dinamo Zagreb. Now the yellows from Bodø have two extra years of European experience, something that makes the coach look brighter at the possibilities this year. – We have to play our game on our terms. Cynicism is so many, it is a broad term and not always a negative word. I think we are going into a fight on our terms, says Knutsen. – Now Bodø/Glimt has had the opportunity several times, then you build up experience and feel the pressure. There is a lot at stake, so it is often about mentality, says Etzaz Hussain and continue: – Bodø/Glimt and Molde have an advantage against other teams. The others are in worse physical shape, but they have been there before and they get a little extra. “The little extra” can be so many: Molde came out against Galatasaray last year after the Turks had two goals that went over the wall and into the goal. Dinamo Zagreb’s striker Bruno Petkovic conjured up an extraterrestrial brass kick when the Croatians knocked out Bodø/Glimt after extra time in 2022. FC Copenhagen knocked out Rosenborg on the away goals rule in 2010. Three minutes before the end, Roar Strand hit the post. “THE LITTLE EXTRA”: Bruno Petkovic delivered a brass score when Bodø/Glimt was sent out of the championship qualification two years ago. Photo: ANTONIO BRONIC / Reuters There were three of many examples. – It is the last mentality. Raude Stjerne is a team that is used to being in the situation, but it’s about getting through once, like with Rosenborg. They got in, and then the mentality and culture changed, says Hussain. – You meet the best teams in the playoffs, so you need the last straw to tip it in your direction. The match itself was tight, but they managed to convert it. They tilted it their way, says André Hansen. Uses a lot of money – International football has developed enormously since the start of the 2000s, and Norwegian football is developing well, says Kjetil Knutsen. He thinks Norwegian teams are doing well, and points to the extreme financial development in international football. Knutsen hopes to crown the development by taking the team to the Champions League – and end 17 years of Norwegian travel sickness. – At one point or another there will be a Norwegian team in the Champions League, so we’ll see if it will be this year or later. It is Norwegian teams that do well on the international stage. we and Molde have been the locomotive, and now Brann is coming too, says Knutsen. In order to achieve the dream of the Champions League, Glimt has strengthened with two new players before the final hurdles to the Champions League qualification: Philip Zinckernagel and Michal Tomič. – Instead of thinking about saving and securing club operations, Glimt has largely spit money back into sporting investment which has meant that we have managed to maintain a competitive team at all times, says Patrick Berg. Published 20.08.2024, at 10.22
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– It’s a Norwegian syndrome – news Sport – Sports news, results and broadcast schedule
