On Thursday, Bodø/Glimt will have the opportunity to shake off the disappointing cup final loss against Molde on Saturday. The last match of the year could bring millions of dollars in profit for Glimt. In Belgium, a pure group final awaits against “Norwegian” Club Brugge at the Jan Breydel Stadium. It will also be match number 54 for Bodø/Glimt this season. In comparison, Manchester City played 61 games when they won The Treble last season. Liverpool played 52 games in the 2022/2023 season. – We are one of the teams in Europe with the tightest match schedule. Not many people know that, Knutsen said at the press conference. Asking for help from “the tall men” The Bodø/Glimt matches have come close this season. Glimt began 2023 by losing a doubleheader against Lech Poznan in the Serie Liga in February. The Norwegian series started in April. Bodø/Glimt coach Kjetil Knutsen has led the team in 53 games so far this year. The group final in the Serie Liga will be the team’s 54th. Photo: Kasper Holgersen / news After tomorrow’s match in the Serie Liga, Glimt will have a short Christmas break before the team starts the run-up to the play-offs in the tournament next year. – If we finish second in the pool, we get a break of three and a half weeks. We can get an extra week if we win the group. The tight match schedule has consequences, and at times Bodø/Glimt has struggled with a high match load and injury problems for important players this season. – We are incredibly privileged to be able to play many matches. But we need help from the high-ranking men in Norwegian football to put in place a term list that is arranged for teams in Europe, said Knutsen. Could get a visit from Ajax or a reunion with Ola Solbakken If Glimt ends up in second place in the group, in the replay they will face one of the teams that ends up in third place in the Europa League group stage, the level above the Serie A. Ola Solbakken had his big breakthrough in Glimt in 2021. After an unsuccessful stay in Rome, he now plays for Greek Olympiakos. Photo: Thanassis Stavrakis / AP It is already clear that Molde can be among the teams that finish third in their Europa League group, but teams from the same nation cannot meet in the play-off. Molde can also finish second in their group, if they manage a better result against Bayer Leverkusen in the last match, than Qarabag achieves against Häcken. However, there could be a reunion with Glimt’s former lightning wing Ola Solbakken. His team Olympiakos secures third place in their group, if they avoid a big loss at home to Serbian Bačka Topola in the last game. Another potential opponent is Dutch giants Ajax, who have nine trophies from European club tournaments in their cupboard, four of them in what is now called the Champions League. But Ajax, with Sivert Mannsverk in the squad, has struggled at the start of the season and has not looked like its usual self, although form has been on the upswing lately. Millions at stake – We have put the cup final behind us and are excited for the next match. We want to be offensive and to dare more than we did against Molde, said Glimt’s centre-back Isak Helstad Amundsen during today’s press conference in Bruges. The recent Norwegian league champions are in second place in group D in the Conference League, or Serieligaen as it is called here at home, with Club Brugge three points ahead. Regardless of the result, Glimt is through to the play-offs next year. The fight is still important. A single win in the group stage alone gives NOK 5.6 million in prize money. In addition, the group winner is guaranteed 7.3 million in prize money, while group runners-up receive about half. This is the Series League: * The tournament is new in the 2021/22 season and is the third-ranked of the European Cups (below the Champions League and the Europa League). * 32 teams enter the group stage (eight groups with four teams in each). A total of 184 teams are involved in the qualification, and no team is directly qualified for the group stage. There are three qualification rounds followed by a play-off round before the group stage. * The group winners go directly to the round of 16 finals. The runners-up meet eight third-placed teams from the Europa League group stage in a play-off for a place in the round of 16. * The final will be played in the Greek capital, Athens, at the Agia Sophia Stadium in Athens, on 29 May 2024. (NTB/news) A two-goal victory will be enough to win the group in a head-to-head clash ahead of Bruges. The group winner also goes directly to the 8th round of the tournament, while the team that takes second place has to play in an extra play-off round in February. Norwegian coaching duel When the teams met in Bodø for the first match in the group stage, it was Club Brugge with its Norwegian coach Ronny Deila who took all three points. Philip Zinckernagel was Glimt’s player of the year in 2020. Here he drives the ball for Glimt’s opponent Club Brugge. Photo: Mats Torbergsen / NTB The Belgian senior team also fielded two former Bodø/Glimt players on the field. Brugge’s Danish winger Philip Zinckernagel was the player of the year for Glimt in 2020. Midfielder Hugo Vetlesen was the player of the year as late as 2022. Before the match in Bodø, which Club Brugge won 1-0, Vetlesen sent a jab at his former employer. – To put it that way; I know this club inside and out. What’s so great about Glimt is that you only need one match to figure out what’s coming. Alongside the two former Glimt heroes, the Norwegian shooting star Antonio Nusa can also be found in the victorious Belgian club. While Bodø/Glimt were recently crowned supreme league champions in Norway, Club Brugge has had a difficult season in Belgian football. Ronny Deila’s team has only won 7 out of 17 games, and is currently in 6th place. Then it remains to be seen whether they meet expectations at home, or whether Glimt takes another big scalp in a European context. Club Brugge’s Norwegian player Hugo Vetlesen and Norwegian coach Ronny Deila, during the press conference in connection with the match against Bodø/Glimt earlier this autumn. Photo: Marius Guttormsen / news
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Press conference before Bodø/Glimt plays the group final in the Conference League against Club Brugge – news Nordland
