Man City stunned in huge Champions League upset

Manchester City slumped to one of the most humiliating defeats in Champions League history, losing 3-1 at tiny Norwegian club Bodø/Glimt in a stunning upset north of the Arctic Circle on Tuesday. The second-half sending-off of Rodri completed a miserable evening for big-spending City in Bodø, a fishing town with a population of around 55,000 and located more than 1,000 km north of Oslo — further north than soccer’s top club competition has ever been.

Kasper Høgh scored close-range goals in the 22nd and 24th minutes to set Bodø/Glimt — a tournament debutant this season — on its way to its first-ever win in the competition. Jens Petter Hauge sent the home fans wild inside the 8,000-capacity Aspmyra stadium by curling into the top corner in the 58th to make the score a scarcely believable 3-0. City replied through Rayan Cherki in the 60th but hopes of a comeback were damaged by Rodri — the Ballon d’Or winner in 2024 — getting sent off in the 62nd minute for collecting a second yellow card in quick succession.

The win was no fluke for Bodø, which constantly pierced City’s flimsy, injury-hit defense on the counterattack and had two goals disallowed for narrow offside decisions, while also hitting the crossbar and forcing some great saves out of Gianluigi Donnarumma.

Pep Guardiola’s City has spent more than USD 500 million on new signings over the last 12 months but is going through a rough patch, having also lost 2-0 at fierce rival Manchester United in the Premier League on Saturday.

This upset was up there with the most unlikely results down the years in the Champions League, including Moldovan club Sheriff beating Real Madrid 2-1 in 2021, Rubin Kazan winning 2-1 at Guardiola’s Barcelona in 2009, and Swiss underdog Basel beating Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United by the same score in 2011.