Man City’s season heads south in far north, as Arctic minnow causes major 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.

Rodri’s second-half send-off completed a miserable evening for big-spending City in Bodø, a fishing town with a population of about 55,000 located more than 1000 kilometres north of Oslo — the furthest north soccer’s top club competition has ever been.

Manchester City’s Erling Haaland, right, competes with Glimt’s Jostein Gundersen for the ball as his team topples to an embarrassing loss in the Champions League.Credit: AP

Kasper Høgh scored close-range goals in the 22nd and 24th minutes to set Bodø/Glimt – a tournament debutant this season – on the path to its maiden win in the competition.

Jens Petter Hauge sent home fans wild at 8000-capacity Aspmyra stadium by curling the ball into the top corner in the 58th minute 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, who constantly pierced City’s flimsy, injury-hit defence on the counterattack and had two goals disallowed for narrow offside decisions, while also hitting the crossbar and forcing some great saves by Gianluigi Donnarumma.

Pep Guardiola’s City has spent more than $500 million on new signings over the past 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.

Guardiola said “everything is going wrong” .

The unexpected defeat came three days after City was outplayed 2-0 by fierce rival Manchester United in the Premier League.

Man City coach Pep Guardiola looks despondent after the loss.Credit: AP

City has won just two of its past seven matches in all competitions, with one of those wins against third-tier Exeter in the FA Cup.

“Today was an incredible opportunity for us,” Guardiola said, “but everything is going wrong, going against us in many details. That’s a fact, and we have to try to change it. The players are there and we tried.

“I don’t have any doubt that in this competition, nothing is for granted, that’s for sure. United were better than us (Saturday). Today it was momentum that punished us.”

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City started the seventh round of matches in fourth place, but could be about to drop out of the eight automatic qualification positions. Teams who finish from ninth to 24th after next week’s final round have to go through the playoffs.

AP

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