Why Bodo/Glimt have become model for Europe's smaller clubs as Tottenham sent warning

Havard Sakariassen remembers a time in the not too distant past when Bodo/Glimt were so cash-strapped the players washed their own kits. So as the Arctic Circle underdogs head to on Thursday, their former striker turned director of football could be forgiven for being dazzled by the bright lights.

Except the Norwegian champions, from a town with enough inhabitants to fill only four-fifths of Spurs’ stadium, have built a team of canny operators with a penchant for upsetting the bigger boys. Lazio and Olympiacos have been dumped out already and they made sweat in the league phase, leading at Old Trafford before losing 3-2.

Three years ago Spurs boss Ange Postecoglou was defeated 5-1 on aggregate when in charge of Celtic and under long-serving head coach Kjetil Knutsen they have come on leaps since. Bodo are becoming a model for clubs from the continent’s lesser leagues – lifting trophies and improving while still making a profit.

“If you go back 10 years, this club was nearly bankrupt,” Sakariassen says. Now they have revenues exceeding £40m and while that may be a fraction of what Spurs generate, how they use it is a lesson in efficiency.

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“There is probably quite a big correlation between money and success in football but not always,” Sakariassen continues. “But nobody has given us money outside of prize money or stuff like this in those 10 years so I think it shows we can achieve stuff if you work well all the time.”

They have recruited mostly young Scandinavian players, developing them and selling several on for fees that are reinvested to further improve. Knutsen has been linked with a move in the past and Sakariassen says the 56-year-old will be applauded the whole way to the airport if he eventually decides to leave.

They have won four of the past five league titles and maintained the same big-picture tactical approach throughout with Sakariassen’s job as recruitment chief focused on bringing in the right players to suit the system.

"The squad is quite similar to how it was when we first won the league in 2020,” he continues. “We have some Danish players, maybe four or five local players. The club is much more solid. The financial muscles are much bigger. We run the club on the same principles today. We have achieved all that we have achieved because we believed in this from the start.

“We are more professional. We have much more people working in the club, and we try to get the best out of everyone, to take every momentum we can. We have a clear way of playing, which makes it easier to recruit players. We play 4-3-3.

“The demands of each role are really easy to identify so we look for players with an X-factor, players who can make a difference for us in Europe. We truly believe we can develop players and those players can get to their full potential.

“We need a blend of older players with experience, younger players and those peaking in performance, but they all have to be able to handle the intensity we demand, and that can be hard for older players."

Bodo’s players feel that Postecoglou’s previous experience of them means no chance they will be underestimated but there is also no shortage of belief. In particular Sakariassen has recognised improvements to their mentality in away games. “We have cracked some codes regarding performance, especially away,” he adds. “To be more cynical, not to be naive going to good teams in Europe.

“At home we want to go out, dominate teams and have possession. Away in Europe we try to do that but of course sometimes you meet teams that are truly, truly good. You can't be naive playing against these teams. You have to adjust the mindset.

“It's something that comes with experience. We've learnt a lot because we've played decent away games this year in pressured situations.”

They do, however, have half a dozen injuries and suspensions to contend with in north London, meaning the aim is to keep the tie close before Spurs visit their 8,000-capacity Aspmyra Stadion, with its plastic pitch and 24-hour sunlight.

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