AP:
Manchester City lost 3-1 at tiny Norwegian club Bodø/Glimt in one of the biggest upsets in Champions League history yesterday while defending champions Paris Saint-Germain were also on the end of an unexpected defeat at Sporting Lisbon.
Vinícius Júnior turned jeers from his own fans to cheers by scoring for Real Madrid in a 6-1 win over Monaco, and Arsenal became the first team to secure direct qualification for the round of 16 after a 3-1 victory at Inter Milan, maintaining their 100 per cent record in the league stage after seven rounds.
Pep Guardiola’s squad of City superstars was humbled inside an 8,000-capacity stadium in Bodø, a Norwegian fishing town north of the Arctic Circle whose football team is playing in the Champions League for the first time this season.
City fell 3-0 behind at one point and had 2024 Ballon d’Or winner Rodri sent off in the second half.
“In the end, it’s embarrassing,” said City’s Norwegian striker Erling Haaland, whose team was coming off an abject derby loss to Manchester United in the Premier League on Saturday.
After Kasper Høgh’s first-half double for Bodø/Glimt, Jens Petter Hauge curled into the top corner in the 58th to make it 3-0. City replied through Rayan Cherki, but hopes of a comeback were damaged soon after by Rodri collecting two yellow cards in quick succession.
City didn’t look like they had spent US$500 million on players over the last 12 months, with its flimsy, injury-hit defense constantly pierced on the counterattack. The hosts had two would-be goals disallowed for narrow offside decisions and also hit the crossbar.
Add this upset to the most unlikely results down the years in the Champions League. They include 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.
Colombia international Luis Suarez’s 90th-minute goal earned Sporting a 2-1 win over PSG, who – like City – now have work to do in next week’s final round to qualify automatically to the last 16 by finishing in the top eight and avoid needing to go through the two-legged playoffs for a second straight season.
That was Suarez’s second goal of the game. He put Sporting ahead before an equaliser by substitute Khvicha Kvaratskhelia.
PSG, who became European champions for the first time last season, dropped to fifth and City to seventh – and they are likely to slip lower after today’s games.
Alvaro Arbeloa, Madrid’s new coach, was taking charge of a Champions League game for the first time, and it was again an unusual atmosphere at Santiago Bernabeu Stadium.
Part of the crowd jeered Vinícius nearly every time he touched the ball, like during Saturday’s win over Levante in the Spanish league. The Brazil forward has been having an underwhelming season, and some fans view him as one of the reasons why coach Xabi Alonso was replaced last week.
However, the home fans were applauding Vinícius after his solo goal that made it 5-0 in the 63rd minute. Kylian Mbappé, with a double against his first club, and 18-year-old Franco Mastantuono had already scored for Madrid, and Jude Bellingham grabbed their sixth goal.
Madrid, the record 15-time champions, climbed to second place.
Arsenal are now on their longest-ever winning streak in the Champions League and are guaranteed a top-two finish.
Gabriel Jesus scored the first two goals for the Premier League leaders and the man he started ahead of – Viktor Gyokeres – came off the bench to net the third.
Petar Sucic had made it 1-1 with a goal for Inter, the heavily beaten finalists last season who have lost three straight games in the competition for the first time.
Inter slipped to ninth place.
Eleven teams in the Champions League have changed coaches already this season, and Tottenham manager Thomas Frank was being tipped as the next to go heading into a home match against Borussia Dortmund.
However, Spurs won 2-0 against the 2024 runners-up, who had midfielder Daniel Svensson sent off in the first half, to give Frank some respite and move into fourth place.
The Dane has been jeered by Tottenham’s own fans in recent games.
Cristian Romero and Dominic Solanke scored Tottenham’s goals.
YESTERDAY’S RESULTS
Kairat 1-4 Club Brugge
Bodø/Glimt 3-1 Man City
Villareal 1–2 Ajax
Tottenham 2–0 Dortmund
Olympiacos 2–0 Leverkusen
Sporting 2–1 PSG
Inter 1–3 Arsenal
Madrid 6–1 Monaco
Copenhagen 1-1 Napoli
