Manchester City had been just north of the Arctic Circle before, a friendly in 1994 when Uwe Rosler led the line and Brian Horton was in charge. Bodo/Glimt beat them 5-1 and the result goes down in infamy.
If that can be described as infamous then this is on a completely different scale of shame. Hold my beer territory as City’s youngest line-up in Champions League history froze on a plastic pitch.
A spot in the top eight now in serious jeopardy, the captain on the night Rodri sent off, Erling Haaland squandering chances and blaming others. A central defender in Max Alleyne hung out to dry.
For context, that while Bodo/Glimt have battered Roma in the Conference League while Jose Mourinho was boss, they had never won a game in this competition.
At around 55,000, the fishing town has a population of Stevenage. Or the Etihad Stadium – whichever way you like to measure these things.
They haven’t been involved in a competitive game for over a month and the Norwegian league doesn’t start until March, two friendlies against luminaries Groningen and Diosgyori under their belts.
Rodri was sent off with two yellow cards in the space of a minute as Man CIty unravelled
Bodo/Glimt’s Jens Petter Hauge (right) celebrates scoring a sensational goal in the 3-1 win
Erling Haaland look far from his best and missed chances before blaming others
All that made this one of the worst evenings of Pep Guardiola’s decade-long reign. City, amazingly, have won just two of their last seven games – and one of those was Exeter City.
This display on the back of the dismal display at Old Trafford on Saturday could not have been predicted. Not to this extent, anyway. Not with this manager or these players.
Even with a heavy injury list, especially at the back, there is real shock to how City have unravelled. Marc Guehi has a bit on his plate to shore up a bereft back four.
In the seconds running up to Kasper Hogh’s opening goal, Horton messaged Daily Mail Sport laughing that he was watching this tie in the hope of erasing memories of his one afternoon visiting the peninsula 26 years ago.
In what seemed a relaxed atmosphere in temperatures not as harsh as advertised, City staff were taking beauty pictures of the sunset over the sea at around three o’clock before the evening turned ugly.
Hogh’s first, after 22 minutes, came as Max Alleyne went to engage in a duel he’d never win. Rico Lewis didn’t stop the cross, Hogh heading in.
City and Alleyne were so shellshocked that the youngster – who was on loan at Watford up until a fortnight ago – lost his bearings, allowing Jens Petter Hauge to pick his pocket and Hogh to double the lead just seconds later.
A disorientated Alleyne gifted possession when facing his own goal but that Bodo/Glimt could walk the ball in thereafter spoke volumes of those around him.
Gianluigi Donnarumma looks downcast after conceding as the home side looked rampant
It was an historic night for the Norwegian side from a fishing town of just 55,000
Haaland missed chances and was also unable to hold up play for the visitors
Haaland threw his arms in anger at the capitulation, although barely held anything up all night himself, not giving City room to breathe.
Alleyne, Haaland and Abdukodir Khusanov all fluffed huge opportunities for City yet the Norwegians were continuing to rampage forward themselves.
Once Rodri gave the ball away and then watched Hauge saunter in from the left flank – waving him on his way – to beautifully curl beyond Gianluigi Donnarumma, the game was done.
Rodri’s race was run soon after, two bookings for fouls predicated on the match appearing too quick for him.
Caught flatfooted, he wasn’t at the pace of moves as they unfolded and it looks like being some time before the 2024 Ballon d’Or winner returns to anywhere near his best.
Hauge struck the bar, Bodo/Glimt saw two goals ruled out for offside, while Rayan Cherki had driven in from the edge of the box.
But what does this mean for City now? It heaps additional pressure on the arrival of Galatasaray at the end of the month, the final game of this stage, and there are stars whose stocks have severely sunk over recent days.
Horton allowed his players a decent night out in Norway’s capital before going home all those years ago. This, though, was just sobering.
