Manchester City, Atletico Madrid, and now Inter Milan... In just over a month, they have all come up short against Bodo Glimt, a small Norwegian club located above the Arctic Circle, which plays, without any major international stars, in an open-air stadium exposed to the cold.

Having already won at home (3-1) in the first leg, the Scandinavians in yellow and black went on to overturn (2-1) at home on Tuesday evening, in the Champions League play-off, the Italians of Inter, finalists of the competition in 2023 and 2025 and current undisputed leaders of Serie A.

A new feat that allows Bodo Glimt to secure a place in the round of 16 of the most prestigious club tournament on the planet.

"This is the greatest club performance of all time for a Norwegian team," said national team coach Stale Solbakken to the NRK channel.

Although, due to winter, their season ended in November, Bodo Glimt has won all of its matches since the beginning of the year.

And not just any: before defeating Inter twice, they beat (3-1) Manchester City, led by their legendary compatriot Erling Haaland, at home before taking down Atletico (1-2) in Madrid.

Results that defy expectations.

Because Bodo is a small coastal town in the Arctic, with only 50,000 inhabitants and which many would struggle to place on a map.

In this remote place, battered by glacial sea winds and plunged into darkness in winter, Bodo Glimt ("glimt" means "glow" in Norwegian) keeps the flame alive.

In its cramped and old-fashioned stadium in Aspmyra --built in 1966, it can barely accommodate more than 8,000 spectators--, the team that came close to bankruptcy in 2016 and which consists almost entirely of Norwegians has been doing wonders since its return to Eliteserien, the Norwegian first division, in 2018.

In recent years, she has won four championships and reached the semi-finals of the Europa League last year.

- A "magical" journey -

"It is so important for football that Glimt is doing this, that it will still be possible in 2026 for a small club to be built from scratch," Mads Skauge, vice-president of the J-Feltet supporters' association, told AFP.

"At a time when there is so much money in football, this is quite unique. I can find no other example in modern history of such a magical journey as the one Glimt experienced," adds this sociologist by training.

Today, the fan base extends far beyond the city, or even the country, the club's jerseys are sold in Asia, and media outlets flock from all over the world to study this phenomenon.

The recipe for success? A collective devoid of ego, where everyone knows their part, and a very offensive style of play, regardless of the opponent, with combinations repeated hundreds of times in training.

"It's a team in the truest sense of the word. There are no big stars, there are no stowaways. Everyone clearly knows their role and if they don't fulfill it, they're out," explains Mads Skauge.

"And with so much repetition, it goes so fast that even the best teams struggle to keep up."

Added to this is now a solid offensive structure: Bodo Glimt finished last season in second position with, by far, the best attack and the best defense.

"We dared to follow our own path, to be courageous, to find our own way of doing things and each time we evaluate and move forward, perhaps even a little more than we would have dreamed," said his coach, Kjetil Knutsen, to TV2.

And now confidence is sky-high -- to the point that the players are abandoning their traditional Nordic humility.

"We are incredibly strong. What we are achieving is simply huge, we can beat anyone," said striker Jens Petter Hauge, who scored the first goal against Inter.

The next opponent --which will be either Manchester City again, or Sporting Portugal-- has been warned.