Article by Andrei Niculescu – Published Wednesday, February 25, 2026, 1:22 p.m. / Updated Wednesday, February 25, 2026, 1:23 p.m.
After the round match, it was said that it was cold, that it was the synthetic pitch, which over the years caused so many problems for the visiting teams, that the Arctic Circle was too close, that the “Derby d`Italia” was just as close with all its physical and mental consumption. Maybe it was a bit of superficiality, but who is Inter and who is Bodo Glimt in European and world football, maybe also a bit of arrogance, because the entire budget of the Norwegians can be covered by 2-3 salaries of the “Nerazzurri”. A little bit of everything. And it came to that 3-1.
In return, there was none of this. It was Milan, it was “San Siro”, two steps away was Scala, not the Arctic Circle, it was public, it was an atmosphere that Norwegians don't feel too often, it was history, it was still the vice-champion of Europe last season looking for a place in the “eighties”.
There was also the difference in individual value, which was called to make the difference, in the context of the same difference in budget and salaries as in tour, that there was no way to change. But there was still, somewhere around the corner, the threat of the ridiculous, because how else can one define an elimination (in a double leg, extremely important aspect, with a return on home ground) of the leader of Serie A in front of the second place in Norway.
No one paid any attention to her, as a threat, she sat there in her corner, awkward, surrounded by an optimism whose only reason for concern was the possibility of overtime, more as a logistical aspect than a sporting one.
And it happened. “San Siro” literally froze to see how these Norwegians, among whom only the name of Hauge said something, manage not only to qualify, but to do it after two victories. Added to the two obtained previously, with City and Atletico, there are four, and Bodo rises from this point of view to the level of Ajax in 1972, the last team from a peripheral championship capable of beating 4 opponents from the big zone.
Ștefan Covaci's Ajax, by the way. I would not remove from the list of these formidable results even the match with Borussia Dortmund, which was still achieved in Germany, so it is still positive, especially since from November 30, the date of the last stage of the domestic championship (and not Bodo is the new champion, but Viking!) these European duels were the only official ones for Kjetil Knutsen's group.
And now we come to the threat above. Ridiculous, you remember! That's about it, unfortunately for Cristi Chivu, even though he said before the match that it wouldn't be a shame for his Inter to be eliminated by Bodo Glimt.
Perhaps from his point of view it is not, but it is difficult to define otherwise, no matter how much we march on the slope of subjectivism or misunderstood sovereign patriotism, for the reasons mentioned above, related to history, budgets, values, aspirations. To have Bodo Glimt beat you in one match is one thing, to beat you with two wins is another, and the Italian press already places this double in the gray area of the club's history, alongside the Helsingborg moment, from August 2000, and the Hapoel Beer-Sheva moment, 16 years later.
Cristi Chivu / Photo: Imago
Can Chivu be faulted?
This counter-performance is still something new in these months spent by Cristi Chivu on the bench of Inter, because we were used to successes in front of smaller teams, which formed the basis for the position of quiet leader in Serie A, and so-and-so performances, contradictory to say, against direct rivals.
However we look at things, Bodo Glimt should be part of the small team category. Obviously, his responsibility for this failure cannot be avoided. Because that's how football is built, the victories belong to the players, the defeats belong to the coaches and he convinced himself that he understands well. It is, I think, the hardest moment in his short career as a technician, but normally a smart guy like him will have the ability to learn from it.
Can he be blamed for anything after this double leg? It's a natural question, beyond the statistical elements, which show us that he has 5 failures in his first 10 matches in the Champions League. Obviously, the reproaches do not escape him, it would be illogical to be otherwise. Sure, it can be said that a mistake like Akanji's throws off all possible plans for a comeback like this and weighs heavily on any party's economy.
But we have to see that the error came after almost an hour of play, during which Inter did not leave the feeling that they could prevail, on the contrary, the impression was that they could play until March and the Norwegians would not score a goal. It seemed to me that Inter lacked that “grinta” that the Italians keep referring to, that obligatory anger for a return match on their own groundu. In such circumstances, the public must be brought into the game from the beginning, it must be used as an additional element of pressure, but this cannot be done, in a match like this, which is not a derby that raises the level of excitement, except through an appropriate attitude.
“On them and at the cashier!”, was a saying from Chivu's youth from our place, only that on Tuesday evening this “on them” was quite flat, predictable, as if there was enough time. Exactly, that it wasn't. The lucidity of the Norwegians had to be constantly shaken, and there are enough ingredients for that.
Is Chivu in danger today?
Is there any danger at this moment for Cristi Chivu? The question is not without logic, although many could quickly bring up the Serie A standings. Normally, no. However, winning the championship is the main objective of Inter, which is not Real Madrid to make the Champions League an obsession. The Cup can also be added to the championship, because Inter is in the semifinals, where they ran into Como, but they have the return at home. So reasons, normally, I repeat this thing, normally, there are not.
Coincidentally, however, just before the return with Bodo Glimt, information came from Spain that Cholo Simeone already had a pre-contract with Inter for the summer. The information comes from a show with a rather bad reputation when it comes to such “bombs”, but I don't think it's entirely a fabrication. I mean, I don't think the journalist woke up in the morning and thought about what else to invent to be interesting.
I think it's information that reached him from somewhere, except that it has roots in the summer of last year. Then, there are some signals in this sense, it is very possible that between Inter and Simeone there were some discussions, rather questions, to which Cholo would leave a door open for the summer of 2026, becoming explainable in the context of the appointment of Cristi Chivu, surprising we have to admit. It's a long way from here to the pre-contract, it's really hard to believe that it exists, this is actually the exaggeration of the “clickbait” type, which we also have here with the duium.
Today there is no normal reason for Inter to play such games behind Cristi Chivu's back. Leaving aside the fact that even for Cholo Simeone there would not necessarily be reasons to leave a group with which he identifies and which pays him with an impossible salary for Inter today. But normality in today's football has become a sufficiently abstract notion. I'm not even talking about memory and gratitude.
