Bodø / Glimt, AC Milan | 25 years ago they went down to AC Milan. Now RBK heroes disagree on Glimt’s chances

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Rosenborg’s shocking victory over AC Milan in the Champions League in 1996 is considered by many to be one of the greatest moments in Norwegian football. Rosenborg’s captain in that match, Bent Skammelsrud, still remembers the match well.

– Yes, it was easy! says the former general midfielder to Nettavisen, before bursting out laughing.

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– The timing is perfect

Skammelsrud has been impressed by what Bodø / Glimt has accomplished this year and believes that the magnificent Eliteserien league leader has a chance to beat the great Italian team in the Europa League qualifier broadcast on Nettavisen.

– Yes, it does. Bodø / Glimt is in the shape of his life. Milan are not where they were when we played against them. They were probably number six in the league last year. They are at the start of their series, so the timing should be perfect to surprise, he thinks.

Skammelsrud believes that Glimt must be the best version of himself to have a chance against Milan.

– They cannot start playing a completely different football, they must somehow have the offensive mentality and attack Milan, and of course defend themselves intelligently. They can’t settle for their own third because I don’t think Bodø / Glimt is good at it. They have to do what they have done well throughout the year. And it’s attacking and using relationships, and then they can quickly surprise Milan players with that, thinks the former Rosenborg player.

– have no faith

But Skammelsrud’s former teammate Mini Jakobsen doesn’t have as much faith that his former club has a chance to beat the great Italian team.

– No, I don’t believe in that. But I know there is hope. Soccer is the sport in which it can often happen that the worst team wins, as few goals are often scored in soccer. With a good defensive wall from Glimt and if they have a little luck they can of course win, but I have no faith in that. I think Milan are just too strong, Mini tells Nettavisen.

Thursday LIVE 20.30: AC Milan – Bodø / Glimt in the Europa League

Mini believes that Bodø / Glimt lacks an important factor for success against such a large team in Europe.

– There is hardly anyone in the team who has European experience. They don’t have anyone who has dated a club team and they hardly have a national team player. I think it will be a bit powerful for them when they come out through San Siro and Milan are on the other side, he says.

Believe this will be a success factor

But even though Skammelsrud and Mini don’t agree on Bodø Glimt’s chances against AC Milan, they both agree that Glimt must have something in place to be successful in Milan.

– They cannot be counteracted, they must be compact. The team cannot seem like an accordion, that goes in and out and that there are great distances, that is the concentration that is put then. But I don’t think they win if they have to defend themselves for 90 minutes. That was probably our lesson too, thinks Skammelsrud.

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Mini agrees that defensive play will be the key to success.

– I think they have to have a very tight 4-5-1 formation, where you go on defense. And when they get those opportunities and counterattacks, in the sense that they have some quick players, then it’s to take those transitions right. They shouldn’t just send a man, then they should dare to send 3, 4, 5 men when they get opportunities, he says.

At the press conference following Bodø / Glimt’s previous Europa League qualifying match against Zalgiris Vilnius, Glimt’s coach, Kjetil Knutsen, pointed out that it is different to face teams in Europe than it is to face teams in the Elite Series.

Bent Skammelsrud has played several games in Europe with Rosenborg and explains what he thinks is different.

– You are punished for the mistakes you make. In Norway you can get away with many things, but in Europe, if you are careless, you quickly have things in your bag. That is probably the biggest difference. You feel like you’re in the fight, but you still lose 3-0. You have to be very focused on both goals. You have to take risks and not miss unnecessary opportunities, he explains.

– We play our own game

When Rosenborg took on AC Milan at the mighty San Siro in 1996, not many people thought it would be possible to beat the great team. But with goals from Harald Martin Brattbakk and Vegard Heggem, Rosenborg did it. The big club AC Milan was eliminated from the tournament and Rosenborg advanced to the quarter-finals of the Champions League.

Skammelsrud remembers well what it was like to play the important match in Milan in 1996.

– We play our own game. It was not a good match in itself. Maybe Milan were a bit bad, but they had played us at home and we lost 4-1. I think maybe it was a bit up in the air that they were just going to come out to get a result. They had even achieved a draw. They probably panicked when we went up to 2-1 and never got around to turning it around, remember.

And it was after that game that Rosenborg lost all respect for the opposition in Europe, Skammelsrud believes. In the years that followed, Rosenborg made several huge achievements in the Champions League.

Mini also remembers the game well. He started on the bench, but was replaced before the end. He also sees similarities between today’s Bodø / Glimt team and the then RBK team.

– We had a similar style of play to that of Bodø / Glimt today, but away from home, the bands withdrew forcefully and entered a midfield of five and tried to hit again. Then we had some individual players in Brattbakk and of course Heggem, and some midfielders who were calm on the ball. We must never forget that even though we won, we were a bit lucky, says Mini.

It remains to be seen if Bodø / Glimt can recreate Rosenborg’s success at San Siro in 1996. You can watch the game live on Nettavisen on Thursday at 8.30pm.