Victor Boniface sends message to Pep Guardiola as Man City stumble in Norway

Victor Boniface has offered a knowing reaction after his former club Bodo/Glimt pulled off one of the biggest surprises of the Champions League season by beating Manchester City 3-1 in Norway on Tuesday night, Soccernet.ng reports.

The Super Eagles striker, who spent three years at the Norwegian club between 2019 and 2022, suggested the result would not have come as a shock to anyone familiar with the unique challenge of facing Glimt at the Aspmyra Stadion.

City manager Pep Guardiola may well wish that message had arrived before kick-off.

Victor Boniface left Nigeria to begin his European career in Scandinavia, after a brief loan spell at Cypriot side Lefke TSK, and went on to become part of the most successful period in Glimt’s history. He won two Eliteserien titles in 2020 and 2021, the first league championships the club had ever claimed, before earning a move to Union Saint-Gilloise in Belgium.

Still closely attached to the club nicknamed Superlaget (The Super Team), Boniface watched Tuesday’s match with keen interest.

And after seeing how comfortably Kjetil Knutsen’s side dealt with the Premier League champions, he took to social media to send a pointed reminder.

“Bodo Glimt. You can’t beat them in Norway no worry,” Boniface wrote.

Guardiola and his players would have struggled to disagree on a night when almost everything went wrong. However, the City manager rejected any suggestion that his team had taken their opponents lightly.

“We lost and since the new year, [there are] many things against [us],” said Guardiola afterwards.

“But I know how good a team they are. We didn't underestimate them. They were in the semi-finals of the Europa League last season, they were fresh in mind and we arrived in some departments without important players.”

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Victor Boniface proud as Bodo Glimt make history

Played in freezing conditions on an artificial pitch inside the 8,000-capacity Aspmyra Stadion, City looked uncomfortable from the outset in temperatures that dipped to around -9C. The hosts, by contrast, were sharp, aggressive and fearless.

Bodo/Glimt took a deserved lead in the 22nd minute when Ole Didrik Blomberg’s looping cross to the back post was headed in by Kasper Hogh. City’s defensive problems were immediately obvious, and they were punished again just two minutes later.

Young defender Max Alleyne lost control of the ball in his own half, allowing Blomberg to cut the ball across the box once more for Hogh to finish first time.

The Norwegian side could have been out of sight before the half-hour mark, with Hogh denied a hat-trick only by a goal-line block from Gianluigi Donnarumma. At the other end, Erling Haaland’s difficult run of form continued, summed up when he failed to hit the target from close range shortly before the interval.

Any hope of a City recovery disappeared early in the second half when Jens Petter Hauge produced a stunning solo effort, curling the ball into the top corner to make it 3-0.

Although Rayan Cherki later pulled a goal back, City’s task became impossible when Rodri was sent off for two bookable offences.

The result leaves Guardiola’s side needing a win against Galatasaray in their final group match to secure a top-eight finish, while Glimt keep alive their hopes of reaching the play-off round.

This was a landmark night for Bodo/Glimt. Just a decade ago they were playing in Norway’s second tier. This is their first Champions League campaign, and before City’s visit they had never won a match in the competition’s main stage. They had drawn with Tottenham earlier this season and faced Spurs in last year’s Europa League semi-final, but had never beaten an English club in six attempts.

They ended that run in unforgettable fashion and, as Victor Boniface has warned, Norway once again proved an unforgiving place for visiting giants.