Match Report
BVB Leaves It Too Late, Falls in Norway
“We rotated because we have three games in one week, plus the strain of traveling,” said Kovac in explaining his choice of a starting lineup, which featured five changes from the game against Bremen. Ramy Bensebaini, Joey Veerman, Konstantinos Karetsas, Samuele Inacio and Fabio Silva started in place of Nico Schlotterbeck, Felix Nmecha, Ethan Nwaneri, Marcel Sabitzer and Serhou Guirassy.
In windy, chilly conditions, the Norwegian opposition made more effective use of the ball on the artificial surface of Aspmyra Stadion, creating three shots in the opening quarter-hour and coming close to taking the lead in the 19th minute. Firing from 13 meters (roughly 14 yards) out, Sondre Brunstad Fet missed the target by mere centimeters.
Shortly after, on a counterattack, Ole Blomberg's delivery came close to reaching the outstretched Jens Petter Hauge with the empty net begging (27'). In a clash between yellow kits (Bodø) and black kits (BVB), the first 35 minutes belonged to the side playing in yellow, which led the shot count 5-1 and also held clear edges in possession (65%) and duels won (66%). In the final ten minutes of first-half regulation time, the BVB players finally held on to the ball for extended periods of time and exerted some dominance over their opposition.
24 seconds after the break, Gregor Kobel made a save against Andreas Helmersen, keeping the score level. Most of the action after that remained concentrated around Gregor Kobel’s goal. After Blomberg’s deflected shot skipped narrowly wide (49'), Borussia's luck finally ran out. On a strong attacking sequence that was initiated by right back Fredrik Sjøvold, a pair of clever passes saw Sondre Auklend fly down the right and send a pinpoint centering ball into the box that was clinically finished off by Sjøvoldf or for 1-0 (52').
Four Changes at the Hour Mark
BVB Head Coach Niko Kovac responded to the setback with a quadruple substitution, Guirassy, Nmecha, Nwaneri and Julian Ryerson replacing Silva, Inacio, Veerman and Karetsas. Germany midfielder Nmecha made his presence felt right away, his long-range shot forcing goalkeeper Nikita Haikin to extend fully and scrape the ball out of the top right corner (62').
The momentum of the game subsequently continued to swing, with Bodø sitting back and Borussia playing with greater purpose. A last-ditch deflection off a defender's leg kept Serhou Guirassy from tying the score at 1-1, Nmecha having driven to the byline and picked out his teammate at the corner of the six-yard box (69'). Ethan Nwaneri’s free header lacked placement (74'), and Sjøvold made a key intervention to prevent Daniel Svensson from getting a shot off (83'). Then, on the ensuing corner, Nwaneri was denied by backstop Haikin, who would make another strong save against Nmecha (90'+2). The closing stages saw three BVB corner kicks in quick succession. When Julian Ryerson headed the third and final delivery wide of the goal, that marked the end of the match.
FK BODØ/GLIMT – Borussia Dortmund 1-0 (0-0 at half)
UEFA Champions League, Matchday 2 Wednesday, October 14, 2026, 9:00 p.m.
Bodø: Haikin – Sjövold, Gundersen, Aleesami, Björkan – Berg – Auklend, Fet – Blomberg, Hauge (78’ Brynhildsen) – Helmersen
Bench: Lund, Määttä, Nielsen, Saltnes, Sanyang, Solhaug, Mvuka
BVB: Kobel – Gadou, Anton, Bensebaini – Svensson, Bellingham, Veerman (60' Nmecha), Beier (78' Chukwuemeka) – Karetsas (60' Nwaneri), Inacio (60' Ryerson) – Silva (60' Guirassy)
Bench: Drewes, Meyer, Prates, Mane, Reggiani, Sabitzer, Albert
Unavailable: Can (torn ACL), Konstantelias (torn ACL), Lerma (muscle injury), Schlotterbeck (load management)
Goal: 1-0 Sjøvold (52', from Auklend),
Yellow cards: – Gadou, Silva
Referee: Schnyder (from Switzerland)
Attendance: approximately 8,500 at Aspmyra Stadion
Boris Rupert
