PARIS: Manchester City were on the wrong side of one of the biggest shocks in Champions League history on Tuesday, stunned 3-1 at tiny Norwegian club Bodo/Glimt, while holders Paris St Germain suffered a 2-1 defeat at Sporting Lisbon as Luis Suarez completed his brace scoring the winner in the 90th minute.
Arsenal became the first team to secure direct qualification for the round of 16 after a 3-1 victory at Inter Milan, maintaining their 100% record in the league stage after seven rounds, while Kylian Mbappe scored a brace and Vinicius Junior turned jeers from his own fans to cheers by scoring for Real Madrid in a 6-1 win over Monaco.
It wasn’t a good day for the Bundesliga clubs as 10-man Borussia Dortmund were defeated 2-0 by Tottenham Hotspur and Bayer Leverkusen fell to a 2-0 loss at Olympiacos.
Elsewhere, Ajax came from behind to beat Villarreal 2-1, FC Copenhagen snatched a 1-1 draw with Napoli with 10 men and Club Brugge beat Kairat Almaty 4-1.
Pep Guardiola’s squad of City superstars arrived in chilly Bodo, a Norwegian fishing town 200km north of the Arctic Circle whose team is playing in the Champions League for the first time this season. for their seventh and penultimate league-phase match as hot favourites.
But they came unstuck in the freezing conditions as Kasper Hogh’s first half-brace and a second half strike from Jens Petter Hauge at the ecstatic 8,000-capacity Aspmyra Stadion triggered a seismic upset.
Rayan Cherki replied after Hauge’s goal, but Rodri’s dismissal for two bookings left City in tatters and facing a long trip home.
“In the end, it’s embarrassing,” said City’s Norwegian striker Erling Haaland, whose team was coming off an abject derby loss to Manchester United in the Premier League on Saturday.
While the pitch may have been artificial there was nothing false about the result, Bodo/Glimt’s first group stage win which gave them hope of making the play-offs.
“I feel amazing! I think we played a really good game today and we know we’re playing a world-class team,” Bodo/Glimt coach Kjetil Knutsen said.
City didn’t look like a team that has had $500 million spent on players over the last 12 months, with their flimsy, injury-hit defence constantly pierced on the counterattack. The hosts had two would-be goals disallowed for narrow offside decisions and also hit the crossbar.
Glimt broke the deadlock in the 22nd after Ole Didrik Blomberg stumbled inside the box, but kept possession and lifted the ball for Høgh’s header. Just two minutes later, Høgh added a second goal to his name and Hauge curled into the top corner in the 58th to make it 3-0.
Cherki cut the deficit for the guests in the 60th but things got more complicated when Rodri was sent off.
“Everything has started to be, since the new year, against us in many, many things,” said Guardiola. “I know how good a team Bodo are. I didn’t underestimate them. There is not much I know but they reached the semi-final last season of the Europa League and they were fresh in mind.
“We arrived in some departments without important players who give consistency to the team. They are a little bit fragile, as they were last season in a certain period. How they fought 10 against 11, a lot of players made a step up, but we have to change the dynamic quick for the next game against Wolves and after that for the last game against Galatasaray.”
Colombia international Suarez’s 90th-minute header earned Sporting victory over PSG, who — like City —have work to do in next week’s final round to qualify automatically to the last 16 by finishing in the top eight and avoid needing to go through the two-legged playoffs for a second straight season.
Suarez put Sporting ahead before an equaliser by substitute Khvicha Kvaratskhelia after 79 minutes.
PSG, who became European champions for the first time last season, dropped to fifth and City to seventh.
Arsenal, meanwhile, are now on their longest-ever winning streak in the Champions League and are guaranteed a top-two finish.
Gabriel Jesus scored the first two goals at San Siro for the Premier League leaders and the man he started ahead of — Viktor Gyokeres — came off the bench to net the third.
“It’s a dream night,” said the 28-year-old Jesus. “I always dreamed of being a footballer. I watched when I was a kid. I watched a lot of Serie A, so to be here in this stadium and score here is tears in my eyes because I always dreamed of being here.”
The Gunners took an early lead when Jesus slid to poke a finish into the net in the 10th but they failed to fully clear the leftovers after Marcus Thuram’s effort and Petar Sucic took control of the ball to level for Inter in the 18th.
Jesus, however, nodded in the rebound from Leandro Trossard’s header and complete his brace in the 31st before Gyokeres put the game to bed in the 84th as Inter, the heavily beaten finalists last season who have lost three straight games in the competition for the first time, slipped to ninth place.
MBAPPE LEADS GALA NIGHT FOR REAL
Real, under new coach Alvaro Arbeloa, produced a dazzling attacking display to help fans forget recent disappointments and lift the record 15-time European champions from seventh to second behind unstoppable Arsenal.
Mbappe broke the deadlock for Real against his former side in the fifth minute, sweeping home a pass from Federico Valverde at Santiago Bernabeu Stadium. He found the net a second time in the 26th, completing a play initiated by a fabulous backheel pass from Eduardo Camavinga.
Franco Mastantuono added his name to the scoresheet in 51st before Thilo Kehrer scored an own goal four minutes later when trying to clear a cross from Vinicius.
Part of the crowd had jeered Vinícius nearly every time he touched the ball, like during Saturday’s La Liga win over Levante. The Brazil forward has been having an underwhelming season and some fans view him as one of the reasons why coach Xabi Alonso was replaced last week.
However, the home fans were applauding Vinícius after his solo goal that made it 5-0 in the 63rd minute.
Monaco managed to pull one back through Jordan Teze in the 72nd but Jude Bellingham completed the huge win for Madrid in the 80th.
“It was a very beautiful moment,” Vinicius Jr told Movistar about his goal. “I had given many assists and all of my team-mates were saying I had to score. It’s important to have my team-mate’s trust, we’re a family.”
There was some much needed respite for under-fire Tottenham boss Thomas Frank as Cristian Romero and Dominic Solanke scored against 2024 runners-up Dortmund, who had midfielder Daniel Svensson sent off in the first half, to move Spurs into automatic qualification territory for the knock-outs.
Italian champions Napoli are in danger of elimination after being held by Copenhagen to drop to 23rd place. Those finishing 25th or lower in the 36-team standings won’t even qualify for the playoffs.
Copenhagen had captain Thomas Delaney sent off after a VAR check in the 35th and went behind to Scott McTominay’s goal four minutes later before Jordan Larsson equalised.
Kairat were in no danger of registering their first three points of the campaign as the bottom side of the 36-team table were swept aside by Brugge, while Villarreal conceded in the 89th to lose to Ajax.
Published in Dawn, January 22nd, 2026