Inter Milan midfielder Nicolo Barella said Bodo/Glimt fully deserved to win their Champions League tie as last year’s finalists were dumped out in the knockout play-offs.
Bodo backed up their 3-1 win in the first leg at home with a similarly stunning 2-1 win at the San Siro on Tuesday night to win 5-2 and claim one of the Champions League’s biggest ever shocks.
With the aggregate scoreline at 3-1 at the start of the night, Inter had a host of chances to bring the game level in the first half before they were taught a lesson in how to be clinical by their Norwegian opponents who progressed through goals from Jens Petter Hauge and Hakon Evjen.
“We conceded a goal with an individual error, it happens in football, but the most difficult thing was to break the deadlock and we didn’t do it,” midfielder Barella told Sky Sport Italia.
“Bodo deserve congratulations, they beat us home and away, so clearly they deserved to go through.”
Barella suggested that missing out on the top eightwas the thing that cost them most, referencing a late penalty that was not given against Liverpool all the way back in December as the reason for their woes.
He added: “There is disappointment because we never hid from our desire to compete for every tournament.
“We tried, they did better, but this is the difference when you don’t go through by a point because they awarded a penalty at the 90th minute.
“Without that, we’d have avoided two games and a trip to Norway, but this is the new Champions League.”
Having reached the 2023 and 2025 finals of the Champions League, all attention will now turn to their Serie A campaign and winning another Scudetto. The Nerazzurri are currently 10 points clear with 12 games to play.
“Our thoughts were to go all the way in every competition, which we’ve done more or less consistently for years now,” added Barella.
“Last time we went out to Atletico Madrid and won the Scudetto, this time we went out to Bodo and are 10 points clear.
“Naturally, the target is the Scudetto, but that has been the case since the start of the season.”
