Man City stunned by Bodo/Glimt during Champions League nightmare as Rodri sees red in Norway

Manchester City made several changes to the starting lineup in Norway. Rayan Cherki and Phil Foden played behind Erling Haaland, Tijjani Reijnders partnered Nico O’Reilly in midfield, and Max Alleyne started at centre-back.

Despite expectations that City would dominate possession, Bodo/Glimt had the first attempt on goal in the second minute. City then pushed forward and created chances against goalkeeper Nikita Haikin, but it was the hosts who opened the scoring in the 21st minute. Rico Lewis mistimed a tackle, allowing Bodo/Glimt to counter-attack, and Kasper Høgh scored his first Champions League goal.

Just one minute later, another City error was punished. Max Alleyne failed to control the ball, Høgh seized possession, and completed his brace. Bodo/Glimt went into the break with a 2-0 lead.

After the restart, Manchester City struggled to regain control. Their attempts to find a goal were halted again in the 58th minute, when former AC Milan player Jens Petter Hauge produced a strong individual run to make it 3-0.

City responded shortly after, pulling a goal back through Kevin De Bruyne. However, two minutes later, Rodri received a second yellow card after pulling back Blomberg and was sent off. Reduced to 10 men, City were unable to mount a comeback and the match ended in a 3-1 defeat.

“We have to come back - the results since 2025 is not good, in terms of the Premier League and now today,” he said after the game. “But we go forward, Wolves and then Galatasaray. We have the feeling everything is going wrong, the details, but we have to try and change that.

“I don’t have any doubts in this competition, nothing is taken for granted that is for sure. [Manchester] United beat us and were better. Today they had momentum. But the team was there and we created - on the transition they are really good.”

Following the loss, Manchester City dropped to seventh place in the Champions League Swiss Stage and could fall out of the Top 8 if teams behind them, such as Atalanta or Liverpool, win their matches. City will now return to Premier League action against Wolves on 24 January, before facing Galatasaray in their final Swiss Stage fixture.