.png "Mohamed Adel"){kind=small}
Sporting CP produced one of the standout Champions League comebacks of the season on Tuesday, beating Bodo/Glimt 5-0 after extra time at Estadio Jose Alvalade to overturn a three-goal first-leg deficit. Rafael Nel applied the final touch in the 121st minute as Sporting advanced 5-3 on aggregate into the quarter-finals.
Bodo/Glimt had arrived in Lisbon with a commanding 3-0 lead from the first leg, but Sporting controlled long stretches of the return match and rarely allowed the Norwegian side to settle. The pressure told in the 34th minute when Goncalo Inacio rose highest to meet Trincao’s corner and head Sporting back into the tie.
That first-half spell was not entirely one-sided. Odin Bjortuft came close to restoring Bodo/Glimt’s cushion before the break when his header struck the crossbar and then hit the woodwork again on the way up. Even so, Sporting carried the greater attacking threat and resumed that pattern after halftime.
Sporting found their second goal in the 61st minute through Pedro Goncalves, known as Pote, after a rapid counter-attack. Luis Suarez supplied the final pass, squaring for Pote to drive his finish into the roof of the net and cut the aggregate deficit to one.
The tie swung fully in Sporting’s favour when Fredrik Bjorkan was penalised for handball after a VAR review. Suarez converted the resulting penalty with authority, sending Nikita Haikan the wrong way and bringing Sporting level at 3-3 on aggregate.
Sporting nearly completed the turnaround in normal time. Nuno Santos struck a low effort in the 83rd minute that beat Haikan but came back off the post, keeping Bodo/Glimt alive and forcing the tie into extra time.
Extra time lasted little more than a minute before Sporting finally moved ahead on aggregate. Maxi Araujo took just 83 seconds of the added period to score, bending his finish beyond Haikan and sending the home crowd into celebration. That goal shifted the pressure completely onto Bodo/Glimt, who had spent most of the night resisting waves of Sporting attacks.
Nel then sealed the comeback with an emphatic finish into the roof of the net in the 121st minute. The goal capped a memorable night for the forward, who scored on his Champions League debut and ended any remaining doubt about the outcome.
The numbers underlined Sporting’s dominance. They finished with 38 shots, 14 on target and 3.35 expected goals, figures that reflected both the scale of their control and the relentlessness of their attacking play. It was also the second-most attempts by a Portuguese side in a Champions League match in Opta’s records since 2003-04, matching the level of a performance that will stand out in Sporting’s European history.
Sporting had previously overturned a three-goal deficit in a major European knockout tie, but never before in the Champions League. On Tuesday in Lisbon, they did it with authority.