Champions League: Bodo/Glimt stun Inter Milan; Newcastle rout Qarabag

Bodo/Glimt outclass Inter 3-1

Bodo/Glimt secured an upset 3-1 victory over Serie A leaders Inter Milan in the first leg of their Champions League playoff on Wednesday as Kasper Hogh proved instrumental with two assists and a goal.

The Norwegian side took the lead in the 20th minute when Hogh's backheel set up Sondre Brunstad Fet, who calmly slotted into the bottom corner. 

Inter, three-times European Cup winners, equalised 10 minutes later through 20-year-old Pio Esposito, who turned sharply inside the box to fire in following Carlos Augusto's through ball. 

Esposito's goal made him the youngest Italian to score for Inter in the knockout rounds of the competition.

Inter dominated after the break, with Lautaro Martinez hitting the post and Carlos Augusto testing goalkeeper Nikita Haikin from long range, but the home side seized the initiative.

A defensive lapse allowed Hogh to break forward and pick out Jens Petter Hauge, who rifled the ball into the roof of the net in the 61st minute.

Danish forward Hogh converted from close range after a precise cross from Ole Didrik Blomberg three minutes later, bringing his tally to four goals in this season's competition.

The result added another chapter to Glimt's golden run in this year's Champions League. The Norwegians pulled off a 3-1 win over Manchester City in the league phase and came from behind to defeat Atletico Madrid 2-1 and secure their place in the playoffs.

"First and foremost, I don't think we played a top game today," Glimt coach Kjetil Knutsen told TV2. "We are too inaccurate with the ball, we are too inaccurate in being clear with our identity. There's something a bit neutral about us, but we score some fantastic goals."

"We know we are playing against a very good team. The good thing is that we go into the next game, and I think we have more in us than what we get out of ourselves on the whole total today," he added.

The victory was just the second for a Norwegian side against Italian opposition in the European Cup or Champions League, following Rosenborg's 2-1 victory over AC Milan in the group stage in December 1996.

Cristian Chivu's side, who lead the Italian top flight by seven points, will hope to overcome the deficit in next Tuesday's return leg at San Siro. 

"It's a tough game against a good opponent, especially at home. A bad result for us and a bad night for us, but we need to stay calm and believe that we can win at home," Inter midfielder Petar Sucic told UEFA.

Gordon scores four as Newcastle hammer Qarabag

Anthony Gordon struck four times in the first half as Newcastle United thrashed Qarabag 6-1 away in their Champions League playoff first leg on Wednesday, to all but book their place in the last 16.

Gordon opened the scoring in the third minute and Malick Thiaw headed in from a corner six minutes later to earn an early two-goal lead.

The 24-year-old Englishman made it 3-0 from the spot in the 32nd minute following a handball, added his third a minute later after a defensive error and converted another penalty in added time before the break, when keeper Mateusz Kochalski brought him down inside the box.

It was Gordon's 10th goal in this season's Champions League, more than Harry Kane (8) and Erling Haaland (7), with only Kylian Mbappe (13) ahead of him.

Elvin Jafarguliyev pulled one back in the 56th minute before substitute Jacob Murphy's deflected strike in the 72nd minute sealed a dominant win for the Premier League side in Baku.

Eddie Howe's injury-hit side, the only Premier League team not to qualify directly for the last 16, arrived in Azerbaijan on the back of successive away wins over Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League and Aston Villa in the FA Cup.

They made it three on the spin in style, despite missing eight first-team players including captain Bruno Guimaraes, wasting no time on what was the longest journey ever undertaken by an English club for a Champions League away match, the 2,529-mile trip from Newcastle upon Tyne to Baku.

Gordon opened the scoring in the third minute, finishing neatly to the keeper's right after Dan Burn surged forward from a throw-in and threaded a pass through the defence.

The visitors doubled their lead six minutes later from a short corner on the left wing, Kieran Trippier delivering a lofted cross to the far post where Thiaw rose highest to head home.

Gordon made it three in the 32nd minute from the penalty spot after VAR spotted a handball by Matheus Silva. A minute later he pounced on a defensive error to race clear and fire past Kochalski, before hitting his fourth from the spot right before the break.

Howe made several changes in the second half with the win all but secured. 

Jafarguliyev's close-range effort was initially ruled out for offside before VAR overturned the decision, with Murphy's goal wrapping up the easy win for Newcastle, as Qarabag now face a daunting task in the return leg in England.

Club Brugge in thrilling draw with Atletico Madrid

Club Brugge's Christos Tzolis tucked away a late equaliser to secure a dramatic 3-3 draw with Atletico Madrid in their Champions League playoff first leg on Wednesday as the Belgian side avoided defeat after an agonising own goal appeared to have cost them. 

Tzolis slammed home an angled shot in the 89th minute to level the tie although the goal was initially ruled out for offside but then confirmed after a VAR check.

Brugge fought back from a 2-0 halftime deficit to equalise but then looked to have thrown it away when Joel Ordonez turned the ball into his own net in the 79th minute.

Yet they head into next Tuesday’s return leg in Madrid with the scores level at the end of an exciting encounter in rainy conditions.

Julian Alvarez tucked away an eighth-minute penalty and Ademola Lookman added a second in stoppage time at the end of the first half as Atletico took a comfortable lead into the break.

But Brugge fought back with Raphael Onyedika poking home in the 52nd minute and Nicolo Tresoldi finishing at the near post on the hour mark.

Brugge had given away a penalty early on after Joaquin Seys made an awkward jump to head clear but got it all wrong and the ball hit his hand. The penalty was confirmed after a VAR check and Alvarez hammered home the spot kick.

It was 2-0 on the stroke of halftime as Alvarez's corner went all the way through to the back post where Lookman got ahead of his marker and touched it into the net.

Yet the home side fought back quickly at the start of the second half, pulling one back as Onyedika finished from close range after visiting goalkeeper Jan Oblak saved from Tresoldi’s initial effort.

Onyedika then set up the equaliser with a pass out to the left that allowed Mamadou Diakhon to jink his way into a position to hit a firm cross that Tresoldi snapped up.

But the wind was taken out of the home side's sails with 11 minutes remaining as Marcos Llorente played in a low ball from the right and, under pressure from Alexander Sorloth, Ordonez turned the ball into his own net.

However, Tzolis’ low left-footed strike from Onyedika’s cross put the home fans in a jubilant mood and left the tie in the balance.

Schick's double powers Leverkusen to victory

Bayer Leverkusen striker Patrik Schick struck twice in three minutes to steer his team to a 2-0 victory at Olympiacos in their Champions League playoff first leg on Wednesday.

The Czech forward slipped past his marker and slotted in on the hour mark before quickly bagging a second goal with a downward header from Alex Grimaldo's corner.

It was the 30-year-old's first double in a Champions League match and he took his goal tally to four from his last six appearances in the competition.

Schick also became only the second Leverkusen player to score two goals in a Champions League knockout phase match, the first being Michael Ballack in 2002.

The Germans' last loss was to the Greek side in the league phase on January 20 and they have now gone seven consecutive matches without defeat across all competitions.

In a pulsating first half, Olympiacos keeper Kostas Tzolakis twice came to the rescue with superb saves in succession, first blocking a Schick effort from close range before palming Ibrahim Maza's point-blank volley onto the crossbar in the 28th minute.

Ernest Poku should have scored for the visitors two minutes later when he had only Tzolakis to beat but his low shot sailed wide.

The hosts thought they had finally broken the deadlock on the stroke of halftime when Ayoub El Kaabi headed in off the post from a free kick but after a VAR review the goal was disallowed for offside.

Leverkusen quickly took control in the second half and Schick's double took the wind out of Olympiacos' sails. The hosts tried to find a way back but despite having possession in the last 20 minutes, they could not create clear scoring chances.

"Two chances two goals. They punished us and we will have to look at our mistakes," Olympiacos captain Panagiotis Retsos said. "We have to go to Germany to try and advance. Nothing is over yet." 

Leverkusen will look to seal a round-of-16 spot in the return leg in Germany next week.