A number of Bodo/Glimt players made a 30-second bus journey to the Aspmyra Stadium on Wednesday for their Europa League clash against FC Porto, but why? It's a good question.
More often than not, several players from the Norwegian club will walk the 220-metre trip to their 8,270-capacity ground via the club's training ground in the town of Bodo.
But when European nights roll around, they must follow strict UEFA rules and arrive on their team bus.
Bodo/Glimt team manager Truls Bjerke spoke about the pre-match trip ahead of kick-off on Wednesday. “UEFA wants us to arrive together, that’s why we do it like this," he told Norwegian broadcaster NRK.
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Ahead of the clash against Portuguese giants Porto, the outlet also caught up with Bodo/Glimt winger Jens Petter Hauge, who was more than happy to make the short journey.
“That’s fine. We get told that’s how it is, so we won’t waste any more energy on it," he said. "We’ll park there, jump on the bus, and get ready for the match."
Funnily enough, there are no rules around teams leaving together after games, so they can walk home if they fancy.
Despite the hoo-ha around their pointless bus journey, Bodo/Glimt earned a dramatic 3-2 win over Porto as goals from Kasper Hogh and Jens Petter Hauge [2] sealed all three points.
Porto are one of the favourites to lift this season's competition, so the result came as a shock to many.
After the full-time whistle, Porto manager Vítor Bruno opened up on their lacklustre display. “We started well, we reached their area with relative ease, but we never felt we had the game under control," he said.
"The opposition managed to get to our goal frequently. We conceded the third goal with the opposition down to ten men, and from there we played with a lot of heart, but they held on.”
Bruno also played down talk of Porto being favourites to lift the Europa League.
"If I could, I wouldn’t kick that idea to the curb," he said. "I’d kick it out of the stadium. It’s too much of a burden for a very young squad.”
Topics: UEFA, Europa League, FC Porto, Norway
Jack Kenmare