Who are Monaco's upcoming Champions League oppponent, Bodø/Glimt?

Bodø/Glimt are newcomers in the Champions League and the first team inside the Arctic Circle to ever qualify for the competition. Next up for the Norwegian side, Ligue 1 McDonald's giants AS Monaco.

A source of Ligue 1 McDonald's talent

Prior to joining Marseille back in 2024, Faris Moumbagna set Norwegian football alight during a one-year spell with Bodø/Glimt. In just 50 games, he netted an impressive 24 goals for the club, attracting the attention of Les Phocéens, who bought the centre-forward in January 2024. For OM, Moumbagna would make 21 appearances, netting on four occasions, in what was an injury-hit spell at the Vélodrome. The Cameroonian forward is now on loan at Cremonese in Italy.

He isn't the only player to have made the journey from Bodø/Glimt to Ligue 1 McDonald's, and the only player to have been sold for more money than Moumbagna is Albert Gronbaek, who followed the same path. The Dane joined Rennes back in the summer of 2024 for a €15m, which remains, to this day, Bodø/Glimt's record sale. The midfielder only made 18 appearances for the Breton club, however, and spent the second half of his debut season on loan at Southampton before then joining Genoa on loan in the summer.

Faris Moumbagna joins Marseille 🇨🇲🔵⚪️ pic.twitter.com/erTJocY3ZZ
— Ligue 1 English (@Ligue1_ENG) January 20, 2024

Joel Mvuka is another player to have recently made the move from Bodø/Glimt to Ligue 1 McDonald's. The winger joined Lorient back in 2023. The Norway youth international subsequently spent spells back on loan at Bodø/Glimt and then with Young Boys BSC, but this season, he has found his place with Les Merlus. The winger has played nine Ligue 1 McDonald's games for the club; overall, he has played 47 times for Lorient, netting three goals in that time.

Recent glory for Bodø/Glimt

Those three players were all part of what could be termed Bodø/Glimt's glory years. Founded in 1916, the club won their first league title in 2020 and then went on to win the next three. They only returned back to the top-flight as recently as 2018, in what has been a meteoric rise, which has taken them all the way into European competition.

Bodø/Glimt reached the quarter-finals of the Europa Conference League back in 2022 and then went all the way to the semi-finals of the Europa League last season, before coming unstuck against Tottenham Hotspur.

However, their form last season earned them a place in the Champions League this time around, as they became the northernmost club to qualify for the competition. Whilst they are yet to register their first win in the UCL, they will be a formidable opponent at home, as they showed against Spurs, as they earned a draw against the Premier League side. It is not just the cold that Monaco must battle, but a fervent home backing, armed with giant yellow toothbrushes, as is the tradition at the Aspmyra Stadion. A unique Champions League experience awaits the Principality club.

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