A night that was supposed to be a trial for Tottenham Hotspur proved an emphatic triumph.
Bodo/Glimt have beaten some illustrious names at their cramped Aspmyra Stadion, but Spurs never looked like becoming their latest victims in this Europa League semi-final second leg, with goals from Dominic Solanke and Pedro Porro sealing a 2-0 win on the night and a 5-1 aggregate victory.
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It ensures an all-Premier League meeting with Manchester United in the final in Bilbao on May 21 and was another fine European night for Ange Postecoglou, for whom this competition has provided sweet relief amid his domestic struggles.
We analyse the major talking points from the tie.
An unlikely setting for a glory, glory night
Tottenham are going to the Europa League final. They produced a performance of discipline, organisation and pragmatism at Bodo/Glimt tonight, expertly managing the unique conditions on a wet artificial pitch in the Arctic Circle.
The fact that Spurs did it like this, managing the game, shutting down Bodo/Glimt, frustrating the noisy home crowd, will be of huge satisfaction to Postecoglou. All season, he has been criticised for being too ideological, too committed to his aggressive style of play. But he has managed Spurs all the way through to their first European final since 2019, masterminding a 1-0 win at Eintracht Frankfurt in the quarter-final second leg and now this.
It was an unlikely setting for a European semi-final (Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)
Every Spurs player knew their job tonight. Solanke was heroic in his running and deserved to bundle in Cristian Romero’s header from a corner early in the second half. Rodrigo Bentancur and Yves Bissouma screened the defence impeccably. Dejan Kulusevski and Brennan Johnson did disciplined jobs without the ball.
Now Spurs have two weeks until they face Manchester United in Bilbao. And Postecoglou has a chance of the biggest vindication of all.
Jack Pitt-Brooke
Solanke shines on and off the ball
Dominic Solanke’s bundled finish in the 63rd minute was a richly deserved reward for his selfless, tireless running off the ball and made him Tottenham’s outright top scorer in the competition with five goals.
But it was his aggressive pressing that truly set the tone, helping to stifle Bodo/Glimt from early on. Tottenham’s pressing came under scrutiny before the second leg after Bodo/Glimt right-back Fredrik Sjovold told Avisa Nordland that their “pressure is no better than an OK Eliteserien team. It is possible to play it out.”
In Norway, Spurs chose to again sit off, but pressed in a targeted way. They aggressively closed down during Bodo/Glimt’s build-up phase at the back, before dropping into a compact, disciplined shape once that initial press was bypassed.
Key to this was the tireless running of Solanke. Coming into the game, just 27 per cent of Bodo/Glimt’s passes were forward, the lowest share in the competition, reflecting their short-passing style. That rhythm was consistently disrupted by the ever-present Solanke, who prevented them from building fluently from the back.
Solanke was a constant nuisance for Bodo/Glimt (Mats Torbergsen/NTB/AFP via Getty Images)
These efforts bore fruit. When Solanke won a free kick high up after smartly dispossessing Patrick Berg, the resultant shot from Porro was Tottenham’s only shot on target during the first half. More than anything, his high regains provided Spurs a much-needed breather in a game where Bodo/Glimt dominated the ball.
Eight Premier League goals represent a modest return on Tottenham’s £65million ($86m) outlay for Solanke last summer. In Europe, though, he has found his shooting boots, and his off-ball work remains an underrated and undervalued aspect of his game.
Conor O’Neill
How Spurs turned to the dark arts
One of the features of Tottenham under Postecoglou has been their relentlessness, their commitment to getting the ball back into play as fast as possible. It is one of the hallmarks of Angeball at its most intense.
But this was not a night for Angeball. It was a night for getting over the line. And it was striking from the start how happy Spurs were to take time out of the game, taking as long as possible over every re-start, to the fury of the crowd and the frustration of referee Maurizio Mariani.
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The ball was in play for less than 26 minutes of the first half, the second-shortest time from all of Spurs’ Europa League first halves this season. The only first half with less football played was at Galatasaray in November (25mins 12secs), which featured four goals.
From corners and throw-ins, Spurs waited, changed their taker, then waited again. From goal kicks, Guglielmo Vicario took as long as possible, before invariably going long, looking for Solanke or Richarlison. He was finally booked in the second half.
Vicario took his time over goal kicks (Stian Lysberg Solum/NTB/AFP via Getty Images)
Later in the game, substituted players gently ambled off the field. And why not? Given the pitch, the opposition and the match situation, this strategy made perfect sense.
Much like Spurs’ quarter-final second leg at Eintracht Frankfurt, it proved that Postecoglou is far readier than many expected to put his ideology to one side, in pursuit of winning this competition.
Jack Pitt-Brooke
Formation switch works again
Postecoglou adapted his standard 4-3-3 high-intensity approach for the Europa League quarter-final against Eintracht Frankfurt, dropping a midfielder to play alongside Bentancur in a more pragmatic 4-2-3-1. He adopted a similar system in last week’s 3-1 win in north London, and with the focus on protecting the lead, Spurs set up the same way in Norway.
While Spurs started brightly and pressed the Glimt defence aggressively in the opening exchanges, Tottenham’s defensive line dropped as the home side began dominating possession. Solanke’s output did not decline from a pressing perspective, but the nine outfielders behind him were happy to sit within a structure which has brought success in Europe in recent rounds.
Losing Lucas Bergvall for the remainder of the season was seen as a sizeable blow ahead of the first leg, but Bissouma has provided an added defensive nous and intensity alongside Bentancur, which has been crucial to the system’s success.
Bissouma gave Spurs energy in midfield (Mats Torbergsen/NTB/AFP via Getty Images)
As he did at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, Bissouma broke up possession in the midfield and maintained the tactical discipline necessary to prevent Glimt’s slick passing plays from threatening Tottenham’s defence.
Credit to Postecoglou, his willingness to alter his Premier League approach for the Europa League has proven crucial in Spurs’ run to the final.
Elias Burke
Can Kulusevski get up to speed?
Kulusevski did not have his best game tonight, but the win in Norway has given him two weeks to reach something like the level he displayed in the first half of the season.
Postecoglou’s approach was not designed to showcase Kulusevski’s strengths, and he did an admirable job of sticking to the strict defensive structure. When the opportunity presented itself to sweep up danger and carry the ball up the field, he was on hand to alleviate pressure and allow his team-mates to find their shape.
He even got an assist, playing the pass for Porro’s cross-cum-shot that flew over Nikita Haikin and into the Glimt goal to put Spurs 2-0 ahead and solidify their place in the final.
Kulusevski’s return from injury has come at the perfect time (David Lidstrom – UEFA/UEFA via Getty Images)
Still, given how integral James Maddison has been to Spurs’ Europa League success in recent weeks — scoring against AZ, Glimt and winning the penalty away to Frankfurt — the onus is now on Kulusevski to fill that void.
Before the final, Spurs play Crystal Palace and Aston Villa in the Premier League, providing opportunities to find his form and become the creative outlet they will need ahead of the final on May 21.
Elias Burke
What did Postecoglou say?
The Spurs head coach believes his team has “grown” over the course of their Europa League campaign.
“I couldn’t be prouder,” he told TNT Sports. “We knew it was a difficult place to come, the record they (Bodo/Glimt) have and the pitch but the lads handled it really well. We’re excited we’re in the final.
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“We’ve grown in maturity through the competition and you can see the lads understand exactly what’s required. That where we won the game. We knew in the second half they were going to have to get a bit desperate but the lads had a very clear mind about what we needed to do.
“We’ve used every player in the squad, we’re used to adversity and overcoming that. It helps that we have some of the players back and they’ve handled it really well in all three knockout ties. Hopefully we can do something special.”
What next for Tottenham?
Sunday, May 11: Crystal Palace (Home), Premier League, 2.15pm UK, 9.15am ET
(Top photo: Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)
