Bodo/Glimt sporting director Havard Sakariassen has made a big revelation ahead of the Norwegian side’s Champions League clash against Tottenham Hotspur.
Spurs will be visiting Aspmyra Stadion for the second time in less than five months on Tuesday, only this time, it will be in Europe’s premier club competition.
The Lilywhites have pleasant memories from their last trip to the Arctic Circle as they emerged 2-0 winners on the night and 5-1 winners on aggregate in the Europa League semifinals.
However, the Norwegian club’s director has now fired a warning against Thomas Frank’s side ahead of their return to their home ground.
Bodo/Glimt have made a ‘step up’ since the Tottenham clash in May
The club’s sporting director, Havard Sakariassen, admitted that they were second best when they came up against Ange Postecoglou’s Spurs side back in May.
He explained that Bodo/Glimt took a lot of learnings from that result and insisted that Tottenham’s visit on Tuesday will serve as a test to see if they have made a step up since the Europa League semifinal.
Sakariassen said (via BBC Sport): “Tottenham actually played a really good game here at Aspmyra against us. Really well organised, loyal to the plan and, of course, they have really world-class players. If they perform that well in their task, it is always going to be tough for us.
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“For us, it was a lot of learning. The reflection for us after the game was [to ask if] there was enough level on the physical side. So, actually, that brought something to the table for us that we are grateful to have the knowledge about.
“It means we have since then changed and worked in a slightly better and more reflective way to see if we can realise the potential in the physical side of our players. That made us stronger and hopefully we will see that when we see them again that we actually moved up a step. That will be interesting.”
Tottenham will face a tough challenge against Bodo/Glimt
Bodo/Glimt may not be a household name in European competitions, but they were nearly impossible to beat at home in the Europa League last season, and it has been the same story in the Champions League qualifiers.
Travelling teams evidently struggle to cope with the alien weather conditions and the club’s artificial surface, which is why this is not a test that Spurs can take lightly.
The good thing for the Lilywhites is that their players will not be surprised by the pitch or other conditions at the Aspmyra Stadion, having played and won there just a few months ago.