Galatasaray – Bodo Glimt 22-10-2025

Finally, Norwegian football is taking us to Turkey again. We actually have to go all the way back to 2005/06 when Tromsø met Galatasaray in the Champions League. This time, it is the Vikings from the north who will make the trip down to warmer climes. 

Can Bodø/Glimt once again measure up to the level of experienced Champions League teams? We will get the answer tonight at 18:45 when Galatasaray host Bodø/Glimt at Turkey's most prestigious stadium. 

Galatasaray - With a twelfth man in the back 

There are few away games as scary as the ones you get against Turkey's biggest team. A constant barrage of whistling and booing from a packed stadium aimed at the visitors, lasting from before the game has even started until the final whistle. 

In their last 27 matches, the home team has lost only one match – the Champions League match against Frankfurt. Outside of this, the team has shown dominance, even against Liverpool, who they won 1–0 in a match that the majority thought they would lose. 

But even with dominant statistics that make the home team look like Greek gods, we can't hide the fact that they play in a league where the majority of teams are a few notches worse. This gives an artificial picture of how good the teams really are - compared to the Premier League, where the bottom can match the top almost every game. But don't get me wrong - the home team is at a high level despite the league's reputation. 

Big stars like Icardi, Gündogan, Sané and Torreira have lifted this team for a long time now and will be important pieces for the team to succeed in their own game against the small team from the north. You can look for a more experienced midfield for a long time. 

But it is clear: Anything other than a home win is unacceptable, and I think the match picture will show that. Hard, tough attacks and cynically good control in the back. It will certainly be difficult for the guests in yellow to penetrate. I think we will see a home team that comes out in 100 and presses in the first 30 minutes to get an early goal and lead the match at the chosen pace. 

Bodø/Glimt – Champions League's biggest underdogs

A new chapter has come to life, and Kjetil Knutsen's team is ready to impress us once again in their Champions League adventure. It has been a nail-biting affair from start to finish in the previous matches, which have both ended in a 2-2 draw. Impressive attacking play, sweat and blood have been used to struggle to two impressive points against strong opposition. 

Previously, we have seen an away team that has played defensive football on the away field, but this has turned around. Now it is the guests who want to be on the attack as much as possible. And with their offensive strengths they create dangerous attacks that even the top teams in the Champions League struggle to defend against. It is not the attack that has been to blame for the draw, if we are to put aside Kasper Høgh's two penalty misses. 

The away team's problem has gotten better and better over time, but they are still not good enough defensively to hold their lead against the better teams. Even against Sarpsborg they conceded two goals – surprisingly enough. But on the other hand, they are more focused on scoring more than they concede, because after all, it is the one who scores the most who wins the game. 

I see it as highly unlikely that Glimt will manage to keep a clean sheet against in-form Galatasaray on their own home field. But what happens when Bodø concedes early and has to press with their super winger Jens Petter Hauge? Corners! 

It is on the wings that Bodø/Glimt will have to play, when Ilkay Gündogan and Torreira close off the middle in front of their own defense. I believe and hope that we will see the wings in action throughout the game – and then corners often come with it. And as we know, that is one of the specialties of the guests who have followed the team for a while. A team that produces a lot of corner kicks and sends the ball to Høgh's head, who hits the ball straight into the goal. 

The men in yellow are good at set pieces, and I think they will exploit that against an experienced team in Turkey. With Patrick Berg and Jens Petter Hauge's qualities at set pieces, they will probably exploit this as often as possible in the hope of scoring a goal or two. 

I was almost surprised when I got the odds on the number of corners in the match – and it only strengthened the desire to go for corners instead of goals in a match where a lot of goals are already expected, based on what the bookmakers have placed their line on. 

Summary – Corner kicks trump goal kicks 

I would venture to say that this is a relatively open match, even though the bookmaker has once again put Bodø as heavy underdogs – which makes the X2/over bet interesting. But no – when 3.5 corner kicks are given at a nice 1.62, I think that trumps everything else. 

When X2 double marking gives you a nice 2.55, and over 1.5 goals to Bodø/Glimt gives 2.73, it is terribly tempting to go for such a variant – and it can probably be a nice single bet. But the fact is that the home team has to win this match. Bodø is not expected to win this one, even though they will do everything in their power to win.

We will have to go for a main bet, and this time I will stick with my gut feeling and the statistics. The guests actually average exactly 4 corners in this year's Champions League, but when the match picture supports corners in addition, it is corners that we end up with. Our bet is therefore over 3.5 corners to Bodø/Glimt at 1.63 odds. 

Main tips: 

Champions League at 18:45: Galatasaray – Bodø/Glimt: Over 3.5 corners to Bodø Glimt (1.63) 

Alternative games: 

• Champions League at 18:45: Galatasaray – Bodø/Glimt: Over 4.5 corners to Bodø/Glimt (2.20) 

• Champions League at 18:45: Galatasaray – Bodø/Glimt: X2 (2.55) 

• Champions League at 18:45: Galatasaray – Bodø/Glimt: Over 1.5 goals to Bodø/Glimt (2.73)