Bayern Munich vs Bodø/Glimt Preview: First-Ever Meeting, Arctic Visitors, and a Scoring Streak to Restart
These two clubs have never played each other. Not in a competitive fixture, not in a friendly, not once since Bayern Munich were founded in 1900 and Bodø/Glimt in 1916. On Thursday night that changes, and it changes at the Allianz Arena — the hardest possible venue for a first date. Bayern arrive as defending Bundesliga champions still annoyed by a goalless draw at Schalke that ended one of the longest scoring runs in their history. Bodø/Glimt arrive from a town of roughly 50,000 people above the Arctic Circle, on a five-match winning streak, having already scored twice or more in eleven of their last twelve European fixtures.
A Record Champions Side With Something to Prove, and a Club That Refuses to Read the Script
Bayern's season has been almost entirely excellent. Nine goals across their first two competitive matches — a 5-1 Bundesliga win over Stuttgart and a 4-1 cup win at Osnabrück — followed a 2-1 German Super Cup victory away at Borussia Dortmund. Then came Saturday in Gelsenkirchen. Vincent Kompany rested Harry Kane, Michael Olise and Jamal Musiala after their late return from World Cup duty; Loris Karius produced the performance of his career in the Schalke goal; and Bayern's run of scoring in 59 consecutive competitive matches, stretching back to a defeat to Paris Saint-Germain in July 2025, came to an end.
Kompany's explanation was blunt. "Our story was that we didn't score and the opponent went home without a shot," he said. "You need 90 minutes of pressure against defences like this until they crack. We didn't quite manage that today because we took the tempo out of the game several times." Bayern were also unbeaten in 26 straight meetings with Schalke — a sequence that survived, even if a seven-match winning run against them did not. The Champions League, on their own pitch, is the natural place to restart the machine.
Head-to-Head: There Isn't One. Here Is How Each Side Arrives
Bayern Munich and Bodø/Glimt have never met in any competition, so there is no head-to-head record to lean on. What follows is the form guide instead: each side's last five matches in all competitions.
| Bayern Munich — last five | Bodø/Glimt — last five |
|---|---|
| Schalke 0-0 Bayern | Fredrikstad 1-2 Bodø/Glimt |
| Osnabrück 1-4 Bayern | Bodø/Glimt 4-2 Rosenborg |
| Bayern 5-1 Stuttgart | Fauske/Sprint 0-5 Bodø/Glimt |
| Dortmund 1-2 Bayern | Bodø/Glimt 3-0 NEC Nijmegen |
| Heidenheim 2-4 Bayern | NEC Nijmegen 1-3 Bodø/Glimt |
Bayern's four wins and a draw came against a mix of Bundesliga, cup and pre-season opposition; Bodø/Glimt's five straight wins include the two legs that put them here, a 3-1 victory in the Netherlands and a 3-0 second leg at Aspmyra, 6-1 on aggregate over NEC Nijmegen after the visitors had a goalkeeper sent off three minutes in. That is the fifth Champions League campaign of their history, all of them since 2021, and a second successive appearance in the league phase.
Four Things to Watch in Munich
1. Kane, two short of a century, and the question of rotation
Harry Kane came off the bench at half-time in Gelsenkirchen and still nearly won it, a 25-yard drive that Karius tipped over the bar. He sits two goals shy of 100 in the Bundesliga. Kompany has been explicit that the minutes management after the World Cup is deliberate rather than a verdict on form, and a Champions League opening night at home is where a coach usually stops rotating. Kane, Olise and Musiala should all be back in from the start.
2. Bodø/Glimt score against everyone
This is the part that should give the Allianz Arena pause. Kjetil Knutsen's side have scored two or more in eleven of their last twelve European matches, won their last four home European games by three goals each, and won nine straight home qualifiers. Last season they reached the round of 16, knocking out Inter in the knockout-phase play-offs before losing to Sporting CP. That is not a fluke run; it is a repeatable method built on aggressive wide play, quick restarts and a comfort with the ball that does not disappear away from home.
3. Jens Petter Hauge against a high full-back
Hauge tore NEC apart in the second leg, beating his full-back to the byline for the cross that became the third goal. Konrad Laimer has been starting at right-back and Dayot Upamecano was Bayern's quickest player at Schalke at 32.67 km/h, but Bayern's full-backs are asked to hold the width, which leaves space behind them. Bodø/Glimt's best route to a goal on Thursday is a transition into that channel, with Sondre Auklend arriving late and Andreas Helmersen attacking the near post.
4. A Norwegian injury list that will not shorten
The visitors travel without Magnus Bech Riisnæs (knee), Haitam Aleesami (leg), Jostein Gundersen (thigh), Håkon Evjen (knee) and August Mikkelsen (groin) — five absentees that strip Knutsen of depth in exactly the areas where he would want to change a game. Bayern, by contrast, are close to full strength, with Serge Gnabry the main doubt with a thigh problem.
Predicted Lineups
Bayern Munich
- Neuer
- Laimer, Upamecano, Kim Min-jae, Davies
- Kimmich, Pavlović
- Olise, Musiala, Luis Díaz
- Kane
Kompany rested Kane, Olise and Musiala at Schalke and all three are expected back. Nathaniel Brown and Lennart Karl started that game and drop out; Gnabry is the notable doubt with a thigh injury.
Bodø/Glimt
- Haikin
- Sjøvold, Nielsen, Bjørtuft, Bjørkan
- Auklend, Berg, Fet
- Blomberg, Helmersen, Hauge
Five confirmed absentees in Riisnæs, Aleesami, Gundersen, Evjen and Mikkelsen. Fredrik André Bjørkan scored in the play-off second leg and starts at left-back; Patrick Berg anchors the midfield three.
Key Battle: Bayern's Press Against Bodø/Glimt's First Phase
Knutsen's teams insist on playing out from the back, and they insist on it everywhere. At Aspmyra against NEC they finished with 72 percent possession and 21 shots to three. Doing that at the Allianz Arena against Olise, Musiala and Luis Díaz pressing from the front is a different kind of test, and the single pivot in front of the Norwegian back four is where the pressure will land. Win that first phase and Bayern will spend the evening in the visitors' final third. Lose it and Bodø/Glimt have the wide players to make it uncomfortable.
The other side of the argument is that Bayern have won the second half in each of their last seven Champions League home matches, and that opponents at the Allianz Arena have taken a maximum of four corners in nine of the last ten. This is a ground where pressure accumulates. Bodø/Glimt have conceded 0.9 goals per game across their last five; Bayern have scored 3.7 across theirs. Something has to bend.
What to Wear on Champions League Night
Opening night in Munich: red across the Südkurve, a small block of yellow in the corner from roughly 1,900 kilometres north. Whether you are backing the hosts or travelling with the Norwegians, here are the shirts that fit the occasion.
Bayern Munich
Swipe to browse 7 Bayern Munich shirts
Bodø/Glimt
Swipe to browse 2 Bodø/Glimt shirts
