Lazio vs Bodø / Glimt

The Europa League quarter-final second round begins with Lazio expecting to achieve a major turn of events against Bodo/Glimt at the Stadio Olimpico.

Bodo/Glimt advances closer to history after their 2-0 first-leg victory by becoming the first Norwegian football club to reach any European competition semi-finals with another triumph in the returning match.

Last Thursday the visitors, Bodo/Glimt defeated the Lazio team at Aspmyra after many European clubs found it difficult to play in this far-northern location during recent seasons. Lazio's bitter rivals Roma suffered a heavy 6-1 loss there in 2021 was the most notable example.

The two-goal Bodo/Glimt lead to Lazio's Italian capital is not promising given historical precedent which suggests Roma will face a difficult task in overcoming that deficit.

Since losing the first match Lazio have only managed to go past their opponents three times and the most recent breakthrough came in 2018 against FCSB.

The Biancocelesti managed their last home victory during the knockout phase in 2018 at the same time they advanced to a semi-final in European competition by beating Red Bull Salzburg during that run.

A 1-1 draw against Roma during the Derby della Capitale on Sunday did not negatively affect their match-up prep particularly since Matias Soule's spectacular goal denied them a win but Lazio needs to push hard from kickoff for their recovery to begin.

The Eliteserien team Bodo/Glimt made it to European competitions through remarkable home success yet fails to duplicate this performance when they travel away from their stadium.

The fact that Lazio has never overcome a two-goal first-leg disadvantage on the continent is even more worrisome, but they are in a strong position to make history.

Despite playing the latter parts of the first leg with nine men, Baroni's team has already demonstrated their ability to compete in this competition this season by winning the league phase and eliminating Viktoria Plzen. They have also gone undefeated in 13 games at the Olimpico since 2019.

The visitors have lost five of their six trips to Italy, including their most recent one, where Roma crushed them 4-0 in the Conference League in 2022. They have never triumphed there.

After putting in a lot of work last week, Bodo will know that even a little loss will advance them to the semi-finals, even though they have only ever won three games in the main draw of a European championship.

Since the Eliteserien gave them the weekend off, Kjetil Knutsen's team will be more rested and ready to concentrate on making Norwegian football history. They have won four straight games without giving up in all competitions.