– A Norwegian team can win the Conference League – VG

I absolutely believe that the Norwegian teams can confirm their presence in Europe. I think a Norwegian team can win the conference league.

Glimt hero Ronar Berg tells VG before the fateful match against Zalgiris Vilnius, who Broadcast on VG + from 5.30 pm on Thursday.

After 2-2 in the Lithuanian capital last week, the fate of the Nordics will be decided: a home win in Aspmyra would send the residents of Bodø to their first-ever European match.

They have been close on several occasions. In 1994, they beat Sampdoria 3-2 in the first match, but lost 0-2 away from home. In 2004, they were again close to Besiktas, but lost 1-2 overall.

Berg was involved in both.

Last year, they were close to shocking Italian giants AC Milan, but ended up losing 2-3. There was his nephew, midfield general Patrick Berg.

Now there was a golden opportunity ahead of him in front of Glimt. With an impressive league gold medal last year, they won the ‘Path of Champions’ in the Conference League playoffs, giving them an easier path than other Norwegian teams.

– But suddenly something happens, you wind up and you have to start chasing and stressing. That’s what makes it a bit exciting as well, Berg says, that there’s a nerve in the fight.

– A large sample carrot

He now works as a marketing and sales manager for the club. He sits with a cup of coffee in hand at the Radisson Blu Hotel in Bodø and allows himself to dream of European evenings under the floodlights of Aspmyra.

It’s not, of course, for the team that got promoted from the OBOS League in 2017.

– It’s a good historical period for Bodo/Glimt. We should be grateful for the period we are in now. You should appreciate it a little, because it is not a matter of course, he says, adding:

– Obviously there will be a decline if you don’t manage it. Big shrinkage. Gedigen. It’s a big carrot lying there.

– disgusting encounter

But to get that carrot, you have to go through the Zelgiris. Bodo/Glimt met them in 2020 too, due to the pandemic in just one match and in the Europa League qualifiers. The yellow-clothed team won 3-1, and since then Zelgiris has replaced almost the entire team.

After a poor first half in Lithuania, Glimt woke up and advanced 2-1 for a long time thanks to two goals from Ulrik Saltnis, but at the back slipped in the Zalgiris mark and tied 2-2.

Glimt coach Kjetel Knutsen was disappointed not to win the second leg.

– We should have left Lithuania with a 2-, maybe 3-1, he told VG.

– It may be a team that has been underestimated a bit by the Norwegian people. Their interview is a bit bad. It’s a different kind of football, a completely different team than you’re used to, he says.

The first match was held at the national stadium of Lithuania, LFF Stadium. This yard also has artificial grass, but Knutsen thinks she’ll swing a lot with his boys at Aspmyra.

– It was a terrible cycle. I know it’s the National Arena, but it was a vast football field. rough and rugged. So we’ll play better on a faster track tomorrow, he says.

Glimt’s coach in no way underestimates the importance of this match. Not just for him, the players and the club. Also for city, region and Norwegian football.

Gaining international experience for players, coaches and club is critical. They are important for the Northern Norway region and for Norwegian football. It doesn’t matter if it’s Bodo/Glimt, Molde or Rosenborg. We must wish each other the best in Europe, because it is Norwegian football.

– But what is at stake in Europe is that you have to learn very quickly, I hope we learned quickly from the first game to the second, let’s go and see the opportunities rather than the consequences. He says if we get our best, we will move on.

Will win “nine out of ten”

Everything else will be a fiasco, says soccer expert Joachim Johnson, who followed up with the first settlement from studio VG and will do the same for settling back on Thursday.

– With a draw and the opposition they get, it will be a failure. It would be stupid and pathetic for Norwegian football if Glimt couldn’t manage it, he says, describing Glimt’s first-half behavior against Zalgiris as “shockingly weak”.

– They seemed to be moved by its severity. They were totally on their heels, but they played their way into the match, and were clearly the best after scoring the goals.

This is a team that will defeat Glimt nine times at home. If they play a normal home game where they have a high ball tempo, Zalgiris will not keep up, says Johnson.

And if he gets it right, Runar Berg can spend his dream European nights.

– If you get the group match and the six matches, it can be incredibly fun in the fall here. They’ve stumbled across the finish line a few times, but I think Glimt runs it this time, he says, and confirms:

– And then those who come here will get a ride. whatever.