ZAGREB (VG) Bodø/Glimt arrived in the Croatian capital with smiles and laughter but seriousness awaited Wednesday.

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NOK 200 million – Bodo/Glimt will be guaranteed if they qualify for the Champions League group stage. But then they had to first get away from the witch’s cauldron in Zagreb.

– We hope. This will be a historic match. It’s going to be a bit of a “pressure cooker” here. This can be a lot of fun. “I believe and hope that everyone is looking forward to this match,” Salvesen said in an interview with VG and Dagbladet in the lobby of the player’s hotel.

Because despite the fact that the earthquake in March 2020 meant that only three of the four sections of the stands were in use, good pressure was expected from the famous ultras group “Bad Blue Boys” and the entire Maksimir Stadium.

– We don’t focus on it, don’t talk about it or do exercises about it. We will see later. “After all, there’s tomorrow before the game, and a long day on Wednesday before we play,” Salvesen said of the waiting crowd.

Kjetil Knutsen announced at a press conference in Bod last week that he might be preparing the players for what lies ahead. In 2008, the men from Bergen were in Zagreb and scouted Croatia before Brann’s 2-1 win at home in Bergen.

– Luckily, I was sitting in the VIP stands. I was happy that when I saw the blue mob. That’s “crazy”. “We haven’t spent time on that right now, so we might do it before the next one,” Knutsen said when asked by Dagbladet.

However, it was not the clichéd “witch’s cauldron” that awaited the players when they arrived in the Croatian capital on Monday evening, at dusk and a little dizzy in the air. Kjetil Knutsen was the first to get off the players bus and smiled widely at the press as he arrived at the hotel in Zagreb.

Having reached the quarter-finals of the Conference League last season, Bodø/Glimt have secured group play at the top level this season.

Last week they won 1-0 at home against Dinamo Zagreb in Aspmyra, and thus have taken the lead before the return clash in Zagreb. The match winners qualify for the Champions League group stage, while the losers end up in the Europa League group stage.

Since they have already secured a place in the group stage of the Europa League, Salvesen believes that Glimt’s players don’t have a huge amount of pressure on them.

– We have nothing to lose. We are still making history. It would be great fun with the Champions League. Of course everyone wants that. We have a good starting point and will do everything we can for it (reaching the Champions League). I guess people will be a little disappointed if we don’t make it, but we can’t think about it. In any case, it will be an exciting fall, said the striker.

This is how Glimt won the first game against Croatia: