Champions League: Atalanta Advances After Thriller, Inter's Historic Defeat to Norwegian Bodo/Glimt

European cup competitions are entering the decisive phase, and the past week was marked by huge surprises and breakthrough results. The most sensational event was the shock elimination of Inter Milan from the Champions League by the Norwegian team Bodo/Glimt. The team led by Cristian Chivu failed to overturn the deficit from the first leg (1-3) and also lost the return leg at San Siro 1-2. Italian media are not sparing criticism of the Milanese, calling this event one of the darkest pages in the club's history. This defeat also has a financial dimension — failure to advance to the round of 16 means a loss of around 20 million euros, which could force the sale of key players in the summer transfer window. Inter Milan is a three-time Champions League winner who just in 2023 played in the final of this competition, making the defeat to a Norwegian debutant an unprecedented event.The honor of Italian football was saved by Atalanta Bergamo. After a 0-2 defeat in Dortmund, Raffaele Palladino's charges played a match already being described as historic. A 4-1 victory over Borussia was secured by a penalty in the 98th minute, successfully converted by Lazar Samardzić. The drama of the match was underscored by the horrific injury to Nikola Krstović, who suffered deep facial lacerations after a brutal foul by Bensebaini and had to be taken to hospital. In other play-off matches, Galatasaray eliminated Juventus after extra time, and Real Madrid comfortably defeated Benfica. „Es surrealista. No terminaba de comprender lo sucedido.” (It's surreal. I couldn't quite comprehend what happened.) — Hakon EvjenThe Polish highlight in the European cups was the outstanding performance of Łukasz Skorupski in the Europa League. The Bologna goalkeeper was recognized as the hero of the match against SK Brann, receiving a very high rating of 7.5 from "La Gazzetta dello Sport". Thanks to his interventions, the Italian team advanced to the round of 16. Tomasz Kędziora was less fortunate, as his PAOK Thessaloniki bowed out of the competition after a defeat to Celta Vigo. In the Champions League scorers' ranking, Kylian Mbappé leads with 13 goals, ahead of Anthony Gordon. Robert Lewandowski, whose Barcelona had a bye this round, has two goals to his name.

Perspektywy mediów: Media emphasize the tactical genius of the Norwegian team and the fall of the Italian giant as a symbol of changes in European football. The Italian press focuses on the shame and mistakes of coach Chivu, demanding immediate accountability and a squad revolution.