Man City to refund fans who made trip for Bodo/Glimt humiliation

Manchester City’s players have reimbursed supporters who braved freezing temperatures, only to see their side humiliated by Bodo/Glimt.

Just shy of 400 City fans ventured to the Arctic Circle for the shock 3-1 defeat to the Norwegian side in Champions League action on Tuesday.

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A first-half double from Kasper Hogh and a stunning strike from Jens Petter Haughe had the hosts cruising before Rayan Cherki sparked hopes of a comeback in the 60th minute.

However, a red card to Rodri, earned by picking up two yellows in the space of 53 seconds, extinguished any chance of City rescuing a result.

Given the abject nature of the display, City’s captaincy group of Bernardo Silva, Ruben Dias, Rodri and Erling Haaland made the decision to repay the fans who witnessed the defeat first-hand.

“Our supporters mean everything to us,” a statement from the quartet read.

“We know the sacrifice that our fans make when they travel across the world to support us home and away and we will never take it for granted. They are the best fans in the world.

“We also recognise that it was a lot of travelling for the fans who supported us in the freezing cold throughout a difficult evening for us on the pitch.

“Covering the cost of these tickets for the fans who travelled to Bodo is the least we can do.”

It is estimated the gesture, which will come directly from the players, will total just shy of £10,000.

The decision to refund supporters comes after Haaland, who is now without a goal in seven of his last eight fixtures for City, issued an on-air apology for the ’embarrassing’ display.

“I don’t have the answers,” Haaland said on TNT Sports.

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“Again, I take full responsibility for not being able to score the goals I should do.

“I apologise to everyone, to every single Man City supporter and every single supporter that travelled today.

“In the end, it’s embarrassing. I mean, Bodo played some incredible football and it’s deserved.

“I don’t know what to say because I don’t have the answers.”

Although it was a night to forget for City, everyone connected to Bodo/Glimt and even Norwegian football fans across the board won’t be erasing the result from their memory any time soon.

The 3-1 result marked Bodo/Glimt’s first-ever Champions League win, but the financial context of it all makes it even more remarkable.

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Speaking on talkSPORT’s Hawksbee and Jacobs, European football expert Lars Sivertsen conceded the match doesn’t quite take the cake for the biggest result in Norwegian football, with the crown belonging to Rosenborg’s 2-1 over AC Milan at the San Siro in the 1996 Champions League to reach the knockout stages.

However, the Bodo/Glimt triumph runs a close second.

“We have, on the one hand, become a little bit spoiled with Bodo/Glimt doing incredible things” Sivertsen said.

“But this was Manchester City, who are an extremely dominant team.

“City’s wage bill is £400million or something, Bodo/Glimt’s is £20million, so there’s a little bit of a discrepancy with the finances. So it is remarkable.

“Just thinking about this game as well, Bodo/Glimt domestically are in a sense the City of Norway in that they play a very possession-focused game. But when they play in Europe, they need to sit back and counter. It’s a complete switch they have to do.

“But they did that so well, they were super aggressive, they countered, full of energy.”