Slavia Prague – Bodoe/Glimt

He should not be an obvious outsider in the Czech Republic.

On Wednesday, 17 September, Slavia and Bodo-Glimt will embark on their Champions League journey. The Norwegian club will play in the main European tournament for the first time. Previously only Rosenborg and Molde have represented the country here. Slavia is the dominant force in the Czech league. The club not only won the last championship but is also going unbeaten in the current one. Eight rounds have already been played in the Czech Republic – Slavia has dropped just four points and confidently leads the table. However, it has been six years since Slavia last participated in the Champions League. Their record in the main tournament is bleak: only one win in the last ten matches. Slavia is clearly the favourite in the pre-match odds, but the advantage in squad value is not that impressive – the squad is worth 40 million euros more. The main star of the Czech team is head coach Jindrich Trpisovsky. The specialist has been with the club for seven years. Last season, Slavia was even ranked as the third favourite for the UEFA Europa League, according to the supercomputer Opta, but they did not meet expectations – failing to reach the top 24. Currently, the main driving force of the team in the league is Czech national team midfielder Lukas Provod. The player has recorded six goal contributions. It is important to note that Slavia did not have to go through qualifying – they qualified directly. On the other hand, Bodo-Glimt showed their best side in the qualifiers against Sturm. They managed to score six goals against the Austrians in two matches. The situation is complicated for Bodo in the league. A decisive phase is underway, as Norway plays on a spring-autumn system. With nine rounds to go, Bodo is just two points ahead of Viking. However, in their last two matches, they had no problems – the favourites scored as many as 12 goals. Bodo currently has a respectable squad for the Champions League, but there is a significant loss – main striker Kasper Hegg is injured and will not play in the near future. Despite certain difficulties with the squad, Bodo does not seem like a hopeless outsider. The team has already settled into the season, played matches in Europe, and will be particularly motivated for the European competitions. After all, it’s their first historic match in the framework of the main Champions League. Bookmakers even expect a rout – this scenario does not seem realistic. It is likely that Slavia will have a noticeable advantage in possession, but for instance, in the last match against modest Karvina, the Prague side won not without a bit of luck. There isn’t a significant cushion even in matches against mid-table teams and opponents from the lower end of the table. Here, they will face a high-level opponent – one they have not played against since the summer of 2025. Bodo has an optimistic scoring streak: they scored 20 goals in five matches. And they have not left the pitch without scoring since the match against Tottenham in the UEFA Europa League semi-finals.