WALDRON GRAIN & FUEL

01/20 13:48 CST Man City stunned by tiny Bodo/Glimt in huge Champions League upset in the Arctic Man City stunned by tiny Bodo/Glimt in huge Champions League upset in the Arctic By STEVE DOUGLAS AP Sports Writer Manchester City slumped to one of the most humiliating upsets in Champions League history, losing to a 3-1 at tiny Norwegian club Bodo/Glimt on Tuesday. The second-half sending-off of Rodri completed a miserable evening for big-spending City in Bodo, a fishing town with a population of around 55,000 and located north of the Arctic Circle --- more than 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) north of Oslo. Kasper Hogh scored close-range goals in the 22nd and 24th minutes to set Bodo/Glimt --- a tournament debutant this season --- on its way to its first-ever win in the competition. Jens Petter Hauge sent the home fans wild inside the 8,000-capacity Aspmyra stadium by curling into the top corner in the 58th to make the score a scarcely believable 3-0. City replied through Rayan Cherki in the 60th but hopes of a comeback were damaged by Rodri --- the Ballon d'Or winner in 2024 --- getting sent off in the 62nd minute for collecting a second yellow card in quick succession. The win was no fluke for Bodo, which constantly pierced City's flimsy, injury-hit defense on the counterattack and had two goals disallowed for narrow offside decisions, while also hitting the crossbar and forcing some great saves out of Gianluigi Donnarumma. Pep Guardiola's City has spent more than $500 million on new signings over the last 12 months but is going through a rough patch, having also lost 2-0 at fierce rival Manchester United in the Premier League on Saturday. This upset was up there with the most unlikely results down the years in the Champions League, including Moldovan club Sheriff beating Real Madrid 2-1 in 2021, Rubin Kazan winning 2-1 at Guardiola's Barcelona in 2009, and Swiss underdog Basel beating Alex Ferguson's Manchester United by the same score in 2011.

What's to come? Later, Arsenal protects the only 100% record in the tournament in an away match at Inter Milan, while defending champion Paris Saint-Germain and Real Madrid seek wins to close on automatic qualification. Arsenal has six straight wins and needs one point to become the first team to secure a spot in the round of 16. After defeats to Atletico Madrid and Liverpool, Inter --- the heavily beaten finalist last season --- dropped to sixth place and is looking to avoid three straight losses in the competition for the first time. With only the top eight progressing directly to the last 16, many of Europe's top teams are battling to avoid dropping into positions 9-24 and having to go through the playoffs. Madrid, the record 15-time champion, is one of them in seventh place. On 12 points --- the same as ninth-placed Liverpool --- the Spanish giant hosts Monaco. New Madrid coach, Alvaro Arbeloa, is in his third match at the helm and taking charge of a Champions League game for the first time. Star striker Kylian Mbapp will be playing against his first club. With one point more is third-place PSG, which face a trip to Sporting Lisbon.

Frank under pressure Of the 36 teams in the Champions League, 11 have changed coaches this season --- and one more could go if Tottenham's poor run of results continues when Borussia Dortmund visits. Thomas Frank remains in charge of Tottenham but is on shaky ground and has been jeered by fans in recent games.

Winless Kairat Kairat Almaty, a tournament newcomer from Kazakshtan, stayed as one of four teams without a win so far after losing 4-1 to Club Brugge. Brugge scored twice in each half to post a second victory of the league stage and move onto seven points --- keeping alive hopes of making the playoffs. Kairat remained in last place on one point. ___ Steve Douglas is at https://twitter.com/sdouglas80 ___ AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer