Tottenham proved they are resilient under pressure, moving Ange Postecoglou within 90 minutes of delivering a trophy in his second season, a goal he had previously stated.
Following a difficult and lackluster league campaign where their performance has been notably poor, Spurs found their form in a location where the sun barely sets at this time of year.
They successfully navigated Bodo/Glimt`s artificial pitch, a surface that has been challenging for several prominent European teams this season.
A strategic approach involving patient build-up and time management, quite different from the typical `AngeBall` style, helped ease tensions before Dominic Solanke broke the deadlock just after the hour mark.
If Solanke`s goal hadn`t extinguished Bodo`s slim hopes, Pedro Porro`s fortuitous cross-shot that found its way into the far corner shortly thereafter surely did.
Now, Spurs are set to appear in their first major European final since being runners-up in the Champions League to Liverpool in Madrid in 2019.
Mirroring that occasion six years ago, they will again travel to Spain to face English opposition, this time Manchester United in Bilbao.
Considering they have already defeated the Red Devils THREE times this season, it presents a strong opportunity for Postecoglou to validate his confident assertion from September that he “always wins things in his second season.”
Achieving this might not be enough to secure his position long-term, given a dreadful Premier League season marked by NINETEEN league defeats, which has seen Spurs drop to 16th place.
However, winning the final would guarantee qualification for the Champions League, end the club`s 17-year wait for silverware, and provide Postecoglou with a widely celebrated moment that will be etched in memory.
After the challenging season they`ve had, there would be a touch of romance to achieving this success.
Coldplay`s “Yellow” was fittingly among the host team`s chosen pre-match songs, reflecting their kit colour.
The stadium energy, which Glimt boss Kjetil Knutsen claimed his side would draw upon, intensified as kick-off approached, featuring anthems like the Beastie Boys’ `Sabotage` and AC/DC’s `Thunderstruck`.
The enthusiastic crowd of blonde-clad fans, filling the small stadium with a League Two atmosphere, passionately cheered for their team as hoses soaked the synthetic surface.
This tactic was intended to make the ball move faster than on grass, a strategy that had previously caught out teams like Porto, Olympiakos, and Lazio this season.
Postecoglou had a negative experience himself in Norway three years prior, losing to Bodo in the Europa Conference League with Celtic.
However, on this occasion, perhaps due to late driving rain, the extra water seemed to have the opposite effect, slowing the ball down.
Had his Spurs team faltered this time, Postecoglou would have returned to England in a precarious position regarding his job prospects.
But his team appeared focused from the start, adopting a cautious approach similar to their away leg against Eintracht Frankfurt in the quarter-finals.
In that previous tie, they needed an away win, but here they knew they could afford to lose by one goal and still advance.
This advantageous position was thanks to a convincing 3-1 victory in the home leg the previous week, where the only negatives were Bodo`s late goal and a season-ending injury to James Maddison.
Postecoglou`s players deliberately slowed the game down at every opportunity, with goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario frequently employing this tactic and eventually receiving a booking for it.
This limited the hosts` opportunities, and in truth, Spurs looked comfortable throughout the match.
Apart from Ole Blomberg hitting the side-netting and a Kasper Hogh header going over, Bodo rarely threatened to score in the first half.
Porro came very close to scoring a crucial opener from a central free-kick just outside the box, but Nikita Halkin made an acrobatic save to deny him.
Knutsen’s side needed to increase their intensity after halftime and came close with a few dangerous crosses, but it wasn`t nearly sufficient.
And when Solanke finished off Cristian Romero’s header from substitute Mathys Tel’s corner, the tie appeared effectively decided.
It certainly was game over when Porro’s cross somehow curled in off the post six minutes later.
Despite all of Postecoglou’s poor results this season, his record against Manchester United stands at: Played five, won four, drawn one.
Some cautious Spurs fans have already noted this statistic and expressed concern that it would be typical of Tottenham to then fail against Erik ten Hag`s side in Bilbao.
Such an outcome would certainly do nothing to dispel their unwanted `Spursy` reputation.
But the reality is, facing a United side currently perceived as one of the weakest in recent memory presents an incredible opportunity to secure a European trophy for the first time since they won this competition in 1984.
Who could have imagined, after everything they’ve endured this season, that they could still finish it singing, “We are the Champions.”
To be fair, Postecoglou could. He did predict it.
