Three big upsets in the UEFA Champions League playoffs has probably produced a dark horse for the knockout phases ahead.
The UEFA Champions League playoff round is usually where the big names steady themselves: one awkward away leg, one controlled home night, job done. This time, it felt like the competition grabbed the script and tore it up.
The margins did not just wobble but flipped, loudly, and in three different footballing languages. In Norway, Bodo/Glimt did not “have a good evening” against Inter Milan; they dismantled last season’s finalists and the current Serie A leaders with a performance that looked too sharp, too brave, and too complete to be explained away by weather, travel, or bad luck.
It was the kind of upset that forces you to re-check the aggregate twice, because your brain expects the heavyweight to land a punch eventually. Elsewhere, Galatasaray turned a glamorous tie with Juventus into a warning about modern European nights: history does not track runners.
The Turish Super Lig outfit hit Juve in Istanbul with pace and pressure, then went to Turin and landed a late blow that carried real symbolism; an old giant looking slow, a fierce challenger looking totally at home. And then there was Atalanta, who stared down a first-leg deficit against Borussia Dortmund and still found a way through.
Maybe it was not impossible on paper, but after losing in Germany, they were widely treated like a team living on borrowed time. Instead, they made the second leg feel like their natural habitat: frantic, physical, and full of moments.
Bodo/Glimt vs Inter Milan: How the Champions League upset happened and what it means
Bodo/Glimt’s biggest trick was that they did not play the occasion. They played Inter Milan. Rather than dropping deep and praying, they pressed in packs, closed passing lanes early, and made Inter’s buildup feel like a problem to solve under a ticking clock. When the Nerazzurri tried to settle into their rhythm, Bodø/Glimt kept moving the ball quickly into wide areas, then attacked the space that opened up as Inter’s shape stretched.
There is also a club factor with Bodø/Glimt that matters in two-legged ties: continuity. They look like a team that has rehearsed their automatisms more than a collection of good players waiting for inspiration. Add a difficult away trip to northern Norway, a fast surface, and an opponent that may have rotated or managed minutes, and you get a context where intensity becomes a weapon, not just a mood.
Can they be genuine dark horses? Yes, because their style travels better than people assume: coordinated pressing, quick transitions, and set-piece belief don’t require a superstar to work. The question is whether they can handle the tactical counters that come with fame, rivals who sit off, deny transitions, and force them to break down a low block without the emotional lift of being underestimated.
Galatasaray vs Juventus: Why Juve fell away, and whether Gala can build on it
Galatasaray beat Juventus in two different ways across the tie, which is usually the sign of a team ready for the deeper end of Europe. In Istanbul, they rode the crowd and played with bite, winning second balls, squeezing space around Juventus’s midfield, and turning every loose touch into a sprint the other way.
In Turin, they did not just defend but stayed alive in the game, waited for the moment, and then punished hesitation with a late, ruthless action. From Juventus’s side, the collapse felt less like one bad half and more like a structural issue showing up under pressure.
When a team struggles to progress the ball cleanly, it invites waves. When it lacks tempo in the final third, it makes every chance feel heavy. And when it concedes first, or even just starts losing duels, it can fall into that familiar European pattern: frustration, rushed decisions, then the spaces appear that were not there before.
For Galatasaray, the opportunity now is psychological as much as tactical. A win like this can reset how a squad views these nights: not as survival missions, but as stages. If they keep their defensive distances tight, maintain their aggression without crossing into chaos, and find consistent end-product on counters and set pieces, they can absolutely put together a run rather than treat Juventus as a one-off headline.
Atalanta vs Borussia Dortmund: Upset or swing tie and what comes next for both
Was Atalanta going through an upset? In mood, yes, because the first-leg loss in Dortmund made elimination feel like the expected outcome. But in football terms, Atalanta have lived in this territory for years: high tempo, risky duels, and a willingness to make the game uncomfortable for everyone, including themselves.
The second leg looked like Atalanta leaning into what they do best: aggressive man-to-man pressure, brave positioning, and constant movement that drags defenders into decisions they don’t want to make. When that machine works, the opponent does not get “bad luck”; they get fewer clean touches, fewer easy outlets, and more moments where panic can creep in.
Borussia Dortmund, for all their quality, can be vulnerable when matches become stretched and emotional, especially away, when the crowd energy is tilted against them rather than for them.
Do Atalanta have the tools to go far? They do, because their ceiling in a single match is enormous, and knockout football often rewards teams that can win ugly and win loud. The risk is variance: the same aggression that wins you a tie can also hand a goal away.
As for Dortmund being “missed”, they will be, because they bring pace, youth, and a kind of attacking electricity that lifts the tournament. But the Champions League rarely waits; it simply replaces one storyline with another.
Conclusion
Taken together, these three ties did not just produce surprises but underlined a shift that has been building for years. Money and history still matter, but the gap they used to buy you is smaller when opponents arrive with clear patterns, fearless pressing, and the belief that two-legged football is about repeating your best behaviours, not admiring the badge across from you.
Bodo/Glimt showed that elite teams can be made to look ordinary when the underdog controls the speed of the game. Galatasaray proved that intensity plus timing can beat prestige, even in Turin, where many teams arrive already half-beaten in their heads. Atalanta reminded everyone that favourites and momentum can change inside one relentless home performance, especially when the opponent can’t slow the match down.
The bigger point is that these were not flukes created by one deflection or one red card. They were upsets powered by identity, and that is why they feel like signals, not accidents. If you want one other side who could play the dark-horse role in the knockout phase, keep an eye on Real Sociedad: organised without the ball, brave in possession, and comfortable turning big nights into normal work.
