Napoli
Bodø/GlimtNapoli vs Bodo Glimt at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona on Tuesday 20 October is close to a must-win for Massimiliano Allegri, which is an odd thing to say about a third matchday. Napoli have lost both of their Champions League games. Their visitors are the Norwegians who knocked Inter out of this competition eight months ago.
It kicks off at 21:00 in Naples, 20:00 in the UK and 3pm ET in the US.
Allegri's bad start in Europe
Allegri replaced Antonio Conte in July, and Europe has given him nothing so far. Arsenal won 1-0 at the Maradona on Matchday 1 through Martin Odegaard's 75th-minute goal, after Napoli had been second best for long spells.
Villarreal on 13 October was more annoying. Amir Rrahmani gave Napoli an early lead, then they conceded twice in three minutes, the first after a short back-pass from Matteo Politano, and a late third made it 3-1. On expected goals Napoli had the better chances. That's some comfort, though not much with zero points.
The weekend helped. Kevin De Bruyne scored twice in a 3-0 home win over Frosinone and Noa Lang got the third, and Scott McTominay made his first start in five weeks at Villarreal after a minor heart procedure. Serie A is still a slog, though: Napoli are eighth with 10 points from six games, six behind joint leaders Inter and Lazio.
Stadio Diego Armando Maradona. Photo: Gaetano Capaldo, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Bodo/Glimt away from their plastic pitch
Kjetil Knutsen's side have a habit of beating Serie A clubs. In last season's knockout play-offs they beat Inter 3-1 in Norway and then 2-1 at San Siro, Jens Petter Hauge and Hakon Evjen scoring in Milan, to go through 5-2 on aggregate. The run ended in the round of 16: 3-0 up on Sporting after the home leg, they lost 5-0 after extra time in Lisbon.
That's the pattern with them. At Aspmyra, on artificial turf, they're ferocious. On the road they're far more ordinary.
Munich on Matchday 1 made the point again. After getting through qualifying, including an extra-time 3-2 home win over Union Saint-Gilloise, they lost 5-0 to Bayern, had defender Odin Bjortuft sent off, and were out-created 2.49 expected goals to 0.2. They host Borussia Dortmund on Wednesday 14 October without the suspended Bjortuft, and that game will tell us how much they've recovered.
Domestically they're level on points with Viking at the top of the Eliteserien with eight rounds left, after a 3-1 win over Kristiansund on Saturday. Andreas Helmersen has been their main scorer this year.
Six players out for Napoli
Napoli were without six at Villarreal: Alessandro Buongiorno, Frank Anguissa, Antonio Vergara, Alisson Santos, Costantino Favasuli and Mathias Olivera. Allegri said earlier this month that Vergara and Favasuli face longer spells out, while Olivera was expected back sooner. McTominay, Alex Meret and Leonardo Spinazzola are back in full training.
Bodo/Glimt's squad will be clearer after Dortmund and their weekend league game. Official line-ups appear on the UEFA match page.
Their record against Italian clubs
Napoli and Bodo/Glimt have never met. The Norwegians' recent results against Italian sides are a better guide:
- 2025/26 Champions League play-off: Bodo/Glimt 3-1 Inter, Inter 1-2 Bodo/Glimt
- 2021/22 Conference League group: Bodo/Glimt 6-1 Roma
- 2021/22 Conference League quarter-final: Bodo/Glimt 2-1 Roma, Roma 4-0 Bodo/Glimt
Four wins in five, but three of them came in Norway and the one hammering came in Rome. Inter are the only Italian side they've beaten in Italy.
NapoliBodø/GlimtOur Napoli vs Bodo Glimt prediction
Napoli have more talent and home advantage, and Bodo/Glimt's away results against big-league teams are nothing like their nights at Aspmyra. What worries me about Allegri's side is the defending. They conceded three at Villarreal and look nervous when they're pressed, and Bodo/Glimt will play out from the back with confidence. Munich showed how fast that can fall apart against a good side, mind you.
I think Napoli win 2-1, with a last 20 minutes that feels longer than it should.
You can stream Napoli vs Bodo Glimt free on our Napoli live stream page or the Champions League live streams page, and every Italian league game is on our Serie A streams hub. In Spanish: Champions League en vivo.
Roma host Slovan Bratislava the same night. Here's our Roma vs Slovan Bratislava preview.
