TOTTENHAM’S Europa League hopes have been boosted by Bodo/Glimt’s disciplinary cock-up.
Norwegian media revealed Bodo captain Patrick Berg and midfield partner Hakon Evjen are banned for Thursday’s semi-final first-leg after the club misinterpreted Uefa rules on bookings.
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Yellow cards from earlier in the competition are wiped out AFTER the quarter-final stage.
But Norway’s champions wrongly believed their players would avoid a one-match suspension even if they reached the three-booking threshold for a ban in the second leg of their last-eight tie against Lazio.
Both Berg and Evjen received their third yellows of the tournament in the second half in Rome a fortnight ago.
And Bodo/Glimt were stunned to learn they would have to travel to London without the key pair, as well as striker Andreas Helmersen, who was sent off in extra-time against the Italians.
Jonas Bergh-Johnsen, a sports reporter for Viaplay, explained that a colleague broke the news to players after they had beaten Lazio 3-2 in a penalty shootout.
He said: “The atmosphere in the dressing room kind of changed after the news from Viaplay that, ‘You’re going to miss a couple of your absolute key players in the first leg’.
“I cannot understand how that is possible, that they thought they were allowed to have yellow cards in Rome.
“The suspension does not disappear, that was the mistake that someone in the administration in Bodo made.
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“You cannot get your head around that because in such a big club with a lot of people involved in all parts in sports and administration, someone should say, ‘Hey, this does not look right’.”
On top of losing the three suspended players, Bodo/Glimt could also be without centre-back Odin Bjortuft against Ange Postecoglou’s side.
Bjortuft went off with a groin problem during the league win over KFUM on Sunday, a game that winger Ole Didrik Blomberg missed with an unknown injury.
According to Bergh-Johnson, the Norwegians are now worried they will leave the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium without a fighting chance of reaching the final in Bilbao on May 21.
He told the An Echo Of Glory podcast: “They were thinking maybe a 2-0, 3-1 defeat would be OK to go to Bodo/Glimt but now they are worried that it may be even worse.
“Patrick Berg is so instrumental to everything they do and they don’t really have any proper back-ups.
“Patrick is an ever-present in the team. So it’s really hard to get in there and to get any practice of playing that very vital role for the team.”