From Bodo to Brentford - ranking this season's biggest overachievers

Bodo/Glimt’s march toward the Champions League quarter-finals has already entered football folklore, yet the Norwegian side are merely the headline act in a season overflowing with European overachievers. From the Arctic Circle to the Thames, clubs are defying budgets, history and expectation to ruffle the continent’s established order.

Bodo’s story is the most cinematic. Less than ten years removed from Norway’s second tier and once on the brink of bankruptcy, Kjetil Knutsen’s team of local heroes have knocked out Manchester United, Atletico Madrid, Inter Milan and Sporting CP—while their entire squad is valued at less than the fee City paid for Erling Haaland. A 3-0 first-leg lead in the last-16 means the 8,000-capacity Aspmyra Stadion could soon host a quarter-final tie, a scenario that would complete a fairytale to rival Mourinho’s Porto in 2004.

The romance is not confined to the fjords. In Italy, Como 1907—playing in the fourth tier in 2015—sit fourth above Juventus after a win over Roma. Cesc Fabregas, the 37-year-old head coach, has his lakeside side purring with the league’s most eye-catching football, turning a picturesque location into a launchpad for a Champions League push.

In Spain, Celta Vigo are on course for their best finish in a decade and a first Europa League knockout appearance since 2017. Boyhood fan Claudio Giraldez has achieved it by trusting youth; only Barça, Real Sociedad and Athletic Club have handed more minutes to home-grown talent in La Liga this term.

France’s Lens spent long spells atop Ligue 1 as they chase a first title since 1998, while Hoffenheim—without a top-five Bundesliga finish since 2018—sit third behind Bayern and Leverkusen, primed for only a second Champions League campaign in their history.

Switzerland’s FC Thun were promoted last summer and have never lifted a trophy in 128 years, yet a 5-0 snow-laced rout of Grasshoppers sent them 17 points clear in the Super League. Levski Sofia, starved of a Bulgarian title since 2005, are nine points clear of 14-time defending champions Ludogorets and on the verge of shattering the country’s most monotonous dynasty.

Poland’s Ekstraklasa has become the continent’s most democratic division: nine games from the end, a mere 19 points separate leaders Zaglebie Lubin from bottom-placed Legia Warsaw, who spent 20 times less on transfers than relegation rivals Widzew Lodz. Seven other clubs remain within striking distance of European qualification.

In England, Brentford sit seventh on the Premier League’s lowest wage bill. Owner Matthew Benham’s data model unearthed Bryan Mbeumo and Yoanne Wissa—sold last summer for £100m profit—while Igor Thiago seamlessly replaced the firepower. When Thomas Frank departed for Tottenham, the club promoted Keith Andrews, whose seamless transition has made him an early manager-of-the-season candidate.

North of the border, Tony Bloom’s analytics-driven investment at Hearts has the 1960-title winners dreaming of wresting the Scottish Premiership from Glasgow’s grip for the first time since 1985. A win in their game in hand would move them within touching distance of leaders Celtic.

Each tale is distinct—some built on algorithms, others on academy products or Arctic resilience—but all share a common thread: clubs punching so far above their weight that the established elite have been left checking for bruises.

Bodo/Glimt, Como, Celta Vigo, Lens, Hoffenheim, FC Thun, Levski Sofia, Zaglebie Lubin, Brentford, Hearts—ten teams, ten stories, one lesson: in modern football, money still talks, but it no longer has the only voice.

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