Are you 24 or older?

Help us verify your age by providing an honest response. This site contains gambling advertising for 24+.

Age-restricted content

You’re not old enough to view betting content. You’ll be redirected to the homepage.

alt
Advertisement
FBL-EUR-C1-LENS-COMOGetty Images

Como boss Cesc Fabregas admits he was 'angry' to concede despite breaking Italian away scoring record in 9-1 Champions League win at Lens

Advertisement

Italian visitors rewrite history books

Fabregas saw his maiden Champions League away win slightly soured by a second-half consolation strike as Como recorded their sixth consecutive victory across all competitions. Having beaten RB Leipzig and Manchester United 4-1 at home either side of a 3-2 loss at Feyenoord, the visitors climbed to fourth in the standings despite missing Moise Kean, Trevoh Chalobah, Assane Diao, Jesus Rodriguez and Jayden Addai. 

Tournament top scorer Tasos Douvikas netted a treble to score in all four European outings, while Nico Paz, Lucas Da Cunha, Marc-Oliver Kempf, Mattia Liberali, Martin Baturina and 18-year-old debutant Matteo Papaccioli also struck.

Manager urges humility after rout

Speaking to Sky Sport Italia about sitting fourth midway through the league phase, Fabregas smiled: "It is also our fourth ever Champions League game, so four is the key number here.

"I'm happy, this is football and everything went our way. The lads did well, now we have to prepare for a very important match on Sunday, the ninth in a run between breaks for international duty."

Advertisement
Advertisement

Urging his young squad to stay grounded after their historic display, the Spaniard added: "It is a wonderful night for Como, for all our fans and many lads here who are at the start of their careers, but they need to keep their feet on the ground, be humble, keep learning and not think everything will go well from here on.

Related Topics

"They must keep working to continue these performances."

Defensive lapse frustrates former midfielder

Despite almost every goal coming from slick passing moves out from the back and an early penalty against Maxence Caqueret being overturned by VAR, Como are still waiting for their first European shutout after conceding a 65th-minute corner volley.

Advertisement

Reflecting on that solitary blemish, Fabregas confessed: "I am angry over the goal we conceded, as we changed something in our defending with the three substitutions.

"Plus it was scored by a former teammate of mine, I played with Ruben Aguilar at Monaco, and I told him I'd never seen you score a goal like that before! It was honestly a great goal."

Advertisement

Defending champions await this weekend

Como must now shift their focus back to domestic duties ahead of a challenging Serie A Matchday 11 trip to reigning Scudetto holders Inter on Sunday, November 8, prior to the international break. On the continental front, the Lariani will resume their league phase campaign by hosting AEK Athens and visiting Real Betis. Fabregas' men will then wrap up their schedule against Paris Saint-Germain before travelling to Barcelona on January 27.

Adhe has previously worked for ESPN Star Sports, Fox Sports, and FIFA.

Manchester United was Adhe's first love, and he has since been covering the Premier League and European football for GOAL.

Adhe's favorite football memory is covering the Indonesia vs. Netherlands match at GBK in 2013, and randomly meeting Radja Nainggolan in the stands of Sultan Agung Stadium, Bantul, when the former Inter player was playing for Bhayangkara FC.

Adhe's areas of expertise after over a decade and thousands of football matches:

  • Deep knowledge of both Indonesian and European football
  • Premier League analysis
  • Covering a wide range of editorial topics

Adhe's All-Time XI (4-1-2-3) Edwin van der Sar; Dani Alves, Paolo Maldini, Nemanja Vidic, Roberto Carlos; Roy Keane; Xavi, Paul Scholes; Lionel Messi, Ruud van Nistelrooy, Cristiano Ronaldo.