Como's first venture in the Champions League is a shocking success

ROME (AP) — Como coach Cesc Fabregas found something to nitpick after a record-breaking 9-1 rout of Lens in the Champions League .

The one goal conceded may have been the most spectacular of the evening: Ruben Aguilar’s long volley off a corner that made it 7-1 midway through the second half.

“Yes, because we changed something in our defending when we made three substitutions,” Fabregas said after being prompted by Sky Italia studio host Fabio Capello. “Plus it was scored by a former teammate of mine. I played for three years with Ruben Aguilar at Monaco, and I told him, ‘I never saw you score a goal like that before.’ It really was a beautiful goal.”

There was also plenty to celebrate, of course, as Como became the first away team to score nine goals since the competition was renamed the Champions League in 1992.

It matched the biggest margin of victory in the competition after 8-0 home victories by Liverpool against Besiktas in 2007 and Real Madrid against Malmo in 2015.

The previous best scoring performance by an away club was Bayern Munich’s 8-2 win over Barcelona at a neutral venue (Lisbon) in 2020.

Como’s results this season — it stands fourth in both the Champions League and Serie A — are all the more remarkable considering the club was playing in the fourth division of Italian soccer just seven years ago and it’s the first time in Como’s 119-year history that it has qualified for a continental competition.

“It’s a wonderful night for Como, for all our fans and many guys here who are at the start of their careers," Fabregas said. “But they need to keep their feet on the ground, be humble, keep learning and not think everything will go well from here on.”

In the European Cup — which preceded the Champions League — the last team to score nine goals in an away European Cup match was Feyenoord in a 9-0 victory at Olympiakos Nicosia in 1971.

Tasos Douvikas' hat trick lifted him into the Champions League scoring lead with six goals — one more than Erling Haaland and Nicolo Tresoldi of Club Brugge.

Douvikas, a Greece center forward, has scored in all four of Como’s Champions League matches.

“We create a lot of chances in most of the games,” Douvikas said. He added, “I don’t know how it’s possible” for Como to be this good in its debut season.

Nico Paz, the playmaker who Como convinced Real Madrid not to buy back for another season and is auditioning to take over Lionel Messi’s spot in Argentina’s lineup, leads the Champions League with five assists — one more than Lamine Yamal — to go with three goals scored.

Paz scored Como’s third on Wednesday and instead of celebrating went and grabbed a T-shirt featuring an image of Jesús de Miguel, the Tenerife forward who died following a collision with a goalkeeper.

Paz was in Tenerife’s youth system from 2014-16.

Lucas Da Cunha, Marc-Oliver Kempf, Mattia Liberali, Martina Baturina and Matteo Papaccioli also scored for Como.

Da Cunha, a midfielder, has broken into France's team this season, with national coach Zinedine Zidane an acknowledged fan of Como’s style of play.

The 19-year-old Liberali became the youngest Italian to score in the Champions League since Mario Balotelli was 18 in 2009.

The 18-year-old Papaccioli, who went on in the second half, is a member of Como’s youth team and hasn’t even played in Serie A yet.

French Cup winner Lens was runner-up to European champion Paris Saint-Germain in Ligue 1 last season and stunned PSG 1-0 with 10 men in the French Super Cup in August.

“Ridiculous” was the front-page headline in French sports daily L’Equipe on Thursday.

Como, however, is making a habit of compiling stunning results after embarrassing Manchester United 4-1 two weeks ago.

Fabregas — a former standout midfielder for Arsenal, Barcelona, Chelsea and Spain — also coached Como to a 4-1 win over Leipzig in its Champions League debut in September.

Part of Como’s success is down to player recruitment helped by using the industry-leading data firm Jamestown Analytics.

Jamestown was created by Brighton owner Tony Bloom to drive his hometown club’s rise to be a Premier League title challenger and is also used by Union Saint-Gilloise, which debuted in the Champions League last season, and Heart of Midlothian in Scotland.

Brighton, Union and Hearts are each having either their best-ever seasons or best for decades.

Como has scored on 35% (19 of 54) of its shots in the Champions League this season — 11% higher than any other team in a season on record since 2003-04.

Como has another big away match next with a visit to Italian champion Inter Milan at the San Siro on Sunday.

“There’s a final sprint on Sunday before we will try to rest as much as possible over the international break,” Fabregas said.

Como’s next Champions League match is against AEK Athens — which should certainly be motivating for Douvikas.

Then Fabregas brings Como to Spain for the first time with a visit to Real Betis before finishing the league phase with home and away fixtures against PSG and his former club Barcelona, respectively.

“When I saw the last two games were PSG and Barcelona,” Fabregas said, “I thought we needed to get as many points as possible in the early fixtures.”

AP Sports Writers Graham Dunbar in Geneva and Jerome Pugmire in Paris contributed.

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