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Como’s head coach Cesc F\u00e0bregas gestures during the Serie A soccer match between Napoli and Como, in Naples, Italy, Sunday, Aug. 30, 2026. 2026. (Alessandro Garofalo\/LaPresse via AP)<\/p>\n
Alessandro Garofalo\/Alessandro Garofalo\/LaPresse via<\/p>\n
Como’s Martin Baturina, 2nd from right, celebrates scoring during the Serie A soccer match between Napoli and Como, in Naples, Italy, Sunday, Aug. 30, 2026. 2026. (Alessandro Garofalo\/LaPresse via AP)<\/p>\n
Alessandro Garofalo\/Alessandro Garofalo\/LaPresse via<\/p>\n
Como’s Luis Milla reacts during the Serie A soccer match between Napoli and Como, in Naples, Italy, Sunday, Aug. 30, 2026. 2026. (Alessandro Garofalo\/LaPresse via AP)<\/p>\n
Alessandro Garofalo\/Alessandro Garofalo\/LaPresse via<\/p>\n
Como’s Martin Baturina scores during the Serie A soccer match between Napoli and Como, in Naples, Italy, Sunday, Aug. 30, 2026. 2026. (Alessandro Garofalo\/LaPresse via AP)<\/p>\n
Alessandro Garofalo\/Alessandro Garofalo\/LaPresse via<\/p>\n
Como players and coach Cesc Fabregas celebrate their 2-1 win at the end of the Serie A soccer match between Napoli and Como, in Naples, Italy, Sunday, Aug. 30, 2026. 2026. (Alessandro Garofalo\/LaPresse via AP)<\/p>\n
Alessandro Garofalo\/Alessandro Garofalo\/LaPresse via<\/p>\n
ROME (AP) \u2014 Como is no longer Serie A\u2019s surprise package. The big-spending club located on the fashionable lake is shaping up as a possible Italian league contender.<\/p>\n
A 2-1 weekend win at Napoli \u2014 which has won Serie A twice in the last four seasons \u2014 boosted Como\u2019s confidence before Cesc Fabregas\u2019 team makes its Champions League debut with Manchester United, defending champion Paris Saint-Germain and Barcelona among its opponents.<\/p>\n
\u201cWinning at the Maradona is not normal,\u201d Fabregas said, referring to Napoli\u2019s Stadio Diego Armando Maradona.<\/p>\n
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High pressing<\/p>\n
Como finished fourth ahead of Juventus and AC Milan last season to claim Serie A\u2019s final Champions League spot with a high-pressing brand of soccer that is uncommon in Italy.<\/p>\n
Pressing was again decisive against Napoli, as Como players swarmed forward and produced a turnover that led to the winning goal from Anastasios Douvikas.<\/p>\n
Douvikas, a Greece center forward, also scored in a 1-1 draw at Udinese in Como\u2019s opener \u2014 after leading the team with 14 last season, which tied him for second on the league-wide chart.<\/p>\n
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\u201cTasos has the power of a horse,\u201d Fabregas said, using Douvikas’ nickname.<\/p>\n
Fabregas targets Moise Kean for transfer<\/p>\n
Still, with the Champions League looming, Fabregas wants Como to sign another player with the potential to score a bundle of goals. His eye is on Italy center forward Moise Kean, who is set to leave Fiorentina before the transfer market closes on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
\u201cObviously, I expect a striker,\u201d Fabregas said. \u201cDouvikas can\u2019t play in Serie A, the Italian Cup and the Champions League. We have only one striker.\u201d<\/p>\n
Alvaro Morata alternated with Douvikas last season but missed three months due to injury and has now been loaned to Spanish second-division side Leganes.<\/p>\n
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\u201cWe played with a false nine many times,\u201d Fabregas said. \u201cPlaying every three days at this level isn\u2019t easy.\u201d<\/p>\n
Champions League<\/p>\n
The victory at Napoli raised the possibility of whether Como could contend for the Italian title.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re only in the second round. And soon we\u2019re going to be entering a new world,\u201d Fabregas said, referring to the Champions League.<\/p>\n
Having played in the fourth division of Italian soccer just seven years ago, it\u2019s the first time in Como\u2019s 119-year history that it has qualified for a continental competition.<\/p>\n
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For the occasion, Como\u2019s Giuseppe Sinigaglia stadium has had to undergo modifications and will have a capacity of only slightly more than 10,000 for European matches.<\/p>\n
Como\u2019s Champions League debut will be at the Sinigaglia against Leipzig on Sept. 10, with United to visit in October and PSG in January.<\/p>\n
Nico Paz deal with Real Madrid<\/p>\n
While Kean is yet to arrive, Como\u2019s biggest offseason move may have been convincing Real Madrid not to exercise its buy-back option on 21-year-old playmaker Nico Paz and let the Argentina international stay for a third season.<\/p>\n
While it already had the best defense in Serie A last season, Como has also bolstered its backline with the signing of center back Trevoh Chalobah from Chelsea for 30 million euros ($35 million).<\/p>\n
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In midfield, Fabregas has been impressed by 31-year-old Luis Milla, who has started both matches since transferring from Getafe.<\/p>\n
\u201cMilla is very underrated in Spain, but it\u2019s normal. There are so many great players that sometimes we tend to forget the others, who are not Pedri or Rodri,\u201d Fabregas said. \u201cI\u2019ve been following for a long time. He’s had a steadily rising career, and now it\u2019s his time to play in the Champions League. We try to bring young players here, but I\u2019m happy for him and many others.\u201d<\/p>\n
Among the team\u2019s younger midfielders, 23-year-old Martin Baturina remains a steady presence and scored the opener against Napoli for his seventh goal in Serie A since joining from Dinamo Zagreb before last season. Since Baturina’s first goal for Como in November, only Paz, Scott McTominay and Nikola Vlasic (eight each) have scored more over the same span among midfielders in the Italian league.<\/p>\n
Up next for Como: a visit to Daniele De Rossi’s Genoa on Friday. Then nearly a week off before starting its Champions League campaign.<\/p>\n
See AP\u2019s full soccer coverage here<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Como’s head coach Cesc F\u00e0bregas gestures during the Serie A soccer match between Napoli and Como, in Naples,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":43790,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[28508,10829,1794,28502,2901,5,28506,28503,144,4404,7550,26,28505,21,28504,4674,28507],"class_list":["post-43789","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-italy","tag-alvaro-morata","tag-anastasios-douvikas","tag-cesc-fabregas","tag-como-champions-league-serie-a","tag-daniele-de-rossi","tag-italy","tag-luis-milla","tag-martin-baturina","tag-moise-kean","tag-nico-paz","tag-nikola-vlasic","tag-package-100502-member-choice-sports-option","tag-pedri","tag-product-30599-ap-sports-news-s-wire-only","tag-rodrigo-hernandez","tag-scott-mctominay","tag-trevoh-chalobah"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43789","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=43789"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43789\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/43790"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43789"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=43789"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=43789"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}