Como equal Champions League record with 9-1 demolition of Lens in debut season

Cesc Fabregas’s Como equalled the largest winning margin in Champions League history with a 9-1 demolition of Lens in France on Wednesday, their fourth game in a debut European campaign that has already turned heads across the continent.

The Italian club — playing in the Champions League for the first time — join Liverpool and Real Madrid as the only sides to win by eight goals in the competition’s history. Liverpool beat Besiktas 8-0 in 2007 and Real Madrid defeated Malmö by the same scoreline in 2015, but Como achieved the feat away from home.

Anastasios Douvikas was the standout performer, completing a hat-trick as Como raced to a 3-0 lead at half-time before adding six more in the second half. Seven different players scored in total, with Nico Paz and Lucas Da Cunha among the names on the scoresheet.

The result extends a remarkable run for the Serie A side, who have won three of their four league-phase matches to sit fourth in the standings — above Barcelona, Manchester City, Liverpool and Bayern Munich at the halfway stage. Their 19 goals in four games is second only to holders PSG, who have scored 20 times in Europe so far.

The victory comes weeks after Como thrashed Manchester United 4-1, a result Fabregas admitted he could have pushed further. “I have some regrets over the last 10 minutes maybe,” the Spaniard said after that game. “I was actually saying to the team to ‘slow the tempo, because we have another game coming up’.”

Como still have fixtures against AEK Athens and Real Betis before the end of the year, with games against PSG and Barcelona to follow. A top-eight finish — which guarantees automatic progression to the round of 16 — is well within reach if their form continues.