Fabregas: ‘Como will face wild atmosphere in Lens, quality of Thauvin’
TURIN, ITALY - OCTOBER 27: Cesc Fabregas, Manager of Como 1907, looks on before the Serie A match between Torino FC and Como 1907 at Stadio Olimpico Grande Torino on October 27, 2026 in Turin, Italy. (Photo by Valerio Pennicino/Getty Images)
Cesc Fabregas warns Como that there will be a ‘wild atmosphere’ against RC Lens in the Champions League tomorrow and he is keeping a close eye on Florian Thauvin.
It kicks off at the Stade Bollaert-Delelis in Lens on Wednesday at 20.00 GMT (21.00 CET).
The Lariani are in their first ever Champions League campaign and doing remarkably well, winning both home matches with four goals scored against RB Leipzig and Manchester United, but losing away to Feyenoord.
While RC Lens might not seem to be on paper as big as those sides, Fabregas warns they are not to be underestimated on home turf.
Fabregas gets Como ready for Lens
“It’s a wild atmosphere, I played here two or three times for Monaco, I love nights like this, because you can feel the passion even during the warm-up,” Fabregas told Sky Sport Italia.
“It will be interesting and a marvellous experience for our players. We wanted these nights, so if you are not motivated to play these, then you’re in the wrong job.”
There is a familiar face to Italian football, as former Udinese man Florian Thauvin has flourished since his return to France.
“Thauvin is an incredible player, he was at Marseille, then we faced him for Udinese. He makes the difference, has huge quality, scores a lot of goals, so he is the reference point for this team, and we need to keep a close eye on him.”
Como are perhaps no longer a surprise outfit at this stage, so what will their ambitions be if they win here tomorrow?
“We will try to win and then see what happens, but this season is a whole new experience for Como, our world is opening up. If we get a good result, then we’ll see how to go into the final four games, but we have to keep taking it one game at a time,” added Fabregas.
“There’s no point thinking about what might happen, we just need to enjoy these nights.”
While Como would in the past need to score lots of goals to win fixtures, they seem to have found different ways of approaching tests now.
“We need to be able to handle different situations. We played 39 games the first season, 43 the second, this year it’ll be at least 47-48, it might be over 50, so that means we need to balance out the energy.
“There are moments where we need to control the situation, because I remember last season we were great for the first 60 minutes and then fell away at the end. We cannot do that this term, so we’re more alert about that.”
Como also have a huge game coming up in Serie A against Inter this weekend, but they have limited players available, with Trevoh Chalobah, Moise Kean, Jesus Rodriguez, Assane Diao and Jayden Addai out of action.
“Chalobah isn’t ready for this game, we’ll see on Sunday. We are a little penalised in the Champions League because of the list, so we’ve got only 15 players tomorrow. That makes preserving energy tougher in this tournament, but Serie A remains the most important competition.”
Tenerife striker Jesus de Miguel died as a result of a freak accident during the Spanish second division match against FC Andorra, so Fabregas wanted to send a message.
“In such a wonderful sport as football, it is honestly hard to deal with things like this. I send my heart to his father and mother, I am a parent, and the idea of going to see your son playing in a match and life can end in a moment, it makes you think.
“It was a huge blow, I cannot imagine the pain they are feeling, so I send an embrace to his family, to his teammates who experienced that, it can never be forgotten.”
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