Fabregas: ‘Como must play our football, not scared of Champions League’
COMO, ITALY - SEPTEMBER 10: Cesc Fabregas, Manager of Como 1907, celebrates after the UEFA Champions League 2026/27 League Phase MD1 match between Como 1907 and RB Leipzig at Giuseppe Sinigaglia Stadium on September 10, 2026 in Como, Italy. (Photo by Claudio Villa/Getty Images)
Cesc Fabregas insists Como ‘must always play the football that got us here’ in the Champions League against RC Lens. ‘You see some teams who look scared and scrape a point.’
It kicks off at the Stade Bollaert-Delelis in Lens Agglo at 20.00 GMT (21.00 CET).
This is only the second ever away fixture in Como’s Champions League history, and so the pressure is on to do the job even on unfamiliar territory.
So far in this historic campaign, they have beaten both RB Leipzig and Manchester United 4-1 at the Stadio Sinigaglia, but lost 3-2 away to Feyenoord.
Fabregas has faith in Como
“Every game is different and obviously we want to win, so I pick the players who are most suitable at this moment, there are four or five who can make the difference off the bench too, so fitness levels were influential,” Fabregas told Sky Sport Italia about his starting XI.
“It doesn’t matter if we are home or away, each match is important, but there is a lovely atmosphere here and it’s a good experience for us.”
The injuries remain substantive, missing Moise Kean, Trevoh Chalobah, Assane Diao, Jesus Rodriguez and Jayden Addai, so Tasos Douvikas is the only available centre-forward, but Martin Baturina is rested.
“The lads seem fine, I spoke to them before leaving the hotel and it is a big opportunity for them. We’ve got to enjoy these moments. You see these teams who play so well domestically, then in the Champions League they look scared and scrape a point.
“We can win, we can lose, but we must always play the kind of football that got us here. That’s how we see it, because in our small world we must find the motivation to keep improving. We’ve been trying to create a clear identity for three years, whoever we play and wherever we play is not an alibi to forget out football.”
Como have won their last five competitive matches in a row, and have a huge fixture coming up this weekend in Serie A against Inter.
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