By Daily Review Online
Italian side Como made Champions League history on Wednesday after becoming the first visiting team to score nine goals in a match, demolishing French club Lens 9-1 in a remarkable league-phase encounter.
The emphatic victory marked another impressive milestone for Cesc Fabregas’ side, who are enjoying a memorable debut campaign in Europe’s elite club competition.
The result gave Como their third victory in four matches and lifted them to fourth place in the Champions League league-phase standings.
Reacting to the historic performance, Fabregas admitted that everything went in his team’s favour.
“Today everything went our way. A great night for Como and our fans,” the Spanish manager said.
Como’s nine-goal haul surpassed the previous best scoring record by a visiting team, set by Bayern Munich when they defeated Barcelona 8-2 at a neutral venue in Lisbon in 2020.
The result also equalled the competition’s biggest winning margin, matching Liverpool’s 8-0 victory over Besiktas and Real Madrid’s identical scoreline against Malmo, both achieved on home soil.
Tasos Douvikas was the standout performer, scoring a hat-trick to take his tally to six goals, making him the Champions League’s leading scorer. The striker has now found the net in each of Como’s four matches in the competition.
Nico Paz was also among the goalscorers, but his celebration carried a touching tribute.
Rather than celebrate his goal, the midfielder picked up a T-shirt bearing the image of late Tenerife striker Jesus de Miguel, who died following an on-field collision with an opposing goalkeeper.
Paz spent two years in Tenerife’s youth system between 2014 and 2016, making the tribute particularly emotional.
Other goals for Como came from Lucas Da Cunha, Marc-Oliver Kempf, Mattia Liberali, Martina Baturina and Matteo Papaccioli.
The 18-year-old Papaccioli’s goal was another remarkable highlight of the evening, with the youngster coming off the bench despite having yet to make his Serie A debut.
The historic victory further underlined Como’s growing ambition and their impressive adaptation to life in the Champions League.