Why Should Como Represent Italy in the Champions League Next Season?

Entering the 28th week of the 2025-2026 Italian League, Como 1907 has already secured the fourth position. This standing will provide "I Lariani" with the opportunity to become Italy's 18th representative in the European club competition. Amidst the poor performance of the "Espresso Land" giants in this season's Champions League, Como can bring new hope for achievements in the continent's premier tournament.

In this season, Como has been recorded sitting in the top four positions twice. They have also occupied the third position in the first week of this season. Throughout this season, they have consistently remained in the top six zone.

The realistic target for the team coached by Cesc Fabregas is to secure the fourth position. To achieve this, they are directly competing against AS Roma and Juventus. The match against Roma at the Giuseppe Sinigaglia Stadium on Monday (16/3/2026) at 00:00 WIB is a crucial opportunity for Como to maintain their fourth position.

They've already proven they can beat Juve in their two meetings this season. Their first back-to-back victory over Juve was a 2-0 victory. They scored two goals and kept a clean sheet against "The Old Lady."

In the remaining 10 matches of this season, I Lariani's toughest challenges include facing Roma, followed by Inter and Napoli in the upcoming April. The remaining seven games will test Fabregas's ability to provide consistency for his team against teams ranked below them.

There are at least two main strengths that Como can leverage to rise from a mediocre team to a top contender in the Italian League this season. This is also their capital to transform into a new mainstay for Italy in the Champions League starting from the 2026-2027 season.

Como has undergone significant transformation since being acquired by the Indonesian Djarum Group in 2019. Interestingly, they are the only team coached by one of the owners. Fabregas is a minority shareholder in Como alongside his friend from their time at Arsenal, Thierry Henry.

The "mixed" international collaboration has become the breath of Como in building a team as it begins to pursue its ambition to qualify for Serie A starting in the 2023-2024 season. Ultimately, it aims to return to Italy's top-tier competition after a 21-year absence in the 2024-2025 season.

That journey has allowed Como to establish a clear team structure. In two seasons competing in Serie A, they initiated a "Spanishization" project by bringing in many players from the "Land of the Matador." This is closely related to the tactical needs and game plan of Fabregas, which is heavily inspired by the tiki-taka style characteristic of Barcelona.

It is impossible for Fabregas to implement attacking football relying solely on local talents, namely Italians. The team is built from players who are already familiar with the characteristic attacking football of Spain, such as Sergi Roberto, Nico Paz, Maximo Perrone, and Alberto Moreno.

Paz and Perrone were indeed not born in Spain. However, Paz grew up through the Real Madrid academy. Perrone once experienced the mentorship of Pep Guardiola at Manchester City.

The concept of calcio europeo or European football within Como is becoming increasingly evident this season. Fabregas, like his mentor Arsene Wenger, does not concern himself with the nationality of players when managing Arsenal. It is no surprise that Arsenal has the lowest quantity of English players each season under Wenger's management.

Fabregas is no different. Out of the 24 players who have appeared in 28 matches of the Italian League this season, Fabregas has only included an Italian player once. That player is defender Edoardo Goldaniga, who has been representing Como since the second half of Serie B 2023-2024.

The most dominant players in Como are six Spanish passport holders. This can also be supplemented by four players who have previously had careers in Spain, namely Paz, Perrone, Assane Diao, and Diego Carlos.

In addition, Fabregas relies on players from France, such as Maxence Caqueret, Lucas Da Cunha, and Jean Butez, who is irreplaceable in goal.

Germany and Croatia also have representatives of two key players in the Como squad this season. The German duo consists of Nicolas-Gerrit Kuhn and Marc-Oliver Kempf, while the two players from Croatia are Ivan Smolcic and Martin Baturina.

The presence of international players has made Como's identity resemble that of an English club that knows no geographical boundaries in building its squad. Furthermore, they also possess a Spanish DNA in their style of play and are not hesitant to provide opportunities to young players.

I Lariani is a team with players under 23 years of age that has played more than 20 matches in Serie A this season. There are eight players with U-23 status who have appeared in that number of matches. The average age of their squad is 26.2 years, which is still younger than the average age of 26.6 years for players competing in Serie A this season.

"Como is investing in young players. Although some of them are cheap, they have world-class quality," said Fabregas after his team's victory over Cagliari on Saturday (March 7, 2026), as reported by Corriere dello Sport.

Fabio Capello, the legendary coach from Italy, criticized the performance quality of Italian teams, particularly Inter Milan and Napoli, which are currently regarded as the best teams in Italy, for failing to advance to the round of 16 in the 2025-2026 Champions League. Capello stated that Italian teams have failed to adapt to the aggressive, attacking, and non-passive style of play required in Europe.

"Italian teams play too slowly. We need a team that dares to attack and displays initiative to compete with European teams," Capello said, as reported by La Gazzetta dello Spor in early March.

The need for initiative-driven play to suppress and dominate the game is embedded in Como's identity this season. The record of 61 percent ball possession per game and 87 percent accurate passes per game represents the highest statistical achievements in the Italian League 2025-2026.

Como has also entered the top four teams with the highest number of accurate shots in Italy, thanks to 14 shots on target per match. They create three chances per game, only surpassed by Inter Milan, AC Milan, and Juventus. As a result, Como's total of 46 goals is only outdone by Inter (64 goals) and Juventus (50 goals).

Como's attacking play is like an anomaly amidst the pragmatic climate of the best teams in Italy today. Nevertheless, I Lariani do not neglect their defense.

Como is currently the team with the best defensive performance in Italy. Their record of conceding 21 goals is only surpassed by Milan (20 goals). Additionally, their collection of 13 matches without conceding is just below Inter's record (15 matches without conceding).

In addition, Como is not a team that relies on the stardom of players. The responsibility for scoring has been shared among 14 players. Paz is not alone in having scored nine goals, as he is joined by Anastasios Douvikas.

A total of 11 players have provided assists that resulted in goals for their teammates. Jesus Rodriguez is the "king" of assists so far for Como, thanks to his contribution of seven assists.

Thanks to their consistent and collective performance, Como managed to live up to expectations—according to calculations by the Opta supercomputer. Their 51 points tally slightly exceeded the 50 expected points (XPTS). Furthermore, their 25-goal difference exceeded the 19.7 expected goals difference (XGD).

When asked about his team's chances of competing in the Champions League next season, Fabregas was reluctant to boast. "We are not at that achievement yet. We are indeed on the right track, but there are still many games to be played. I see the development in our gameplay," said Fabregas.

In addition to being on the path to the Champions League, Como also has the opportunity to pursue its first major trophy in the club's 118-year history. They are competing with Inter for a ticket to the Coppa Italia final.