Como Equal Champions League Record In Historic Rout, Hit Lens 9-1

Como made Champions League history on Wednesday after thrashing French side Lens 9-1 away from home to equal the competition’s biggest winning margin in the modern era.

Cesc Fabregas’ side produced a sensational attacking display at the Stade Bollaert-Delelis, with Greek striker Anastasios Douvikas scoring a hat-trick to inspire the Italian club to their third victory in four league-phase matches.

The nine-goal haul also made Como only the second team to score nine times in a single match in the modern Champions League, following Bayern Munich’s 9-2 victory over Dinamo Zagreb in 2024.

Their eight-goal winning margin matched the record previously achieved by Liverpool, who defeated Besiktas 8-0 in 2007, and Real Madrid, who recorded an identical scoreline against Malmo in 2015.

According to Opta, Feyenoord were the last team to score nine goals away from home in Europe’s premier club competition, achieving the feat against Olympiacos in the old European Cup in 1971.

Douvikas opened the scoring in the seventh minute with a close-range finish before completing his brace just after the half-hour mark following an excellent team move.

Argentine midfielder Nico Paz made it 3-0 before half-time with a powerful finish as Como took complete control of the encounter.

The visitors showed no signs of slowing down after the restart, with Paz setting up Lucas Da Cunha for the fourth goal before Marc-Oliver Kempf headed home their fifth.

Douvikas then completed his hat-trick as Como continued to punish a struggling Lens defence.

Substitute Mattia Liberali added the seventh shortly after coming off the bench, although Ruben Aguilar briefly gave the home supporters something to celebrate with a fine volley to make it 7-1.

However, Martin Baturina restored Como’s seven-goal advantage in the 69th minute before Matteo Papaccioli completed the extraordinary rout with the ninth goal.

Reacting to the emphatic victory, Fabregas described the performance as a night in which everything went according to plan.

“There’s nothing but positives for us to take this evening. Everything went right for us,” the former Arsenal, Barcelona and Chelsea midfielder said.

The result further underlined Como’s remarkable rise after finishing fourth in Serie A last season to qualify for the Champions League for the first time.

They had already recorded impressive 4-1 home victories over RB Leipzig and Manchester United in this season’s competition.

With nine points from four matches, Como occupy fourth position in the overall league-phase standings, behind Paris Saint-Germain and Real Madrid, who have 12 points each, and Arsenal on 10.

For Lens, the defeat marked their third consecutive Champions League loss and the heaviest ever suffered by a French club in the competition.

Lens coach Yannick Cahuzac admitted that the result was difficult to comprehend, describing the experience as humiliating.

“It is hard to explain in the heat of the moment, but the overriding feeling is one of humiliation,” he said.