Football occasionally produces results that require supporters to check whether the scoreboard has malfunctioned. Como’s extraordinary 9-1 away victory over Lens was one of those occasions. The Italian side did not merely win in France—they appeared to treat the Champions League as an open training session, scoring nine goals and equalling the competition’s biggest winning margin. For Lens, meanwhile, the final whistle probably arrived with the emotional importance of an emergency evacuation.
The result is particularly remarkable because this is Como’s debut Champions League campaign. Cesc Fàbregas’ side have now won three of their opening four league-phase matches and moved into fourth place, while their nine goals made them only the second team to score nine times in a Champions League match and the first to do so away from home.
COMO ARRIVE IN FRANCE AND APPARENTLY FORGET TO STOP SCORING
The historic night began with Tasos Douvikas putting Como ahead before adding another in the first half. Nico Paz then made it 3-0 before the interval, leaving Lens with an increasingly uncomfortable question: Is there a rule allowing a team to request an early half-time and possibly change stadiums? Unfortunately for the home side, the break did not interrupt Como’s appetite.
Como continued the historic destruction after the restart. Lucas Da Cunha, Marc-Oliver Kempf, Douvikas—who completed his hat-trick—and Mattia Liberali all found the net as the visitors turned a competitive European fixture into a scoreline that looked increasingly fictional. Ruben Aguilar briefly gave Lens something to celebrate, but Martin Baturina and teenager Matteo Papaccioli completed the nine-goal masterpiece.
LENS SUFFER A NIGHT THEY MAY WANT FOOTBALL HISTORY TO FORGET
For Lens, this was a historic occasion for all the wrong reasons. The 9-1 defeat became the heaviest Champions League loss suffered by a French club, while Como matched the biggest winning margin in the competition’s history. Liverpool’s 8-0 victory over Beşiktaş in 2007 and Real Madrid’s 8-0 win against Malmö in 2015 had previously represented the eight-goal benchmark. Como have now joined that extraordinary territory—except they managed to do it away from home, making the achievement even more remarkable.
Fàbregas understandably praised a night when virtually everything went right for his team, but Como’s remarkable campaign is becoming difficult to dismiss as a temporary football accident. After four matches, the newcomers have collected nine points and produced one of the most astonishing results in modern Champions League history. Lens, meanwhile, will need a serious response after an evening their coach described as humiliating. When your opponents score nine, analysing the tactical mistakes may require more than one meeting and possibly several cups of coffee.
Como’s historic 9-1 demolition of Lens was more than a famous victory—it was a statement that has forced European football to pay attention. In their first Champions League campaign, Fàbregas’ side have gone from interesting newcomers to genuine headline-makers, while Lens must somehow recover from one of the most painful nights in their European history. Whether Como can maintain this extraordinary momentum remains to be seen, but one thing is certain: after scoring nine away from home, nobody will be calling them harmless visitors again. Stay tuned to OGM News FC for more updates, reactions and football stories where the scoreboard occasionally seems to have a personal grudge against somebody.
