COMO — Como are preparing for what staff have described as the biggest night in the club's history as Cesc Fabregas's side host Manchester United in the Champions League at the picturesque 12,300-capacity Stadio Giuseppe Sinigaglia by the banks of Lake Como.
"It's Manchester United. We are only just getting our heads around the fact we are playing Inter, Milan and Juventus," a Como staff member said. "This is without doubt the biggest night in the club's history." United travel to Italy on the brink of a full-blown crisis after six matches without a win, their worst run since 2018-19, yet in terms of global stature they remain immense.
The scale of Como's rise is stark. When United savoured the last of their three Champions League triumphs in 2008, Como were a Serie D club in one of nine semi-professional regional leagues where attendances were measured in hundreds. Chief executive Mirwan Surwaso said the club's status as an amateur side — they returned to Serie D in 2017 after being unable to convince the authorities of their financial wellbeing — first attracted London-based media company Sent Entertainment, owned by Indonesian billionaires Robert Budi Hartono and Michael Bambang Hartono, who concluded a deal in 2019 planning a TV project around young Indonesian players. "Somehow the team got promoted, we had to go professional, and the plan had to be scrapped," Surwaso told Piers Morgan's Football Uncensored Podcast. Instead, Fabregas steered Como to fourth place in 2025-26, capitalising on AC Milan's shock defeat at Cagliari, to go from Serie B to the Champions League in five seasons since his arrival as a player. Earlier this week Lionel Messi's son Ciro underlined that meteoric rise by being pictured with his father wearing a replica Como kit.
"Compared to when I finished my career here, it is completely different," said Fabregas. "It is not even night and day. It is another world. Playing Manchester United is a historic day once again for the club, the city of Como and fanbase." The former Arsenal, Barcelona and Chelsea star added: "We are a family here. Even when we lose, fans come and celebrate. We need to be humble and remember who we were because the story of Como will be beautiful, and we will remember it forever." Fabregas, who is now head coach working with Argentine forward Nico Paz, also said: "We were at minus 10 when we started, but we don't want to spend time thinking about what has passed. If you want to do that, retire and go write a book about what Como did. We must look at what is in front of us." Questions remain over Uefa's financial rules, which European football's governing body does not intend to amend despite Como's ascent, but Surwaso said: "The scrutiny is on us but we always have our books in order, so we are not too worried." There is also the practical issue that three quarters of the Sinigaglia is uncovered, with heavy rain forecast at kick-off.
The ground itself reflects Como's unique setting. Lake Como is 29 miles long and 2.5 miles wide in places, and walkers around the stadium pass a yacht club and an Aero Club for sea-planes, while the club offer one-hour Lake Como tours followed by 'pre-match Lakeside hospitality'. In a town of just over 83,000 — 90% of whom could fit inside the San Siro — there is now a plush new club shop selling branded merchandise, a far cry from Serie D. Former France internationals Raphael Varane and Thierry Henry are both investors in the club, which made its Champions League debut against RB Leipzig on 10 September. Among those who followed Como when crowds were in the hundreds is Marco Melillo, who said: "I had an uncle who supported Como. He showed me the sticker collection, I saw the blue shirt and the blue colours and totally went crazy about it." He added: "We know the club is in the best situation ever in its history but when I see the faces of the guys and ladies that were also here in Serie D, we just see in our eyes and say, 'OK, we hope that this story will go on as long as possible, as best as possible, but if it maybe abruptly ended, because in the past we had also some bad things, we know we will be there'."