Cesc Fabregas is confident Como will ‘give it our all and challenge for the best possible result’ against Inter at San Siro, but jokes about his choice of Chelsea-owned Robert Sanchez in goal.
It kicks off at San Siro at 17.00 GMT (18.00 CET).
While almost everything the Lariani do this season seems to be historic, they really did write their names in the books with a 9-1 Champions League victory away to RC Lens.
Only Bayern Munich had previously managed to score nine goals in a single Champions League fixture, let alone a club making its first ever appearance in the tournament.
Fabregas sees Como growth
“I’ve known Cristian Chivu for many years, practically my first game as a coach on the Como youth team bench was against his Inter,” Fabregas told Sky Sport Italia.
“We chat about our new life playing every three days, it’s new for us at Como, he had it for the first time last season, it’s a very different process.”
The result in Lens was also Como’s sixth consecutive victory in all competition, so this evening feels like a Scudetto battle with reigning Champions of Italy Inter.
“It is just another match that is worth three points, the rest is marketing. It doesn’t matter who we play against, we must try to play our style of football and get as many points as possible. This is the culture we want to bring to Como, and gradually we are improving,” continued Fabregas.
“It’s only been three years we’ve worked together, but we are up against a club with huge history that won so many trophies, that every week has 80,000 fans cheering them on in the stands. We cannot expect to be at that level.
“However, what we can expect is that we’ll give it our all on that pitch and challenge for the best possible result. Last season, we lost every game against Inter, despite great performances. We got into the Champions League and very nearly the Coppa Italia semi-final.”
Injuries continue to be a problem, as Moise Kean, Jesus Rodriguez, Trevoh Chalobah, Assane Diao and Jayden Addai are all out of action, so Tasos Douvikas is the only available centre-forward.
Jean Butez is benched today in favour of Chelsea-owned goalkeeper Robert Sanchez, so is there a tactical reason for that choice?
“I don’t know. I woke up this morning… No I’m kidding. There are reasons, but I would prefer this to stay between us, because it is not something we want to talk about outside,” replied Fabregas.
“It’s out of respect for everyone, as Jean Butez is a great goalkeeper and Robert Sanchez shows in training how much he can do too. I just try to choose the best line-up for each individual game.”
