Italian debutant Como 1907 scored nine goals in a 9-1 win at RC Lens on Wednesday night, a result that stands as the largest victory by an away team in UEFA Champions League history, sport.ORF.at reported. The Serie A club, managed by former Spain midfielder Cesc Fàbregas, had already beaten RB Leipzig and Manchester United 4-1 apiece this season, but nothing in that run prepared the competition for what happened in northern France.
Nine different Como players found the net, and the margin eclipsed every previous road rout in the tournament’s main competition. The prior benchmark for an away side was seven goals, shared by Marseille, Liverpool and Shakhtar Donetsk, according to Absolut Fussball. The 8-0 home wins by Liverpool over Besiktas in 2007 and Real Madrid over Malmö in 2015 had long stood as the competition’s biggest victories overall; Bayern Munich’s 9-2 home win over Dinamo Zagreb in September 2024 remains the largest margin in the record books, but Como’s nine strikes on the road set a new standard for the away team, the outlets noted.
How the goals fell in Lens
Como put the match beyond reach before halftime. Tasos Douvikas opened the scoring in the seventh minute and doubled his tally in the 32nd, with Nico Paz adding a third just before the break in the 40th, LAOLA1 reported. At the interval it stood 3-0, and what followed was a collapse without precedent for the hosts.
Lucas da Cunha made it 4-0 two minutes after the restart, defender Marc Kempf scored the fifth — timed at the 54th minute by sport.ORF.at and the 53rd by LAOLA1 — and Douvikas completed his hat-trick in the 57th to make it 6-0 inside twelve minutes of the second half. Mattia Liberali struck in the 62nd, Martin Baturina in the 69th, and substitute Matteo Papaccioli added the ninth in first-half stoppage time, 90.+1, per sport.ORF.at. Lens managed only a consolation through Aguilar in the 65th minute, LAOLA1 reported.
Austrian international Samson Baidoo played all 90 minutes in Lens’s defense and endured the full rout, Krone headlined its coverage with the 1-9 debacle for the Austria international.
Douvikas’s hat-trick, Kempf’s place in history
Douvikas’s three goals in the 7th, 32nd and 57th minutes made him the match’s standout, sport.ORF.at reported. Kempf’s goal carried extra weight: the 31-year-old center-back, a former Eintracht Frankfurt, Freiburg, Stuttgart and Hertha BSC player, has become increasingly important to Como since joining from the German Bundesliga, Absolut Fussball reported. Como’s players were photographed congratulating him after the 5-0.
Based in a city of roughly 83,000 people on Lake Como, the team sits fourth in Serie A after ten matches, behind Lazio, Inter Milan and Roma, Absolut Fussball reported. In Europe, the win moved Como to fourth in the 36-team league phase with nine points from four matches, ahead of Barcelona, Manchester City and the German trio of Borussia Dortmund, Bayern Munich and Stuttgart, the same outlet said.
Elsewhere on matchday four: Haaland edges Leipzig, Dortmund survive without Sabitzer
The Lens rout overshadowed a busy night. Manchester City won 3-2 at RB Leipzig in a night of fluctuating lead: Christoph Baumgartner, back in Leipzig’s starting lineup since his comeback, curled a shot just wide in the 30th minute, and Castello Lukeba put the hosts ahead with an own goal seven minutes later, sport.ORF.at reported. Ridle Baku beat Gianluigi Donnarumma from a tight angle in the 49th, Enzo Fernández headed City back in front in the 58th, and Antonio Nusa leveled in the 61st. Erling Haaland settled it with a finish from Elliot Anderson’s pass in the 78th minute, Reuters imagery distributed via sport.ORF.at showed.
The biggest wins in Champions League history
sport.ORF.at’s list of the competition’s largest main-stage victories now reads as follows:
| Date | Match | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 04.11.2026 | RC Lens – Como | 1-9 |
| 17.09.2024 | Bayern Munich – Dinamo Zagreb | 9-2 |
| 08.12.2015 | Real Madrid – Malmö | 8-0 |
| 06.11.2007 | Liverpool – Besiktas Istanbul | 8-0 |
| 19.02.2025 | Paris Saint-Germain – Stade Brest | 7-0 |
| 14.03.2023 | Manchester City – RB Leipzig | 7-0 |
The list covers the main competition only, excluding qualifying rounds, sport.ORF.at noted.
Questions fans are asking about Como’s record night
Is 9-1 the biggest win in Champions League history? It is the highest away win in Champions League history and the competition’s record overall, surpassing the 8-0 wins on goals scored. Bayern Munich’s 9-2 home win over Dinamo Zagreb in 2024 remains the largest winning margin overall, according to the records compiled by sport.ORF.at and Absolut Fussball.
Who scored for Como? Nine players: Douvikas (three), Paz, da Cunha, Kempf, Liberali, Baturina and Papaccioli, per sport.ORF.at and LAOLA1.
Fourth in the 36-team league phase with nine points from four games, ahead of Barcelona and Manchester City, Absolut Fussball reported. Lens dropped to 33rd, LAOLA1 said.
Cesc Fàbregas, the former Spain and Arsenal midfielder, sport.ORF.at reported.
The story’s sharpest remaining detail is the contrast it sets for the rest of the league phase: a club from a town of 83,000 on Lake Como now sits in fourth place after four matches, with Fàbregas’s side having won three times — 4-1, 4-1 and now 9-1.
Worth a look
- Flamengo Seek Six-Point Lead Against Grêmio at Maracanã
- Rennes and RC Lens face Olympiakos and Como in European matches Wednesday
- Bayern teenager Karl becomes fourth youngest to score 5 career goals in Champions League (newsarchyuk.com)
- Mantle convection caused missing layers in Earth’s rock record (archyde.com)
