Two Italian clubs delivered opposite nights in the fourth round of the Champions League phase on Wednesday: Porto dismantled an injury-ravaged Napoli 4-1 at the Estádio do Dragão, while Como produced a 9-1 rout at Lens in France that stands as the largest away victory in the competition’s history, ANSA reported.
The contrast was stark. Napoli arrived in Portugal without ten injured players and left with a three-point total that now hangs by a thread, while Como collected nine points from four matches and sits fourth in the standings, according to ANSA and RTL.
Porto’s Second-Half Collapse Sinks Napoli’s Ten-Man Absence List
Porto took the lead after 11 minutes when defender Bednarek rose unchallenged in the box to head home a corner from Veiga, ANSA reported. Napoli’s zonal marking left him completely free, and the Polish defender sent the ball past Alex Meret without any Azzurri defender contesting the header.
Napoli responded before halftime. Scott McTominay equalized in the 43rd minute after Diogo Costa made two saves on Matteo Politano and Rasmus Højlund before the Scottish midfielder pounced on the rebound, ANSA reported. The visitors had held their own in stretches of the first half and even put Porto under pressure.
The second half told a different story. Porto coach Francesco Farioli’s side hit the crossbar through Veiga in the 18th minute, then took the lead again at 25 minutes when Veiga finished low past Meret after a pass from Giménez. Ten minutes later, the third goal was an exact copy of the first: Kiwior leapt unmarked at the center of the box to head home another corner, this time from a Veiga delivery on the opposite side, ANSA reported.
The rout was completed in the 90th minute when Samu Aghehowa converted a penalty after Paco Marin was sent off for bringing him down on a counterattack. Marin’s red card left Napoli to finish with ten men.
ANSA noted that the damage was rooted in defensive fragility: Napoli conceded two identical goals from uncontested headers on corners, and the team’s depleted ranks — ten first-team players were missing through injury — left little cover at the back.
Como’s 9-1 at Lens Rewrites the Record Books
Across the border in France, Como turned in a performance that will sit in the competition’s history books. The 9-1 win at the Stade Bollaert-Delelis is the biggest away victory in Champions League history, an eight-goal margin that had never been achieved on the road before, ANSA reported. Only four previous matches had seen a seven-goal difference — by Bayern Munich, Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain — and never eight.
The eight-goal margin also equals the largest in the competition overall, matching Liverpool’s 8-0 home win over Beşiktaş on Nov. 6, 2007, and Real Madrid’s 8-0 home win over Malmö on Dec. 8, 2015, ANSA reported.
Anastasios Douvikas scored a hat-trick — in the 7th, 32nd and 57th minutes — taking his competition total to six goals and making him the outright top scorer, ahead of Erling Haaland and Tresoldi, ANSA reported. Nico Paz added the third goal in the 40th minute, Lucas da Cunha the fourth at 47, Marc Kempf a header at 53, and Mattia Liberali, 19, made it 7-0 at 62. Ruben Aguilar scored a volley at 65, Martin Baturina at 69, and 18-year-old Papaccioli closed the scoring in stoppage time, ANSA and RTL reported.
RTL described Como as a well-oiled machine adding flair and beauty, calling the night a point of pride for Italian football and noting the club is now the competition’s second-best attack. The outlet also framed the result as a possible springboard: with nine points from four games, qualification for the knockout phase is a concrete possibility for a club playing its first Champions League campaign.
Paz’s Goal Dedicated to a Fallen Tenerife Player
Nico Paz, who scored Como’s third goal, did not celebrate. Instead he revealed an undershirt bearing a black-and-white photo of Jesús de Miguel, a Tenerife forward who died after a collision during a second-division match in Spain, with a “rest in peace” message, ANSA reported. Paz was born in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, giving him a personal connection to the Canary Islands, ANSA noted. RTL reported the message on the shirt as “Descansa en pauz,” the dedication reflecting that same link.
Where the Two Italian Clubs Stand Now
The standings tell the story of the night. Napoli remain on three points and face a daunting test on Nov. 24, hosting Manchester City, ANSA reported. Como, meanwhile, sit fourth with nine points, ahead of Aston Villa, Manchester City and Barcelona on goal difference, ANSA and RTL reported.
For Napoli, the defensive lapses on set pieces — two goals from unmarked headers — compounded the absence of ten injured players and left the Allegri side exposed in the second half, ANSA reported. Porto, by contrast, took their first win of the league phase by punishing those errors and adding a late penalty.
Como’s next test comes in Serie A against Inter, with coach Cesc Fàbregas able to rotate his squad after the rout, ANSA and RTL reported.
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