Soccer
Como 9-1 Lens: Douvikas and Nico Paz make Champions League history
In their first season in Europe, Como produced the biggest away win in Champions League history on Wednesday night, thrashing Lens 9-1 at the Stade Bollaert-Delelis. Greek striker Anastasios Douvikas scored a hat-trick, Nico Paz starred with a goal and two assists, and the Italian side rewrote the competition's record book in a single evening.
A night of records
The records fell one after another. Nine goals by one team ties the Champions League record set by Bayern Munich in their 9-2 win over Dinamo Zagreb in September 2024 — but no away side had ever scored nine, and the eight-goal margin equals the competition record, level with Liverpool's 8-0 over Besiktas in 2007 and Real Madrid's 8-0 against Malmö in 2015. Como are the first side to score nine away in a European Cup match since Feyenoord's 9-0 at Olympiakos Nicosia in 1971, and the first Italian club to do so in a major European tie since Roma's 10-1 over Altay in 1962.
The numbers behind the night are just as striking. All nine goals were assisted — the most assists by one team in a Champions League match, beating Bayern's eight against Barcelona in August 2020. Eleven different Como players scored or assisted, a new competition record. Como had 18 shots, 12 of them on target, for 4.18 expected goals — and still outscored that figure by five.
Douvikas, the hero of the night
Douvikas opened the scoring in the 7th minute and added a second in the 32nd, before Nico Paz made it 3-0 with a powerful left-footed strike just before the break. After the restart, Lucas da Cunha (47') and Marc-Oliver Kempf (53') stretched the lead, Douvikas completed his hat-trick in the 57th minute, and substitute Mattia Liberali added a seventh in the 62nd. Ruben Aguilar pulled one back for Lens in the 65th, but Martin Baturina (69') and 18-year-old academy product Matteo Papaccioli finished the rout on his European debut in stoppage time.
The hat-trick made Douvikas only the third Greek to score three in a Champions League match, and he now leads the league-phase scoring charts with six goals in four games, from just nine shots. UEFA named him Player of the Match. A conversion rate of 66.7% is the kind of number strikers dream about.
Nico Paz, the heartbeat
If Douvikas finished the moves, Nico Paz started most of them. The 22-year-old Argentine scored the third goal, set up two more and was named man of the match in several reports — and after his goal he held up a shirt honouring Jesus de Miguel, the Tenerife striker who died after an on-field collision. A quiet, classy moment on a night of noise.
What it means for Como
Fàbregas's side now have 19 goals in four Champions League matches — only holders PSG have scored more this season — and a third win in four games puts the debutants firmly in the race for a top-eight finish and direct qualification for the round of 16. For a club playing its first ever season in Europe, that is already a story. After Wednesday night, it is a historic one.