Como did not just win in Lens, they rewrote the record books. Tasos Douvikas scored a hat-trick as Cesc Fàbregas' Champions League debutants destroyed RC Lens 9-1 at the Stade Bollaert-Delelis, equalling the biggest winning margin in the competition's history and becoming the first away team ever to score nine goals in a Champions League match.
Como arrived in northern France with a point to prove on the road. The Lariani had thrashed RB Leipzig and Manchester United 4-1 at home in their maiden Champions League campaign, but their only away trip had ended in defeat at Feyenoord, and they were missing Moise Kean, Trevoh Chalobah, Assane Diao, Jesús Rodríguez and Jayden Addai. Lens, stuck on three points after goalless defeats to Sporting CP and Club Brugge, never stood a chance once the visitors found their rhythm.
Three goals and a VAR reprieve before the break
It took under eight minutes for the rout to begin. A short corner routine saw Luis Milla's cross knocked down by Máximo Perrone, and Douvikas, at full stretch, prodded the ball over the line from close range. The Greek striker has now scored in all four of his Champions League appearances this season.
Lens briefly thought they had a route back into the game. After one penalty appeal was waved away when the ball struck Jacobo Ramón's arm from point-blank range, referee Rohit Saggi pointed to the spot moments later, judging that a cross had hit Maxence Caqueret's arm. VAR intervened to correct him — the ball had struck Caqueret's chest — and the decision was changed to a corner. It was the last moment of hope the home crowd would get.
Como's second, on 32 minutes, was a pure Fàbregas team goal: a move that started with goalkeeper Jean Butez flowed through several players before Nico Paz floated the ball to the far post, Álex Valle volleyed it back across goal from the by-line and Douvikas tapped in. Five minutes before half-time, Douvikas turned provider, feeding Paz, who rifled a ferocious left-foot strike into the roof of the net from a tight angle to make it 3-0.
The rout becomes a record
Within sixty seconds of the restart, Lucas Da Cunha — whose penalty had settled Como's 1-0 win over Venezia in Serie A on Sunday — played a give-and-go with Paz and bent the fourth into the far bottom corner. Milla's cross was then met by a glancing Marc-Oliver Kempf header for 5-0, and on 57 minutes Douvikas completed his hat-trick, racing onto a Paz pass, drawing out goalkeeper Robin Risser and sweeping the ball home.
Lens were spared a seventh only when Kyllian Antonio cleared a Perrone effort off the line, but Mattia Liberali soon sprinted down the right and drove in the seventh anyway. Rubén Aguilar finally gave the home fans something to cheer, volleying in from a corner for Lens' first European goal in three games, yet Martin Baturina immediately restored the seven-goal cushion with a solo slalom through the defence. There was still time, in stoppage time, for the night's most heartwarming moment: 18-year-old Matteo Papaccioli, on for Douvikas for his senior debut, sprang the offside trap on a Liberali pass and scored — the flag went up, VAR overturned it, and the teenager ran straight to hug Fàbregas. Full details of the scoring are in Football Italia's match report.
Paz's tribute in the middle of the madness
Amid the avalanche of goals, the night's most moving image came at 3-0. Paz, who came through the ranks at Tenerife, refused to celebrate his goal and instead held up a shirt honouring Jesús de Miguel, the Tenerife forward who died on Tuesday after an on-field accident in a Spanish second-division match. A minute's silence had been observed before kick-off, as it was across the Champions League this week, and as USA Today reported, Paz's gesture ensured the record-breaking night carried a human story too.
So what?
The numbers are staggering. The eight-goal margin equals Liverpool's 8-0 win over Beşiktaş in 2007 and Real Madrid's 8-0 against Malmö in 2015 — but both of those came at home. No away side had ever scored nine in this competition, and Como, in their first-ever Champions League campaign, have now scored 19 goals in four league-phase games. They sit on nine points, fourth in Serie A, and host AEK Athens next knowing the knockout rounds are within touching distance. On a night when Arsenal won 2-1 at Slavia Praha to stay perfect, it was the debutants from Lake Como who stole the show. For Lens and coach Yannick Cahuzac, a third straight European defeat leaves them on three points with a trip to Leipzig next — and some very hard questions to answer.
Beyond the Final Whistle verdict: this was not a fluke scoreline against a minnow — it was a meticulously coached, fearless young team announcing itself to Europe. Fàbregas has built the most exciting debut side the Champions League has seen in years, and on this evidence nobody will want to draw Como in the knockouts. Where does this 9-1 rank among the greatest away performances you have ever seen in Europe? Let us know in the comments.
