Como Smash Lens 9-1 to Equal Champions League Record

Photo: Francois Lo Presti / AFP via Channels Television

Como produced one of the great nights in Champions League history on Wednesday, thrashing Lens 9-1 away from home to equal the record for the most goals scored by one team in a single match in the competition. Anastasios Douvikas scored a hat-trick, Nico Paz scored one and set up two more, and the Italian debutants never let up from the first whistle to the last.

Nobody in the Stade Bollaert-Delelis could have seen this coming. Como, playing in the Champions League for the first time in their history, were 3-0 up by half time and then scored six more after the break. Lens, roared on by their own fans in northern France, were simply swept away.

Douvikas started it all in the seventh minute, turning in a knockdown from close range. He added a second in the 32nd minute, and then Nico Paz made it 3-0 five minutes before half time with a sharp finish from a tight angle. Paz also showed a T-shirt paying tribute to Tenerife striker Jesus de Miguel, who died after an on-pitch collision.

The second half was even wilder. Lucas da Cunha made it 4-0 less than two minutes after the restart. Marc-Oliver Kempf headed in the fifth in the 53rd minute, and Douvikas completed his hat-trick four minutes later. Substitute Mattia Liberali ran clear to score the seventh, and even after Ruben Aguilar pulled one back for Lens, Como kept going. Martin Baturina made it 8-1, and 18-year-old Matteo Papaccioli scored on his senior debut in stoppage time. His goal was first ruled out for offside, then given after a video check.

The numbers tell you how rare this was. Only Bayern Munich, with their 9-2 win over Dinamo Zagreb in September 2024, had ever scored nine goals in one Champions League match before. No team had scored nine away from home in the European Cup since Feyenoord beat Olympiakos 9-0 in 1971, a gap of 55 years. It is also the biggest away win in Champions League history, and the heaviest defeat ever suffered by a French team in the competition.

For Como, this was not a one-off either. Cesc Fabregas and his side have now won three of their four games in this season's league phase, with 19 goals scored in those four matches, the most ever by an Italian side in their first four European Cup games. They sit on nine points and, on the night, climbed to fourth in the league phase table. They had already beaten RB Leipzig and Manchester United 4-1 at home, and their only defeat so far came away at Feyenoord.

Lens will want to forget this night fast, but the scale of it will stay with them. They were level in effort and beaten in every part of the pitch, and by the end their defence had simply run out of answers.

There was another big late result on the same night. Porto beat Napoli 4-1 at the Estadio do Dragao to pick up their first points of the campaign. Jan Bednarek headed Porto in front in the 11th minute, Scott McTominay levelled for Napoli just before half time, and then the home side took over. Gabriel Veiga restored the lead in the 71st minute, Jakub Kiwior headed in a third nine minutes later, and Samu Aghehowa finished it from the penalty spot in the 90th minute after Napoli had gone down to ten men.

It was a night that reminded everyone why this competition still surprises. A debutant side from Italy went to France and rewrote the record book, and a young team full of belief made nine goals look almost routine. If you missed it live, the scoreline alone tells you it was special.

For context, our earlier Champions League coverage this week followed Fenerbahce beating Liverpool 3-2 and Real Madrid winning 3-2 at AEK, and then Arsenal winning 2-1 at Slavia Prague and Manchester City edging Leipzig 3-2. Como have now gone further than any of them, and the rest of Europe will be watching their next game very closely.

Sources

• Channels Television (AFP): Como record stunning 9-1 win against Lens in Champions League
• Sporting News: Biggest wins in UEFA Champions League history
• The Analyst (Opta): The highest-scoring Champions League matches
• Football Italia: Champions League MD4 liveblog, Porto vs Napoli and Lens vs Como

Como now head into their next league phase game knowing a win would keep them right in the hunt for the top eight and direct passage to the last 16.

#Como #ChampionsLeague #Lens #Football #Sports #WorldFootball #RecordWin