playGab MarcottiCloseGab MarcottiSenior Writer, ESPN FCGabriele Marcotti is a senior soccer writer for ESPN.com. Read his archive here and follow him on Twitter: @Marcotti., Mark Ogden, Sam Marsden, Rob DawsonMultiple AuthorsNov 4, 2026, 07:31 PM ETOpen Extended ReactionsMatchday 4 of the UEFA Champions League league phase is in the books, which means we’re at the midway point and the table is starting to take shape.Juggernauts Paris Saint-Germain and Real Madrid have perfect four-from-four records and are sitting atop the 36-team ladder, with Arsenal not too far behind.Statement wins from Como and Manchester United — for very different reasons — have both clubs well placed to survive the cut, while a number of players are putting their names up in lights after some stunning individual displays.So, what to make of it all? ESPN FC writers Gab Marcotti, Sam Marsden, Mark Ogden and Rob Dawson are here to break down the action from Matchday 4.- Will Man United’s comeback save Carrick’s job? – As it happened: Fenerbahçe stun Liverpool, Como on cloud nine – Yamal makes history as Barca thump Aston VillaQ1. Are Como going to win this whole thing?
The darlings of Europe have been charming us all season long in the Champions League, with big wins over RB Leipzig, Man United and Wednesday’s 9-1 decimation of Lens. They’re no slouches domestically, either, sitting in the top four of Serie A with 37 goals scored in 14 games across both competitions. Oh, and they have Nico Paz, who has six goals and seven assists already this season while also being the literal heir to Lionel Messi’s Argentina No. 10 shirt, and Anastasios Douvikas (us neither) is the tournament’s top scorer! So, how far can they go?
Is there a more up-and-coming coach in the game than Cesc Fabregas? Can they keep it together? What is the secret sauce here?Dawson: Como aren’t going to win it, but they’re fast becoming the team no one wants to play. Watching them close up against Manchester United, it was striking how well coached they are.
Fabregas has got them so organised all over the pitch. Within that structure, they’ve got the flair and creativity of Paz. He ran the game against United and scored again against Lens. On top of all that, their stadium on the lake is cramped and uncomfortable for the opposition.
It’s an awkward trip for any team. Well on their way to reaching the knockouts in their first campaign in the Champions League, none of the favourites will fancy a two-legged tie against Como.Ogden: I’m loving the Como story, partly because they are everything that Italian teams never are — exciting, adventurous, risk-takers (sorry Gab, but I know you agree). Look, it isn’t the fairytale story that some would have you believe thanks to very wealthy Indonesian ownership, but they are a breath of fresh air in both Serie A and the Champions League.But no, they aren’t going to win it all and I’d even suggest they won’t even reach the quarterfinals because the Champions League is a much more unforgiving tournament in the spring and the big guns will not be caught by surprise by Como then. And who knows, Fabregas might be managing one of Europe’s superpowers by then because one certainty is that this run of results are making him a hot property and somebody will tempt away him sooner rather than later.Marsden: Like Mark says, it may not quite be the fairytale story some would have you believe, but let’s be clear: the work Fabregas is doing with the players available to him is remarkable.
Douvikas arrived from Celta Vigo after netting three LaLiga goals in his final season in Spain — as many as he scored against Lens. Another goal-scorer against Lens, Lucas Da Cunha, was with the club in Serie B. Midfielder Luis Milla is a journeyman midfielder picked up from Getafe. Left-back Álex Valle is a Barcelona cast off who could not get a game on loan at Celtic.
These aren’t players Europe’s top teams were fighting over. There is, of course, also young talent other clubs may not have been able to attract or ordinarily afford in Como’s situation as a recently promoted team, like Paz and Martin Baturina, but in general this is a side which is far greater than the sum of its parts.That is thanks to Fabregas. The football he has them playing at times is breathtaking. It’s a shame we have to wait until the final matchday of the league phase to see them play Barça.
I need that now. And talking of Barça, could they be Fabregas’ next club? Teams will be queuing up for him. He will have to pick his next move wisely, although he should be in no rush to leave Como.
Could they win it all? Someone asked me this week if we will ever see a team like FC Porto in 2004 upset the established elite. At the start of the season, I tipped Como to win Serie A. I still think they could.
The Champions League is a step too far probably, but they’re going to play a big role in this year’s competition.Marcotti: I’m going to sidestep the question of “can they win it” because, at the risk of being pedantic, the answer for anyone (well, maybe not Sabah FK) is “yes.” (They play PSG and Barcelona in their final two group games … that will be the reality check.) And I’m going to rise above Mark’s little dig about Italian teams by referring him to AS Roma. Como’s win over Lens was only the second nine-goal performance in the Champions League era and only the third win by an eight-goal margin. Oh, and they’re doing it with three starters out. They have the second-best goal difference in the Champions League, Douvikas is the top scorer and Paz has the most assists.Sure, they’ve spent more money, probably more money than their station in the game’s pecking order allows.
But let’s put this in context. Other than Paz, they have two guys who cost more than €18 million: Trevoh Chalobah and Jesús Rodriguez. Relative to Champions League sides — not just the elites like Arsenal or Real Madrid, but the mid-tier teams too — they’re paupers. So why are they so good and fun to watch?
So much of the credit has to go to Fabregas. To successfully play this brand of football in Serie A and then do it again in Europe is simply ridiculous. He does what great managers do: turn good players into great ones and make a team greater than the sum of its parts. Given his pedigree as a footballer (Barcelona and Arsenal, among others) and what he’s achieved here you can expect him to be linked with just about every big managerial opening out there.Q2.
Man United pulled victory from the jaws of defeat on Tuesday night with a 3-2 comeback win over Roma at Old Trafford, having been 2-0 down inside 20 minutes. Now that the euphoria’s worn off, how do we feel about the result? Credit to United, but Roma had zero shots on goal and zero touches in United’s penalty area in the second half. Is it a platform on which Michael Carrick — yes, the guy who was reportedly going to be fired last week — can build, or is it a false dawn?
And will we still see Carrick leaving the club anyway?Ogden: At the end of the United game, I made a point of checking Pep Guardiola’s nightmare run at Manchester City in autumn 2024, and it was one win and nine defeats in 13 games. Jurgen Klopp had a similar sequence at Liverpool in 2020-21 when, as defending champions, his side lost eight and drew one of 13 games.Prior to the Roma win, United had played 13 games this season and lost seven of them, winning just twice, so Carrick can at least console himself with the knowledge that more celebrated coaches have suffered as he has done this season. Guardiola and Klopp pulled themselves out of their rut, however, and would go on to win big trophies again, but Carrick is still a novice without any kind of managerial pedigree. It would be naïve to think that he and United are now through the worst and ready to bounce back in the Premier League and Champions League.Yes, United won, but they conceded two goals and have managed just one clean sheet all season, so the flaws
