Como vs Manchester United 4-1 - Champions League Matchday 3 Match Report

Como and Manchester United met at Stadio Giuseppe Sinigaglia in the UEFA Champions League league phase, and the shape of the match explained the scoreline far better than the bare numbers do. Manchester United went down to 4-1 and spent the remainder of the evening trying to pull the game back. The turning point came at the 2 minute mark, when Nico Paz found the far corner, and everything that followed was played in that new landscape. Como won 4-1 and carried the points home. 10875 supporters filled Stadio Giuseppe Sinigaglia, and the noise never really left the players alone. Neither side arrived in the best form: the last five results read W L D L W for Como and L D D L D for Manchester United, and both sets of players knew what a slip would cost.

Match facts

• Date: 2026-10-21
• Kick-off: 16:45 UTC
• Venue: Stadio Giuseppe Sinigaglia, Como, Italy (13602)
• Attendance: 10875
• Referee: Sven Jablonski (Germany)
• Competition: UEFA Champions League 2026/2027 - Matchday 3
• Starting line-ups: Como (4-2-3-1, Coach: Cesc Fàbregas) / Manchester United (4-2-3-1, Coach: Michael Carrick)
• Scorers: Nico Paz 2'; Anastasios Douvikas 49'; Nico Paz 57'; Jacobo Ramón 76'; Joshua Zirkzee 90+1'

Como lined up with Jean Butez, Yan Couto, Jacobo Ramón, Marc-Oliver Kempf, Álex Valle, Luis Milla, Máximo Perrone, Lucas Da Cunha, Nico Paz, Martin Baturina, Anastasios Douvikas in a 4-2-3-1, while Manchester United answered with Senne Lammens, Diogo Dalot, Matthijs de Ligt, Harry Maguire, Noussair Mazraoui, Mason Mount, Andrey Santos, Bryan Mbeumo, Youri Tielemans, Matheus Cunha, Bruno Fernandes in a 4-2-3-1. Cesc Fàbregas and Michael Carrick led their respective sides from the touchline, and both had a plan for the first hour that they wanted to keep intact.

Goals and key moments

Goal details, minutes and scorers are the part of the record that separate one evening from another. At the 2' mark, Nico Paz found the far corner, with Lucas Da Cunha supplying the pass that made it possible, and 1-0 was the consequence. It was a chance worth 0.058 expected goals, which is exactly why it was worth taking. 49': Anastasios Douvikas kept the composure the moment demanded, Nico Paz helping it over the line, and it was 2-0 almost immediately. 57': Nico Paz turned the move into the opening the team had been chasing, helping it over the line, and it was 3-0 almost immediately. 76': Jacobo Ramón struck it with quality, Kaiki helping it over the line, and it was 4-0 almost immediately. 90+1': Joshua Zirkzee scored cleanly, Amad Diallo helping it over the line, and it was 4-1 almost immediately. That strike changed the temperature of the evening: from that point the leading side could play for the counter while the chasing side had to take risks in the spaces that had opened up. Not every opening was taken, though, and the chances that were missed told their own story. Taken together, the goals gave the evening a shape that the scoreline on its own never explained.

The tactical picture

Como started in 4-2-3-1 under Cesc Fàbregas, while Manchester United answered with 4-2-3-1 under Michael Carrick, and those two shapes decided most of what happened on the field. Neither manager was willing to hand the central ground over for free, and the shape of the game followed that refusal. The midfield was the part of the pitch both sides wanted, and the numbers show who managed to take it. The side that pressed high won the second ball, which left the other team unable to build from the back and forced them into hopeful passes. The width of the pitch worked against the team that kept attacking down the same flank, and they were closed down every time. Transitions were the story: one side moved the ball forward at speed, the other could not. The tactical conversation between the two benches was as much a part of the evening as the movement of the ball itself.

Tactical reading

Como set up in a 4-2-3-1 against the 4-2-3-1 of Manchester United, and the two shapes decided how the ball actually moved: Como completed 675 passes at 89% accuracy while Manchester United answered with 545 and 87%. The duel numbers underline the same story, as Como won 46 duels against 51 for Manchester United, completed 20 tackles to 23 and read 14 passes compared with 9. Chance creation was the decisive column of the table, with Como generating 4 clear chances and 8 shots from inside the box against 1 and 5, which is exactly why the goalkeepers had to make 3 and 4 saves between them.

Statistical comparison

The statistical picture is as revealing as the scoreline itself. Expected goals told the sharper story: 2.11 for Como against 0.99 for Manchester United. Como attempted 11 shots to Manchester United's 13, with 8 on target against 4. Possession finished at 55 per cent for Como against 45 per cent for Manchester United, and it is worth noting which side actually used it. Como won 1 corners to Manchester United's 4, and that is where most of the set-piece danger came from. Como completed 600 of 675 passes against 473 of 545 for Manchester United, a difference that shows how differently the two sides circulated the ball. Fouls were committed 10 times by Como and 11 by Manchester United, with 0 and 0 red cards in the official count. The goalkeepers made 3 and 4 saves respectively, and on a night like this that work decides how the result is remembered. The duels went 46 to 51, which is usually the cleanest single indicator of who was prepared to spend effort on the ball. Tackles were completed 20 times by Como and 23 by Manchester United, and the duels that followed tell the same story as the rest of the evening.

Discipline and substitutions

Discipline and substitutions shaped the second half more than the scoreline suggests. Como collected 1 yellow cards and Manchester United 3, and the caution count of 4 in total meant the referee had to manage a game that was becoming increasingly physical around the halfway line. Both coaches used their changes: 5 by Como and 5 by Manchester United, with the last substitution of the evening coming late. The emotional temperature of the evening rose and fell with the challenges and with the decisions taken by both benches. Sven Jablonski took charge of the match and had a relatively straightforward evening by the standards of the competition.

Player of the match and the standout performers

Individual performances separated the two teams across a full ninety minutes. Nico Paz of Como was the player of the match with a rating of 9.4, and every touch that mattered carried his name on it. For Como, the best individual rating belonged to Nico Paz, and for Manchester United it belonged to Amad Diallo. The gap between the best performances on each side was the reason the result never really looked as comfortable as it was. Across the two squads the highest individual ratings read Nico Paz (9.44), Jacobo Ramón (8.59), Lucas Da Cunha (7.93), Amad Diallo (7.82).

What the result means for the league phase

Como on points from 3 matches, in 9 place with a goal difference of 5, and Manchester United on points from 3 matches, in 21 place with a goal difference of -1. Como arrived with W L D L W in their last five and Manchester United with L D D L D, so the result fits the run both of them have been on. For the winner the three points are banked and the group is a shade closer to settled; for the other side the work still to be done, and this result has made that plain. What the numbers cannot show is how hard the result was worked for, and how differently the two sides will remember it. The next round of the league phase will tell more: whoever adjusts first in the coming days will be the one who controls the group.