Como hit nine in stunning Champions League win at Lens

LENS - Italian outfit Como equalled the record for the biggest winning margin in the modern Champions League with a stunning 9-1 victory away to Lens in France on Wednesday.

Greek international striker Anastasios Douvikas led the way with a hat-trick as the Serie A side, coached by Cesc Fabregas, claimed a third win in four games in this season's league phase.

Only two teams had previously won a game by a margin of eight goals since the launch of the modern UEFA Champions League in 1992.

Liverpool thumped Besiktas 8-0 in the group stage in 2007 and Real Madrid won by the same scoreline against Malmo in 2015.

Como are just the second team to score nine times in a game in the competition, after Bayern Munich beat Dinamo Zagreb 9-2 in the league phase in 2024.

According to statisticians Opta, the last club to score nine away from home was Feyenoord against Olympiacos in the old European Cup 1971.

Douvikas opened the scoring from close range in the seventh minute and finished again at the end of a superb team move just after the half-hour mark.

Argentine star Nico Paz rifled in to make it 3-0 at half-time, but Como really ran away with the game after the interval at the Stade Bollaert-Delelis in northern France.

Paz set up French international midfielder Lucas Da Cunha for 4-0, and Marc-Oliver Kempf headed in his team's fifth before Douvikas completed his hat-trick.

Mattia Liberali came off the bench and shortly after ran away to score the seventh, before Ruben Aguilar pulled one back for Lens with a fine volley.

However, Martin Baturina got Como's eighth in the 69th minute and Lens were lucky to concede only one more after that, as Matteo Papaccioli capped an incredible night for the visitors.

"There's nothing but positives for us to take this evening. Everything went right for us," said an understated Fabregas, as reported by UEFA.com.

Como, who finished fourth in Serie A last season to qualify for the Champions League for the first time, had already beaten both RB Leipzig and Manchester United 4-1 at home in this campaign.

They are fourth in the overall Champions League standings after four games with nine points, three points behind Paris Saint-Germain and Real Madrid, and one point behind Arsenal.

It is a third straight Champions League defeat for Lens and a record Champions League loss for a French club.

"It is hard to explain in the heat of the moment but the overriding feeling is one of humiliation," said their coach, Yannick Cahuzac. - AFP