The Game Turned Late
MILAN — Cesc Fàbregas stood in the mixed zone, water still dripping from his jacket, and walked his audience through the full arc of the story. "When I arrived four years ago as a player we changed in a bar, today we're in the Champions League," he said. That pretty much covered it.
Como confirmed their impossible promotion on Sunday, finishing fourth in Serie A and clinching a spot in Europe's elite club competition for the first time in the club's 119-year history. They were playing in Italy's fourth division seven years ago. Now they're in the Champions League. The timeline still sounds fabricated, even written down.
The matchup already has enough history; the job is to keep the reading list shorter than the tension.
The math turned simple in the final round. Roma won 2-0 at already-relegated Hellas Verona. Milan lost 2-1 at home to Cagliari. Como won 4-1 at Cremonese. That was enough. The Rossoneri finished one point below Como; Juventus sat another point back after drawing 2-2 at Torino in a match delayed an hour by fan trouble.
The Small Details Added Up
Roma ended third, two points clear of Como. Fourth place was always the target, and it delivered. TheChampions League anthem played in the post-match press conference, wheeled in on a speaker by overjoyed players who promptly soaked their coach. Fabregas handled it with the grace of someone who has seen stranger things on a training ground.
"We had massages in the back room of a bar, in a field," he continued. "And today, less than four years later, we're going to play in the Champions League."
The squad is young. Fifteen players who logged the most minutes are nearly all under 23. That's unusual for a side that just locked down a continental berth—most rebuilds take longer and cost more. Fabregas called it "a masterpiece from the whole squad," and there was no reason to argue.
The Table Looks Different
Antonio Conte's final match in charge of Napoli was a 1-0 win over Udinese, confirming second place behind Inter Milan. Conte confirmed afterward he was leaving. Lecce beat Genoa 1-0 to stay up, moving four points above 18th-place Cremonese, who will drop to Serie B alongside Verona and Pisa.
Indonesian tobacco billionaires Robert Budi Hartono and Michael Bambang Hartono purchased Como in 2019, when they were in Serie D. The investment was enormous. The return just arrived earlier than anyone reasonably expected.
Fabregas, 39, has drawn interest from bigger clubs across Europe. This Champions League run may keep him. Then again, it might just make the decision more interesting.