Cesc Fàbregas turned a club that changed in a bar into a Champions League side in less than four years. Como sealed a fairytale return to Europe's elite competition on the final day of the Serie A season, finishing fourth in the Italian standings.
The club based on the shores of the eponymous lake in northern Italy had never participated in any continental competition in its 119-year history. Seven years ago, Como was playing in the fourth division of Italian soccer. Now they will play in the Champions League.
The matchup already has enough history; the job is to keep the reading list shorter than the tension.
Roma finished third in Serie A, two points above Como, which claimed the fourth and final Champions League berth. AC Milan finished one point below Como in fifth place, while Juventus ended a further point back in sixth.
Final-day drama
Four teams were vying for the last two Champions League places going into the final round. Roma occupied the third spot and managed a 2-0 win at already-relegated Hellas Verona to secure European qualification.
Milan lost 2-1 at home to Cagliari and was leapfrogged by Como, which won 4-1 at Cremonese. The Rossoneri were loudly booed at the end of their match.
Juventus surrendered a two-goal lead to draw 2-2 at Torino. That match kicked off an hour late because of fan trouble.
A bar to the Champions League
"When I arrived four years ago as a player we changed in a bar, today we're in the Champions League," Fabregas said. "Today I spoke with two physiotherapists, back then we trained without a sports center, in a place I don't remember where it was. We had massages in the back room of a bar, in a field… And today, less than four years later, we're going to play in the Champions League."
Fabregas' post-match press conference was interrupted by his overjoyed players, who threw water over their coach as they sang the Champions League anthem played on a giant speaker wheeled into the room.
"It's a huge achievement, this is a squad full of kids, the 15 players who played the most are nearly all under 23," Fabregas said. "I think that's marvelous and a masterpiece from the whole squad."
Indonesian investment
Como has made rapid progress since Indonesian tobacco billionaire brothers Robert Budi Hartono and Michael Bambang Hartono purchased the club in 2019, when it was in Serie D. The Champions League could prove enough to keep Fabregas at Como, with bigger clubs across Europe reportedly interested in the 39-year-old coach following his impressive early success in a senior managerial position.
In other Serie A results, Inter Milan and Napoli — who finished second behind Inter — had already secured Champions League football. Antonio Conte's last match in charge of Napoli was a 1-0 win over Udinese.
Lecce beat Genoa 1-0 to secure Serie A safety, moving four points above 18th-place Cremonese, which will join Verona and Pisa in the second division next season.