Como Host Manchester United in a Champions League Night Built on a Short Climb
Manchester United visit Como on Wednesday night in a Champions League match that the home club's own staff have called the biggest in its history.
Kick-off is 18:45 Central European Summer Time, which is 5.45pm in Britain. The match is at the Stadio Giuseppe Sinigaglia, a ground that holds 12,300 and is largely open to the sky. Como is a town of just over 83,000 people on the shore of Lake Como in northern Italy.
The gap between the two clubs is startling. When Manchester United last won the Champions League, in 2008, Como were a semi-professional side in Serie D, the fourth tier of Italian football. They had dropped there again in 2017, after failing to convince the authorities that their finances were sound.
The turnaround began with new owners. In 2019, Sent Entertainment, a London-based media company owned by the Indonesian billionaires Robert Budi Hartono and Michael Bambang Hartono, completed its takeover. The club has climbed fast since. Cesc Fabregas, who first joined Como as a player, returned as manager and led them to fourth place in Serie A, Italy's top division, in 2025-26. That finish came after AC Milan lost at Cagliari, and it earned Como a place in the Champions League, Europe's biggest club competition.
Como made their debut in the competition in September, beating RB Leipzig 4-1 at home. Their qualification in May was also a first in the club's history, a 4-1 win over Cremonese, who had a man sent off.
United arrive in a far less comfortable place. They have gone six games without a win, their worst run since 2018-19. Fabregas, speaking at a press conference on Monday, rejected the idea that United are in crisis. He called it a "big lie" and said Como would try to win. Mundo Deportivo carried his comments.
Como have their own worries. Fabregas said Jesus has picked up new injuries, and the club's match preview was headlined with the news that Douvikas starts as injuries bite. Como have 11 points from six league games this season, two more than at the same stage last year.
Off the pitch, the rise has raised a harder question. How can a club of Como's size meet UEFA's financial rules, which are designed to stop clubs spending beyond what they earn? UEFA, European football's governing body, has said it does not plan to change those rules.
The glamour has also found its way to the stands. Lionel Messi's son Ciro was pictured in a replica Como shirt with his father in the days before the game.
What makes the night stand out is the distance it covers. A club that spent 2008 in the fourth tier now faces the side that won Europe that year, in a stadium where the wind can have its say. Whatever the score on Wednesday, the story of how Como got there already belongs to the town.
