Como Hit Nine Past Lens, the Biggest Away Win in Champions League History

Como scored nine goals away from home in the Champions League, beating Lens 9-1 in France. Anastasios Douvikas scored a hat-trick, which means three goals by one player in a single match.

BBC Sport reported that the scoreline was the biggest away win in the competition's history. That is a record for a club playing on the road in the Champions League, Europe's top club tournament, where teams from different countries meet across a league phase before the knockout rounds.

The result came on matchday four, the fourth round of that league phase. A matchday is simply one round of fixtures, and each club plays on the same night as the others in its group of games. Como were not new to the competition's big nights. They had already started their campaign with a win on the opening night, alongside Bayern Munich and Manchester United.

Lens were on the wrong end of a result that rarely happens to anyone. Nine goals conceded in one game is a heavy night for any defence, and it will be a long flight home for their supporters.

For neutral fans, the story is simple. A small number of teams in a competition like this can go from a tight, cagey game to a runaway scoreline in what feels like minutes. Douvikas's hat-trick gave the night its headline name, but the scale of the margin is what people will be talking about on the way to work.