Como step into the UEFA Champions League for the first time on 10 September 2026, with RB Leipzig standing in the way on a night that gives the club its first European campaign of any kind. It is a debut with a hard edge: the team that has never played in Europe before is opening against an opponent that has already found the competition unforgiving.
That is why Martin Baturina is being searched now, even if the larger frame is bigger than one player. Como are entering the competition as first-time participants, while RB Leipzig arrive carrying a poor recent away record in the tournament and a history of struggles against Italian sides. Their only two previous matches against Italian teams ended in defeat, 3-2 against Juventus and 1-0 against Internazionale in the 2024-25 group stage.
The numbers behind Leipzig make the task look even sharper. They lost seven of their eight group phase games in the 2024-25 UEFA Champions League, have conceded in each of their last 18 matches in the competition and have lost five of their last six away games. Their last away win came in November 2023 against Crvena Zvezda. Across 54 UEFA Champions League matches, Leipzig's games have produced 185 goals, an average of 3.4 per match.
Como's own place in the competition is historic. They will become the 16th different Italian team to appear in the European Cup or UEFA Champions League, but the club is doing so without any previous European campaign to lean on. That makes the experience inside the dugout all the more striking. Cesc Fàbregas has 104 UEFA Champions League appearances as a player, with 55 for Arsenal, 26 for Barcelona and 23 for Chelsea. He was also the third youngest player to start a Champions League final, doing so for Arsenal against Barcelona in 2006 at 19 years and 13 days.
That contrast is the story inside the story: a first-time European side guided by a man who spent more than a decade inside the competition. Como do not have the comfort of history, but Fàbregas does, and that is the kind of edge that can steady a debut or expose how much remains to be learned once the match begins. The next answer comes on the pitch, where Como's first European night will test whether experience on the bench can matter more than in the stands.
