Como Laying Foundations For The Future After Clinching Serie A Survival

When their Serie A season began with a four-match winless streak, nobody would have dreamed that Como could win four consecutive games to achieve safety with four rounds remaining.

Nobody except for their coach, Cesc Fabregas.

“The pitch is where you have to speak,” Fabregás told us last year as Como embarked on their first Serie A campaign for 21 years.

But after defeating Monza, Torino, Lecce and Genoa throughout April – the club’s longest winning run in Serie A since 1952 – Como secured a second consecutive season in the Italian top flight, unthinkable for a newly promoted club.

Mathematical confirmation

The 1-0 victory over Genoa on Sunday catapulted Como into 11th place, 17 unassailable points above the drop zone with 12 points left to play for.

“I’m happy with everything today,” Fabregas told Tuttosport at full-time. “At the start of the season, we missed out on so many points because we were always missing that little bit. I knew that this was a journey, and those last-minute defeats were needed.”

Narrowly beaten 2-1 on three occasions by Serie A heavyweights Roma, Milan and Juventus, one of the campaign’s highlights was taking the scalp of Napoli in February. Moreover, there have been plenty of other milestone triumphs along the journey: Atalanta and Fiorentina away and Roma in the reverse fixture at home.

Como has indeed matured as the season progressed. Conceding 30 times in the opening 18 games, the Lariani once possessed one of the leakiest defences in the division. Over the following sixteen, they’re on par with the best in Serie A, conceding only 14 times in 2025 while racking up 24 of their overall league points tally of 42.

Four in a row

Genoa came to the Stadio Giuseppe Sinigaglia level with Como on 39 points, knowing a win for either side would secure mid-table safety. But Patrick Vieira’s men could only muster four shots throughout the 90 minutes compared to Como’s 14.

The decisive moment arrived in the 59th minute when Argentinian starlet Nico Paz broke away on the counter to feed a pass to Patrick Cutrone on the left wing. Gabriel Strefezza made a run into the middle, received from Cutrone, and fired over the onrushing goalkeeper from a tight angle.

“The substitutions made it an important match, like Cutrone and Strefezza who returned to the starting lineup after a while,” Fabregas said.

“These results are the result of work. We went nine matches without winning. We are a family. If we continue with this mentality, we will win many matches.”

For aspiring clubs, victory correlates to salvation. But the Biancoblù have only conceded twice in their past five matches and scored nine, making them the best side in Serie A based on recent form.

In just 15 appearances, Assane Diao overtook teammates to become the top scorer (eight goals and one assist) after arriving in January from La Liga. Talk about maximum impact.

Having begun the season together, Paz has produced the most goalscoring contributions – six goals, six assists – while last term’s promotion-achieving heroes Cutrone and Strefezza delivered 18 collectively.

Their ability to adapt quicker than others has been crucial to Como’s Serie A success, and standing up to the big boys is never easy, especially in the most tactical league in the world. Credit is also due to everpresent midfield general Lucas Da Cunha (three goals, two assists) and $2.3M January signing Jean Butez, who’s now completed 16 matches in goal.

Where to next?

Como’s ownership group is indeed planning for bigger things. But let’s not forget that their project is only six years old, having acquired the club when it was in Serie D, Italy’s fourth division, in 2019.

After Two Serie C and three Serie B seasons, very few expected the Voltiani to remain in the top flight. Still, an intelligent transfer strategy coupled with financial muscle has fast-tracked their ascent.

“We’ve made a team revolution in three markets,” Fabregas continued. “There have been mistakes, but also good work. I don’t want to talk about Europe. We have to understand how far we can go.”

It seems Como knows no limits, with reporters now questioning whether Fabregas and President Mirwan Suwarso can build a squad capable of challenging for UEFA competition qualification.

Pandemonium is stirring throughout the lakeside city, and the fan base is undoubtedly hopeful of a big summer transfer window. There are plans to redevelop the iconic Sinigaglia arena, with the club formally unveiling concept images in February. That could all be ready by 2028.

Just twelve months ago, the club was battling for the last automatic promotion place in Serie B. Two more rewarding transfer windows ensued, amounting to $112M (€98M), according to FootballTransfers, $80M and $96M more than fellow newly-promoted sides Parma ($32M) and Venezia ($16M), respectively.

“People talk about money, but it’s not everything,” Fabregas added. “Look at PSG in the Champions League and Arsenal in the Premier League. To win, you need work, and now we’re seeing the light after years of sacrifice.”