5 Things we learned from Como’s historic win over Man United

1. The best night in Como’s history as they demolish a horrific United side in the Champions League. This game was big for both sides with equal records so far in the league phase with a win and a loss respectively but it was Como who come out on top with a thrashing of United at the Sinigaglia, Fabregas’ side got off to the perfect start just two minutes in as Da Cunha played the ball to Nico Paz on the edge of the box who curled in an absolute beauty to put the home side 1-0 up. From there Como were the far more dominant team and should have gone two or three goals up before half-time but were let down by poor finishing in the final third, United were abhorrent in the first half but surely had to improve in the second half to get back into the game? Or not as just three minutes into the second half Nico Paz slipped in Douvikas in the box who smashed Como 2-0 up and sink United even further in the game, the Italian side soon added a third in the 57th minute as Paz caught Baleba on the ball in his own half before driving towards the United box and finishing low past Lammens to kill the game and make it 3-0. They weren’t finished though and soon went 4-0 up in the 76th minute as Kaiky crossed the ball to an unmarked Jacabo Ramon in the box to score his first ever Champions League goal, United notched a consolation through Joshua Zirkzee but it meant very little as their winless run under Michael Carrick continues. Any chance of that ending any time soon?

2. What a night for Como and Cesc Fabregas. As you guys already know I’m a big Serie A fan so I knew what we were in for today heading to one of the best teams in Italy but even I didn’t see this one coming, from the very start Como asserted their dominance and looked levels above this United team which in fairness wouldn’t be that hard at the moment. Nico Paz scores a beauty for the opener and from there it was smooth sailing for the Italian side who looked like they could score at will tonight if they wanted to, you know what you’re getting with this Como side by now which is high possession, high octane football and United weren’t prepared for it tonight. What makes it all the more remarkable was that Como were missing starters like Assane Diao, Moise Kean and Trevor Chalobah yet still wiped the floor with this United side so props to Fabregas and his team for making it look like they were full strength tonight. Nico Paz was obviously the star of the show and I’ll talk about him in a bit more detail later on but if he hasn’t already announced himself on the world stage then he did today with a magical performance, people have been saying for years that the Serie A can’t compete with the Premier League and blah blah blah but tonight showed that the Italian teams can more than compete with the English teams in Europe this year. Just wait until you see what Roma do to this United team in a couple of weeks, I’ll be watching that from with a grimace on my face.

3. I’ve got nothing left to say on this United team. I’d be locked up if I could say what I really think about this United team but we’ve actually got to an even lower point than we were under Amorim which is something I thought we’d never see, I despised the way Amorim coached this team and banished certain players but I can’t turn a blind eye now and pretend like these current performances under Carrick aren’t worse than they were this time last year. The fitness levels of this side are so low I wouldn’t be surprised if they got outrun by the United Legends team in their last game which is filled with people in their 40s and 50s, watching Tielemans, Santos, Cunha, Fernandes etc try and run after Como’s players tonight was embarrassing and it’s been happening all season. Maybe I turned a blind eye to some of the performances last season that were swayed by Casemiro headers and Sesko super-sub goals but I just didn’t think it would turn this sour so quickly, watching Carrick just sit there lifeless on the bench is infuriating as these players need a rocket up their ass and they’re obviously not getting it at the minute. Carrick’s obviously not the right man for the job but I’m not enamoured by any of the replacements being touted, Howe, Nagelsmann and Conte are the three leading managers but what’s the point, under this ownership who have failed miserably for nearly three years now you’re destined to fail. That’s just the sad reality, will that stop me getting excited if the new manager comes in and starts getting results? Absolutely not.

4. Argentina have their Messi replacement locked and loaded. Over the summer when I was doing my World Cup group predictions I had Nico Paz as my player to watch for Argentina as he was just coming off an unbelievable season at Como last year, I was slightly embarrassed that Scaloni then proceeded to give him 71 minutes in the entire tournament all the way until the final. He was massively underused in the World Cup but now that Messi has retired for Argentina I think Paz will be the main man for that team, tonight was just an exhibition from start to finish and even as a United fan I couldn’t help but enjoy his performance today. There’s been murmurings around Italy that he hasn’t started the season strongly but four goals and five assists in ten games doesn’t sound too bad to me if he isn’t playing at his best, he’s undoubtedly the jewel in the crown of this Como team but I do wonder how long he will stay in Italy for. Como bought him permanently this summer but Real Madrid maintain a buy-back clause which I can see getting triggered at some point in the next two years, where he fits in at Madrid I’m not sure but football moves fast so a gap could open up somewhere in that team. Until then we’ll enjoy him in Italy and in the Champions League this season, can he star in a memorable season for Como in Europe? I don’t see why not.

5. What’s up next for these two sides? For Como they are back in action in the Serie A this weekend at home to Sassuolo on Saturday as they look to close the gap to Roma and Inter at the top of the table, for United they are unfortunately back in action on Sunday at home to Bournemouth which is a ‘must-win’ for Carrick if he is still in a job come the weekend. I’ll be back with Bayern Munich vs Arsenal probably tomorrow so stay tuned for that one, have a nice evening.