On nights like this, history doesn’t creep in quietly. It arrives with a roar.
At the Stadio Giuseppe Sinigaglia, Como 1907 stepped into the UEFA Champions League for the first time and tore up the script, dismantling RB Leipzig 4-1 in a statement debut that felt far bigger than three points.
Baturina writes Como’s first European line
Fifteen minutes. That’s all it took for Como to leave a permanent mark on the competition.
Martin Baturina, the man Cesc Fabregas has trusted to knit this team together, struck the club’s first-ever European goal with the calm of someone who has been here a hundred times before. One touch, one finish, and suddenly Como were not just participants in the Champions League — they were protagonists.
From there, Baturina didn’t just influence the game. He owned it.
Drifting into pockets of space, dictating tempo, turning under pressure and always choosing the right pass, the Croatian international produced the kind of performance that explains why he so often draws comparisons with Luka Modric. UEFA’s Technical Observer Group saw what everyone inside the stadium saw: they named him Player of the Match after he dominated the midfield battle from first whistle to last.
A ruthless first impression
The opener settled Como. It rattled Leipzig.
The German side struggled to cope with Fabregas’s aggressive, front-foot approach, and the pressure told again before the break. Baturina, now fully in command, slipped in Tasos Douvikas, who finished clinically to double the lead and send the home crowd into disbelief-tinged celebration. Como weren’t hanging on in their first Champions League game. They were pulling Leipzig apart.
After half-time, the pattern didn’t change. Como stayed brave, stayed compact without the ball, and attacked with conviction when they won it back. Assane Diao made it 3-0, a goal that felt like confirmation: this wasn’t a freak opening burst, it was a complete performance.
Leipzig finally found a response through Eredin Maksimovic, a consolation that briefly threatened to tilt the momentum. It didn’t last. Como absorbed the reaction, steadied themselves, and went again.
As the clock ticked into the 90th minute, Nico Paz picked his moment and his pass. Maximo Perrone arrived to finish and complete the rout, a fourth goal that underlined the gulf on the night and sent the Sinigaglia into full celebration.
Calm voice at the centre of the storm
For all the noise around him, Baturina refused to be swept away by the occasion.
Speaking to UEFA afterwards, he downplayed his role and the magnitude of the night, insisting that Como had treated their Champions League bow like any other game. The message was clear: intensity, preparation, composure. No awe, no stage fright.
He echoed that sentiment when speaking to CBS Sports Golazo, acknowledging the emotional weight of scoring Como’s first goal in the competition but refusing to drift into grand predictions. The target is simple and cold: navigate the group, one game at a time.
In a tournament defined by variety — different systems, different cultures, different speeds of play — Baturina stressed the need for adaptability. Como, new to this level, will have to adjust on the fly if they want to stay in the conversation beyond the group stage.
Yet there was no hiding his pride.
He spoke of the “beautiful feeling” of the night, of how proud he was of himself and the team, and of the unpredictability that makes the Champions League so ruthless and so addictive. You never know what’s coming next. That uncertainty is the challenge Como now embrace.
From European roar back to Serie A grind
The city will remember this night. Como’s first Champions League match, their first Champions League win, their first Champions League goals — all packed into 90 minutes that felt like a decade of dreams arriving at once.
But Fabregas’s team cannot live in it.
The schedule offers no pause for nostalgia. Como return to Serie A on Monday, back at the Stadio Giuseppe Sinigaglia, this time hosting Parma. The task is different, the stakes more familiar, yet the demand is the same: carry this momentum into the domestic grind.
Baturina, still only 23, knows it. He spoke of pride, of happiness, of a city celebrating, but his focus already stretched beyond the final whistle. One historic night is secured.
Now the question is whether Como can turn a stunning debut into a season that changes the club’s place in European football for good.
