How Como climbed from Serie D to the Champions League

Key takeaways

• The BBC reports that Como have gone from Serie D to the Champions League and have now taught Manchester United a lesson in Europe.
• Como's rise covers every level of the Italian pyramid, so each promotion was earned on the pitch rather than granted by invitation.
• Cesc Fabregas, Como's head coach, is central to a project in which the club's football identity was set before its spending.
• Nico Paz moved to Como from Real Madrid in a completed transfer that is widely reported to include a buy-back option, a mechanism that lets a selling club keep a route back to a player.
• UEFA's squad-cost rules make it harder for any newly rich club to spend its way into Europe, so the way a club is structured matters as much as its owners' wealth.

What is happening with Como?

Como, a club from a lakeside city in Lombardy, are in the Champions League. The BBC describes the club as a Serie A success story that has climbed from Serie D, the semi-professional fourth tier of Italian football, to Europe's leading club competition. The same report says Como have taught Manchester United a lesson in Europe.

The available material doesn't say exactly what that lesson involves. It could refer to a direct meeting or to a comparison between the two clubs' approaches, and this article doesn't assume either. The structural story is clear enough on its own. A club that was recently outside professional football now sits in the same competition as Europe's richest institutions, and it got there through a recognisable model of ownership, coaching and recruitment.

Two names appear in the BBC headline: Paz and Fabregas. Fabregas is the head coach. Paz is a player who arrived from Real Madrid. Both are useful examples of how the Como project works, and that is how this article uses them. It does not judge either person's performance.

Why is Como's story in the news now?

The Champions League gives a club its widest audience. Domestic progress gets noticed mainly in Italy, but European nights are watched across the continent. When a club with Como's recent history reaches that stage, journalists naturally ask how it happened.

The comparison with Manchester United sharpens the question. United have been one of the biggest commercial names in world football for decades, with a global supporter base and revenues to match. Setting them beside a club that was rebuilt from the lower divisions invites a simple question. Does a clear sporting structure count for more than size and spending power? The BBC framing suggests that, on this occasion at least, the smaller club offered the more instructive example.

How does a club climb from Serie D to the Champions League?

Italian football is a pyramid. Serie D is a large, regionally divided fourth tier. Above it are Serie C, Serie B and Serie A. Clubs move up through promotion, which is decided by league position and in some cases by play-offs. To reach the top, a club has to win promotion out of each division in turn. No division can be skipped through investment alone.

Getting into Serie A is only the start. Places in the Champions League are handed out to each domestic league according to UEFA's coefficient system, which rewards a country's clubs for their collective results in Europe. Serie A clubs qualify through the top places in the final league table, so a newly promoted club has to finish ahead of established sides that have bigger budgets and deeper squads.

The Champions League now begins with a single league phase. Each club plays eight matches against eight different opponents, and every club is placed in one overall table. The top clubs go straight to the knockout rounds. The next group goes into a play-off round, and the rest are eliminated. Clubs are drawn from seeding pots, so a debutant such as Como can face several heavyweight clubs before Christmas.

Ownership is the other piece of background. Como are owned by wealthy Indonesian investors. That gave the club a level of financial security uncommon for a side climbing out of the lower leagues. Even so, money only became an advantage once the club had a sporting plan to spend it on.

Who is affected by Como's rise, and how?

The most obvious effect is on Serie A's established clubs. Every Champions League place Como take is one that a traditional power does not get. Those places bring prize money, broadcast income and a stronger case when trying to sign players. A newcomer in the top places therefore puts direct financial pressure on the clubs it pushes down.

Players are affected too. A club that can offer Champions League football becomes attractive to young players who want regular minutes on a big stage. The Paz move shows the mechanism. A selling club with a buy-back option can let a young player develop elsewhere while keeping a way to bring him back. The buying club gets a talented player it might not otherwise attract. The player gets a clearer path to first-team football.

Coaches are part of the picture as well. With Fabregas, Como made a former elite player the face of the project. Fabregas has also been reported as a shareholder. That makes the coach's role more permanent than it usually is in a game where head coaches change often.

For Manchester United and clubs like them, the effect is mostly reputational and analytical. A comparison that runs in a smaller club's favour adds to existing questions about how the biggest clubs organise recruitment, coaching and decision-making.

Where do informed observers disagree about the Como model?

The first disagreement is about money. One view holds that Como show the value of a coherent football philosophy. Another notes that unusually wealthy owners made the climb possible, and that most clubs in Serie D have no comparable backing. In that reading, Como are less a template than an exception.

The second disagreement is about sustainability. Clubs that rise quickly often depend on a few decisions going right: one coach, one recruitment strategy, and one ownership group staying committed. Supporters of the model argue that a clear structure guards against that fragility. Sceptics reply that structures are only tested when results turn or key people leave.

The third is about the buy-back mechanism itself. Some see it as an efficient way to move young players to clubs where they will play. Others argue that it lets the biggest clubs keep control of talent while smaller clubs carry the development cost, which could limit how far a club like Como can grow.

How much the Manchester United comparison really tells us is also open to debate. Two clubs with very different histories, revenues and pressures may not be fairly measured against each other on the strength of one European story.

What are the practical implications for clubs and competitions?

For clubs looking at Como, the practical lesson is about order. Como appear to have set a sporting identity first and built recruitment and coaching around it, rather than spending first and looking for coherence later. That costs comparatively little to copy, even for clubs without rich owners.

The financial rules support this approach. UEFA's squad-cost controls limit how much of a club's revenue can go on wages, transfers and agents' fees. A newly rich club therefore can't simply outspend everyone in the market. It has to grow revenue, partly through European participation, before it can grow its squad. A club that is already well organised when it reaches the Champions League can make better use of the income that follows.

For the competition, Como's presence shows that the league-phase format still has room for new names, although qualification depends heavily on domestic league strength and the coefficient system. Clubs from the strongest leagues have more routes in. A rise like Como's is possible largely because Serie A is one of those leagues.

What should readers watch next?

The first thing to watch is whether Como can repeat qualification. One season in the Champions League brings income and attention, and a club that returns regularly starts to build a lasting European identity. How Como balance domestic league commitments against European fixtures will shape that.

The second is the club's squad structure. Players who arrive on deals with buy-back options may not stay long-term, so watch how Como handle the possibility that their selling clubs use those options. That is a known risk built into the mechanism.

The third is the wider debate in England. If the comparison with Manchester United catches on, it will feed into ongoing discussion of how large clubs organise themselves. That discussion is about structures and decision-making more than any single match.

Frequently asked questions

How did Como get from Serie D to the Champions League?

Como won promotion through each level of Italy's pyramid: from Serie D to Serie C, then Serie B, and finally Serie A. Once in the top division, they finished high enough in the league table to take one of the places Serie A receives in the Champions League. The BBC describes this climb as a Serie A success story, built on stable ownership and a coach-led sporting project.

Who owns Como football club?

Como are owned by wealthy Indonesian investors. That gave the club financial stability while it climbed out of the lower divisions. Their backing allowed long-term planning, but money alone could not guarantee promotion, because every step in the Italian pyramid has to be earned through league results. UEFA's squad-cost rules also limit how much any club can spend relative to its revenue.

What is Cesc Fabregas's role at Como?

Cesc Fabregas, the former Barcelona, Arsenal and Chelsea midfielder, is Como's head coach. He has also been reported as a shareholder, which ties him more closely to the club's long-term project than a typical coaching appointment would. The BBC headline names him alongside Nico Paz as part of the explanation for Como's success in reaching the Champions League.

What is a buy-back clause in football?

A buy-back clause gives a selling club the right to re-sign a player later, usually under terms agreed when the original transfer was made. It lets big clubs move young players to teams where they will play regularly without giving up control of them for good. Nico Paz's completed move from Real Madrid to Como is widely reported to include such an option.

How does the new Champions League format work?

The Champions League starts with a single league phase in which every club plays eight matches against eight different opponents. All clubs are ranked in one table. The highest-placed clubs go straight to the knockout rounds, a middle group enters a play-off round, and the lowest-placed clubs are eliminated. Opponents are drawn from seeded pots based on club coefficients.

Why is Como being compared with Manchester United?

The BBC reports that Como have taught Manchester United a lesson in Europe. The comparison contrasts a club rebuilt from Italy's fourth tier around a clear sporting plan with one of football's biggest commercial institutions. The available material does not set out the details behind that framing. The general point is about structure, recruitment and coaching rather than spending power.

Sources and further reading

• BBC Sport: original report on Como's rise from Serie D to the Champions League and the comparison with Manchester United.
• UEFA: official regulations on the Champions League format, club coefficients and squad-cost rules.
• Lega Serie A: official information on the Italian top flight and how European places are allocated.
• FIGC, the Italian Football Federation: structure of the Italian league pyramid and promotion between divisions.