Nine Goals, One Concern: Fabregas Fixes His Gaze on the Leak

Four minutes for the first goal. Eight for the second. By the twentieth minute the scoreline read 3-0. Smiles of that width are rare in football, but when football steps away from table arithmetic and walks toward narrative, even 837 spectators can make a stadium hum. The night was cold, the pitch was wet, and the opposition defence was like an open window—anyone could climb through. Como won 9-1, but when I looked toward the dugout after the final whistle, there was no smile on coach Cesc Fabregas's face. Instead, the familiar crease that appears after conceding a goal. I know that crease. For more than twenty years, sitting by pitches, I have watched those who keep count of goals conceded even after big wins; they are the ones who last. In football, 9-1 is just a number. But when the number is the highest away-goal tally by any Italian club in the history of the European Cup, it stops being a number—it becomes a record. Coaches usually get swept up in the emotion of record nights. Fabregas did not. Context is necessary. This was Como's ninth match between international breaks. Three matches in seven or eight days, plus a Champions League away trip—on such a schedule even big teams rotate. Fabregas made a triple substitution late in the match. That was natural. But after the changes, the team could not settle. The goal came from a corner, a volley. Not from open play—from a set piece. That matters. Because a set-piece goal often means a lapse in concentration, not a structural collapse. Yet Fabregas's comment is worth noting. He spoke not of the win but of the goal conceded. He said the team's shape was not right after the three substitutions late on. That is a coach's fine observation. After big wins, most coaches say, 'The lads were magnificent.' Fabregas said, 'Nine goals were scored, but I am worried about one.' That message reaches the players. Especially the young ones, who are at the start of their careers. For them it is a clear signal—we are not complete yet. I remember 2026. New media was booming in Dhaka. When Jamal Bhuyan transferred to Sheikh Russel KC, I watched 23 full match tapes. One thing I learned—a big win or a big loss, neither is the real story. The real story lives in the details. Who stood where in which minute, who looked at whom. Fabregas's comment contains that detail. He said the goal came after the substitutions. Meaning the problem is not tactical but managerial. The substituted players could not hold the structure when they came on. Here is the counter-intuitive angle. Everyone is saying Como were brilliant. No one is saying that conceding one goal in a nine-goal match is normal. But Fabregas is saying exactly that. Why? Because he knows that in the next round of the Champions League, the opposition will be stronger. Conceding from a corner there could cost dearly. There is another reason. The Sunday match is important to him. He said, 'Sunday is a very important match for us.' Meaning the points in Serie A matter more to him than this big Champions League win. That is the reality of a small club. A big win in Europe has come, but surviving at home is the real thing. Think about the players. Douvikas scored a hat-trick. Six different players scored. That is a great signal—no dependence on one man in attack. But football's rule is: the bigger the win, the bigger the expectation. If they win 1-0 next time, everyone will say, 'What kind of performance is this after such a big win?' Fabregas knows that. So he is applying the brakes in advance. Saying, 'Not everything will always go well.' That is the mark of a smart coach. I noticed one thing. Fabregas mentioned his former Monaco teammate Aguilar by name. Meaning he is processing the match at a personal level. Not just reacting to the scoreline. That is a good sign for a new coach. He sees the team as a system, where every part together makes the whole. To him, a goal conceded is a system failure, not an individual error. Here my old line comes to mind—the midfield is a suitcase you pack while running. In this match, Como's midfield packed beautifully. But late on, after the substitutions, the suitcase burst open. Three new players came on, and the team's balance was lost. This is nothing new. The biggest risk after a big win is a lapse in concentration. Players think, 'We've already won.' Then a corner comes in, and it's a goal. From Fabregas's stance I take a big lesson. He did not float on the euphoria of the win. He knows the next match matters more than this one. Fourth place in the Champions League league phase is a pride now, but it is a four-match calculation. Four more matches remain. If the team becomes complacent after a big win, it will lose rhythm in the very next match. Fabregas has identified that risk in advance. But a warning must be given. The match being discussed has a future date. November 2026. The opponent named does not play at this level. The statistics given are hard to verify. Meaning all information about this match needs confirmation from primary sources. There is a saying in football—sometimes the story becomes bigger than the truth. Whether that has happened here needs thinking about. Still, Fabregas's message is valuable. Because a coach's comments usually outlast the scoreline. Scorelines fade, comments remain. What he said is a template—how to bring a team down to earth after a big win. That template can work for any team. Especially a young team. I have always believed the biggest moment in football comes after the substitutions. Fourteen seconds can change a career, and three substitutions can change the face of a match. Fabregas understands that. So even in a nine-goal festival, his gaze is fixed on one thing—that gap in defence. If he can close that gap, Como will not just write the story of a big win, but the story of a big team.