Como Crush Lens 9-1 in Record Champions League Rout

Nine goals, on the road, in a debut Champions League campaign. Como tore Lens apart 9–1 at Stade Bollaert-Delelis and did something no club in the competition's history had managed: they scored nine times in a Champions League away match.

The eight-goal margin equals the biggest winning gap of the modern Champions League era, alongside Liverpool's 8-0 against Beşiktaş in 2007 and Real Madrid's 8-0 against Malmö in 2015. Only Bayern Munich had previously reached nine in a single game in the modern format. For Lens, the cost is brutal: the heaviest home defeat ever recorded in the competition, and the worst result any French club has suffered in it.

"We were humiliated," admitted Yannick Cahuzac, the former assistant placed in charge after Dino Toppmöller's dismissal. The scoreline left no room to argue.

Douvikas strikes early as VAR denies Lens a lifeline

The rout began with a set piece after seven minutes. Luis Milla swung in a corner, Máximo Perrone nodded it towards goal and Douvikas tapped in from point-blank range.

Lens thought they had a route back on 17 minutes. Referee Rohit Saggi pointed to the spot for a suspected handball by Maxence Caqueret after Florian Thauvin's cross. An on-field video review showed the ball had struck Caqueret's chest, and the penalty was cancelled. It was the closest the hosts came to changing the direction of the first half.

Como made them pay. On 32 minutes Nicolás Paz sent a long diagonal ball towards Álex Valle, whose header came back off the post for Douvikas to turn home. Eight minutes before the break, the roles reversed: Douvikas supplied the pass, and Paz burst into the right side of the area to fire high into the roof of the net. Lens went in three goals down, and the contest was effectively over.

Como run riot after the restart

Any hope of a second-half response lasted two minutes. Paz slipped a through ball into the box and Lucas da Cunha swept it home first time. On 53 minutes Marc Kempf headed in another Milla delivery.

The hat-trick arrived four minutes later. Como broke quickly, Paz threaded another pass through the Lens defence and Douvikas finished the move. It took him to 11 goals in 14 appearances in all competitions this season. It also made him only the second player, alongside Alessandro Del Piero, to score in each of his club's first four fixtures of a debut Champions League campaign.

Mattia Liberali then raced clear down the wing from Jacobo Ramón Naveros's clearance and beat Robin Risser at his near post on 62 minutes. Lens produced a moment of quality three minutes later. Ruben Aguilar met Thauvin's corner with a clean first-time volley into the corner from the edge of the area, his third goal of the season in all competitions. His own verdict afterwards was blunt: "We got walked all over."

Martin Baturina stretched the gap to seven on 69 minutes. He exchanged passes with Liberali, slipped through one-on-one and rolled the ball past the goalkeeper.

The numbers explain the imbalance without fully capturing it. Como held 57% of the ball and put 12 of their 18 shots on target. Lens managed 11 attempts of their own but tested the goalkeeper only three times. Corners finished level at five apiece, yet only Como turned dead balls into goals, with Milla's deliveries producing two of them.

Papaccioli seals history on his debut

The record-breaking ninth came in stoppage time. Matteo Papaccioli is an 18-year-old academy product who came on as a second-half substitute for his senior professional debut. He ran onto Liberali's central through ball and slotted past Risser. The assistant referee raised his flag, but a VAR review showed the run was perfectly timed, and the goal stood.

With it, Papaccioli became Como's youngest-ever scorer in the Champions League, and the club entered the record books. Liberali, with two assists to go with his goal, had a hand in three of the nine.

Como climb to fourth as pressure engulfs Lens

The result lifts Como to fourth in the 36-team league phase on nine points, with three wins from four. That leaves them firmly in the automatic round-of-16 places. After three games they sat ninth on six points, and one night in Lens has carried them into the upper tier of the table.

The wider run is just as striking. This was a sixth straight win in all competitions, and Como have now scored in seven consecutive matches, 24 goals in that stretch. According to Sky Sport Italia and AS, they have done it while missing five injured first-team players, including Moise Kean and Trevoh Chalobah. Corriere dello Sport hailed an "enchanting Champions League night" and praised Cesc Fàbregas for the bravery of his tactical approach.

For Lens, the questions are far heavier. They sit 33rd with three points from four games. The squad was rebuilt after heavy summer sales and now carries a historic scar. Cahuzac must find a way to lift a group exposed on the biggest stage before the league phase slips away entirely.