Como Smashes Lens 9-1 to Set Champions League Record

Como 1907 won 9-1 at RC Lens on Wednesday night, becoming the first team in the modern Champions League era to win by eight goals, Sportnet reported. The Italian club’s third victory of the league phase came with a hat-trick from Anastasios Douvikas and broke the previous record for a visiting team’s biggest win, a 7-0 margin shared by three matches since 1992/93.

The rout at the Stade Bollaert-Delelis turned the match into a statistical outlier. Aktuality described Como’s performance as an unprecedented offensive display from the opening minutes, while Flashscore.sk noted that the nine goals made it only the second Champions League match in which a team scored nine, after Bayern Munich’s 9-2 win over Dinamo Zagreb.

Douvikas’s Hat-Trick Seals the Record

The Greek forward scored in the 7th, 32nd and 57th minutes, the last from a penalty, to complete his hat-trick. Nico Paz added a goal in the 40th minute after a fast break, and Lucas Da Cunha made it 4-0 seven minutes after halftime, Flashscore.sk reported. Marc-Oliver Kempf headed in a fifth from a corner in the 53rd minute, substitute Mattia Liberali scored in the 62nd, Martin Baturina in the 69th and Matteo Papacciolli in stoppage time after VAR confirmed the goal, Aktuality reported. Ruben Aguilar scored Lens’s only goal, a volley from a corner in the 64th minute.

Lens had a chance to get back into the game in the 15th minute when the referee initially awarded a penalty for a handball by Caqueret, but VAR overturned the decision, Aktuality reported. The French side’s captain, Sacha Thauvin, had earlier fired a weak shot at Como goalkeeper Jean Butez in the second minute.

What the 9-1 Margin Means in Champions League History

Flashscore.sk listed the three previous biggest away wins in the competition’s current format, all 7-0: Žilina over Marseille on November 3, 2010, BATE Borisov over Shakhtar on October 21, 2014, and Maribor over Liverpool on October 17, 2017. Como’s eight-goal margin surpasses all of them. The only other nine-goal Champions League match was Bayern’s 9-2 over Dinamo Zagreb. If the pre-1992 European Cup is included, Feyenoord scored nine away goals against Olympiakos Nicosia in 1971, Flashscore.sk noted.

Como’s Debut European Season Keeps Rolling

Pravda reported that Como is enjoying its debut season in the Champions League and in European competition overall, playing in excellent form. The win over the French runners-up was the club’s third victory in the league phase, and it arrived after a first half in which Douvikas had already scored twice and set up Paz’s goal to make it effectively decided by the 40th minute, Pravda reported.

The Rest of the Night in Europe

Elsewhere in the fourth round of the league phase, Real Madrid beat AEK Athens 4-0 despite going behind twice, with Kylian Mbappé scoring his 74th Champions League goal, Flashscore.sk reported. Manchester City won 3-2 at RB Leipzig with Erling Haaland scoring the winner, while Napoli lost 4-1 at Porto without the injured Slovak midfielder Stanislav Lobotka, Pravda reported. Slavia Prague lost 1-2 to Arsenal despite winning the shot count 18-12, extending a winless run that Flashscore.sk put at 23 matches. Liverpool drew with Fenerbahçe, Borussia Dortmund beat Betis Sevilla 2-1, PSV Eindhoven lost 1-2 to Club Brugge, and Viking beat Sabah 4-1.

Douvikas and Teammates Score in Record-Breaking Wins

Three matches were tied at 7-0: Žilina-Marseille (November 3, 2010), BATE Borisov-Shakhtar (October 21, 2014) and Maribor-Liverpool (October 17, 2017), according to Flashscore.sk. Como’s 9-1 win broke that mark by an eight-goal margin.

Yes. Bayern Munich beat Dinamo Zagreb 9-2, which Flashscore.sk identified as the only other nine-goal match in the competition’s history.

Anastasios Douvikas scored a hat-trick for Como against Lens. Anastasios Douvikas scored a hat-trick, while Nico Paz, Lucas Da Cunha, Marc-Oliver Kempf, Mattia Liberali, Martin Baturina and Matteo Papacciolli each added a goal, according to Aktuality.

The league phase continues with Como carrying three wins into the next round of fixtures, while Slavia Prague’s 23-match winless streak in the competition stretches on after its 1-2 loss to Arsenal, Flashscore.sk reported.