Como vs Man United, at the Stadio Giuseppe Sinigaglia on Wednesday 21 October, is a club in its first ever European season against one of the most decorated names in the sport. A few years ago that sentence would have sounded like a joke. Cesc Fabregas's Como opened their Champions League campaign by thrashing RB Leipzig, while Michael Carrick's United arrive five games without a win and without the suspended Leny Yoro.
It's an early kick-off by the lake: 17:45 BST, 18:45 in Como and 12:45pm ET.
Como
Manchester UnitedComo's very short climb
Como were in Serie B only a few years ago. Their first night in Europe went about as well as it could have, a 4-1 win over Leipzig on 10 September. Martin Baturina scored the club's first Champions League goal after 15 minutes, and Tasos Douvikas, Assane Diao and Maximo Perrone added the rest.
Fabregas has his own history with this fixture. He spent most of his playing career trying to beat Manchester United, first with Arsenal and then with Chelsea, so he knows what it means in England. Now he gets to bring them to a small lakeside ground, where renovation work has cut the capacity, in a Champions League game.
Stadio Giuseppe Sinigaglia. Photo: Fra Casa, CC0 1.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
The clubs have never met in a competitive game, so there's no head-to-head to lean on.
Como are seventh in Serie A with 11 points from six games after a 0-0 draw with Roma. Before United, they go to Feyenoord, the Eredivisie leaders, on Wednesday, and then to Fiorentina at the weekend. Rotterdam should tell us whether the Leipzig result was a one-off.
Baturina, and the player United reportedly wanted
Baturina ran the Leipzig game. He scored, was named Player of the Match, and gave Como an edge in midfield that Leipzig never worked out. He has also been described as a Manchester United target, which adds a bit of spice to his evening against Carrick's midfield.
He has help. Nico Paz set up two goals against Leipzig, and between them the two give Fabregas the creativity his possession game depends on. Striker Moise Kean was listed as Como's only injury concern before the Feyenoord trip.
United's winless run
Carrick took over in January and steered United to third in the Premier League last season, which is how they got back into this competition. This season has been hard going. They're 13th with six points from six league games: one win, three draws and two defeats.
Europe started well, with a 4-0 win over Sabah at Old Trafford. Matheus Cunha, Bruno Fernandes, Benjamin Sesko and Lisandro Martinez scored. Then the wins stopped. A 1-1 draw with ten-man Tottenham was followed by Tuesday's 2-0 defeat at Atletico Madrid, where Pablo Barrios scored inside the first minute and Ademola Lookman added a second after Yoro was sent off. Martinez then went public with criticism of the club's lack of summer investment.
The number that should worry Carrick most from Madrid: four big chances, no goals. For a side with one league win in six, the finishing is becoming as much of a problem as the defending.
And the defence will be stretched. Yoro serves an automatic one-match ban for his straight red, shown after a VAR review for denying Jonathan David a clear goalscoring chance. Carrick has to reshuffle his back line against a team that likes to keep the ball and pull opponents out of shape. United visit Leeds on Sunday before flying to Italy.
ComoManchester UnitedMy Como vs Man United pick
Como have momentum, a tight, noisy home ground and a clear idea of how they want to play. United have far more experience at this level, but they're short of confidence and missing a first-choice centre-back, and an early start in an unfamiliar setting won't help. That the newcomers look slight favourites says plenty about how both clubs are going.
I'll take Como to win 2-1. Their midfield should control long spells, and United haven't been sharp enough lately to punish them when chances do come. I wouldn't be shocked by a United reaction after Madrid, though.
In Italy, the game is on Sky Sport unless Amazon Prime Video picks it as its one Wednesday game of the matchday. In the UK it's on TNT Sports and discovery+. You can also watch Como vs Man United free on DAMITV, no signup, through our Champions League live streams page. United fans can use the Manchester United live stream page, the two clubs' league games are on our Premier League streams and Serie A streams hubs, and Spanish speakers can follow along on Champions League en vivo.
For the full story of United's night in Madrid, read Sky Sports' report on Atletico Madrid 2-0 Man Utd. Later that evening Real Madrid host Leipzig, and our Real Madrid vs Leipzig preview covers that one.
