Sassuolo 2, Como 1. A result, and a self-assessment. "Today we weren't even at 10%," Fàbregas told DAZN after full time at the Mapei Stadium. "Bad for us, but congratulations to Sassuolo." It was a line delivered without alibi — the kind a manager offers when a performance is so far below standard that excuses would sound worse than the scoreline. And the scoreline was bad enough.
Sassuolo, Inverted
Sassuolo didn't just defend. They inverted their usual identity. Fabio Grosso's side are built on a deep block that pulls opponents out and then springs in transition; on Friday, the counter never came. They compressed the lines, packed the final third, and invited Como to find a solution that never arrived. Fàbregas gave credit where credit was due.
"This isn't the normal Sassuolo, who defend the whole game and then massacre you on the counterattack. There was an incredible density of players. We tried every way to get through but today wasn't our day. We didn't have the quality."
The numbers agree. Como held 70% of the ball, registered twelve shots to Sassuolo's eleven, and produced zero big chances — against two for the hosts. An xG of 0.59 against 1.38. That is not the shot map of a team that struggled to find space; it is the shot map of a team that found space and did nothing with it. Cross the ball, hope someone connects, reset.
A Two-Minute Window
The damage came in a ninety-second burst at the end of the first half. Cristian Volpato in the 42nd minute, set up by Nzola. Two minutes later, Nzola himself, with Armand Laurienté the creator — a player Fàbregas afterwards singled out as "difficult to control." Two goals in two minutes, in the half Como had otherwise controlled on the ball. Nico Paz pulled one back in first-half injury time — a header from a Smolcic delivery, and Como's only moment of clean craft in the entire match. He finished with a match rating of 8.4. No other Como player on the pitch topped 7.0.
The Interval Reset
Fàbregas responded with an unmistakable statement at the break: three substitutions at once. Vojvoda on for Smolcic. Perrone for Caqueret. Douvikas for Baturina — a second recognised striker joining Morata at the top of the shape. Making three changes at half-time is a rare admission that a first-half plan has failed structurally, not just individually.
The read on it is generous or damning depending on where you sit. Generous: a manager willing to gamble early when the evidence is already conclusive. Damning: a pivot to a blunter, more English idea of attack — service in, heads on it — against the one block in Italy specifically built to contest that kind of ball. The second-half shape produced no better solutions than the first. Morata played ninety minutes and finished with Como's lowest outfield rating. The attack settled into a rhythm of hopeful deliveries into the Sassuolo box, and a Sassuolo box that had been stocked precisely to deal with them.
Fàbregas was equally direct about the second goal. "The most disappointing thing. We're not this sort of team. We have to accept it and continue to prepare better if we want to get to certain levels."
The Math Gets Worse
The timing is what bites. At kick-off, Como sat two points off the Champions League places with a game in hand to play. By Sunday night, after Juventus had won theirs, the gap had become five points with five matches remaining — and Como now level on points with Roma, ahead only on goal difference. The margin for another night like this is gone.
Inter in the Coppa Italia semi-final tomorrow. Genoa away on Saturday. Napoli at the Sinigaglia the weekend after. If Como want to be the story of this Serie A run-in rather than a footnote to it, they will need to be closer to 100% than 10%.