While Inter Milan prepare to defend their 2025/25 Serie A title, their fans will be casting an eye over the progress and summer activity of Napoli, AC Milan and Juventus… the biggest threats to I Nerazzurri’s Scudetto hopes.
But what of last season’s insurgents Como, who gate-crashed the top table with devastating effect; can they be serious challengers? A fourth-placed finish last season meant Cesc Fabregas’s team edged out AC Milan and Juventus for a Champions League place, while Euro regulars Atalanta were a place further back in seventh. So why not?
Well, the latest SBOTOP Serie A 2026 betting odds make Como sixth favourites, alongside Atalanta and behind the big four and AS Roma, but Fabregas and his team won’t worry about that. They will be plotting how they can thrive in European football while still progressing on the home front.
Only promoted to the top flight in 2024, after a mid-table finish in their first season Como were simply sensational in their second, pipping Juventus and Milan on the final day. While Fabregas men beat Cremonese 4-1 away, Milan lost at home to Cagliari and Juventus could only draw with their city rival Torino, and that meant Como can look down on their illustrious rivals as they join Inter, Napoli and Roma among Europe’s elite.
The Fabregas effect
In the aftermath of Como’s historic final day win Fabregas said: “This is all up to you. You are the reason that this is so beautiful. I will thank you for all my life because this will be the best group I’ve ever coached. I have no doubt that you will be remembered forever. Have a good holiday and enjoy a big party.”
A gifted man-manager, Fabregas wrote himself into Como folklore when he led his team to their first ever victory over Juventus in competitive matches, winning an October 2025 clash 2-0 at their Stadio Giuseppe Sinigaglia home. A superb creative midfielder with a glittering career, Fabregas has drawn on his experience from his playing days at Arsenal and Barcelona, and his team plays a style of football his former manager Arsene Wenger would be proud of. They defend with fluidity within a structure and once they turn over possession, they use quick and penetrative passing with players making runs in behind to carve open position defences.
Como is not a team which obsesses about possession statistics, there is often a rapid transition from defence to attack, and the team plays with boundless energy.
Key players
The star quality in Fabregas’ team, and plentiful Serie A 2026 highlights, come from Argentine attacking midfielder Nico Paz. Just 21 years of age and with 18 goals in 70 games for Como, Paz is one of the games hottest properties. He took his tally of international caps to 11 at the 2026 World Cup where Argentina were beaten in the final by Spain, and his close ball control and passing skills were seen by a global audience. In an emotional message after the final defeat Paz, who is ready to take up the Number 10 position immortalised by the great Lionel Messi, vowed to bring the World Cup back to Argentina and it is that kind of determination that Fabregas loves in his young player.
Club captain Lucas Da Cunha has been at Como since 2023 and has scored 18 goals from 121 games from central midfield. The France U19s star is still only 25 years of age, and he exudes authority in the centre of midfield, dictating the pace of play and using the ball brilliantly to launch attacks through Paz and the other more offensive team-mates. And behind Da Cunha, 21 year-old centre back Jacobo Ramon looks a real prospect. At 6ft 5in the Real Madrid academy product looks to have a successful career ahead of him in domestic football and with La Roja, where a full international call-up cannot be far away. Not only is Ramon strong in the air he has electric speed for a big defender which makes recoveries possible when Como faces a fast break.
Thirty-three year-old former Chelsea striker Alvaro Morata has had his loan converted to a permanent transfer. With 37 goals in 87 games for Spain, he is one of the best European forwards of the past decade. He may have lost a little of his pace, but Morata will be an important figure in the dressing room, on the training ground and he will still have influence on the pitch. With two successful spells at Juventus and a stint at AC Milan Morata knows the higher echelons of Serie A well and he will be a fine mentor for Greek striker Anastasios Douvikas, who has scored 15 goals since his arrival in 2025.
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