Serie A | Verona 0-1 Como: Fabregas secures European qualification

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Skip to contentPISA, ITALY – JANUARY 6: Anastasios Douvikas of Como 1907 celebrates after scoring a goal during the Serie A match between Pisa SC and Como 1907 at Arena Garibaldi on January 6, 2026 in Pisa, Italy. (Photo by Gabriele Maltinti/Getty Images)

Como have mathematically guaranteed a spot in Europe for 2026-27 after their 1-0 victory away against Hellas Verona in Serie A on Sunday afternoon thanks to a loan goal from centre-forward Tasos Douvikas.

Both coaches made one change each to their starting XIs ahead of Sunday’s early kick-off: Paolo Sammarco decided to reintroduce Nicolas Valentini after suspension in place of Domagoj Bradaric, while Cesc Fabregas brought Jesus Rodriguez in to replace Martin Baturina on Como’s left wing.

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Click here to read more about how today’s teams lined up.

It was the hosts who threatened first early doors. Kieron Bowie did excellently to hold the ball up and play a low ball into the six yard box off the left flank, but Jean Butez pulled out a top-class reaction save to deny Tomas Suslov’s shot from the edge of the six-yard box.

Verona managed to hit the crossbar in the second phase of the resulting corner, but it wouldn’t have counted anyway as the offside flag was raised shortly afterwards.

Verona sent another warning shot when Rafik Belghali made it to the right byline 20 minutes in, but Bowie wasn’t quite able to get his shot away properly after receiving the cut-back. Martin Frese should have done better when running in on Butez’s goal unopposed less than a minute later.

Como got their first attempt on target midway through the first half: Rodriguez trying his luck from distance, but it was straight at Lorenzo Montipo in the Verona net.

Fabregas’s side would eventually break the deadlock midway through the second half. Marc-Oliver Kempf pumped a hopeful long ball down the left, Andrias Edmundsson made a mess of his attempted headed clearance and Douvikas was on hand to punish him with an excellently taken touch and finish that he slammed into the bottom corner of the net.

Verona thought they had equalised through Bowie in the following attack. The Scot had the ball in the back of the net in a congested penalty area, but Nicolas Valentini, who got the penultimate touch, was in an offside position. Despite being fairly clear on the replays, it still required a VAR check that lasted several minutes to confirm the on-pitch decision.

Today’s result lifts Como into fifth place, where they sit two points behind Milan and one point above Roma ahead of their matches later on Sunday. Como can no longer finish any lower than sixth place in Serie A in 2025-26, which means that they are guaranteed a spot in the Conference League at a minimum.

Verona 0-1 Como

Douvikas (C) 71’

10-05-2026 11:30

MatchDay 36

Stadio Marcantonio BentegodiVERCOM0 – 1

Player statistic

Match statistic

36

Possession %

64

11

Total shots

11

3

Shots on target

4

5

Shots off target

4

3

Blocked shots

3

7

Corners

7

3

Offsides

2

17

Fouls

14

VER

COM

Starting lineups

1

Lorenzo Montipò
Goalkeeper

5

Andrias Edmundsson
Defender

3

Martin Frese
Defender

6

Nicolás Valentini
Defender

7

Rafik Belghali
Defender

82′

15

Victor Nelsson
Defender

24

Antoine Bernede
Midfielder

63′

11

Jean-Daniel Akpa Akpro
Midfielder

81′

63

Roberto Gagliardini
Midfielder

18

Kieron Bowie
Attacker

10

Tomas Suslov
Attacker

1

Jean Butez
Goalkeeper

3

Álex Valle
Defender

36′

34

Diego Carlos
Defender

2

Marc-Oliver Kempf
Defender

31

Mërgim Vojvoda
Defender

46′

23

Máximo Perrone
Midfielder

46′

10

Nico Paz
Midfielder

11

Anastasios Douvikas
Attacker

38

Assane Diao
Attacker

81′

17

Jesús Rodriguez
Attacker

46′

33

Lucas Da Cunha
Attacker

Substitutes

21

Abdou Harroui
Midfielder

34

Simone Perilli
Goalkeeper

12

Domagoj Bradaric
Defender

14

Pol Lirola
Defender

94

Giacomo Toniolo
Goalkeeper

72

Junior Ajayi
Attacker

9

Amin Sarr
Attacker

73

Moatasem Al-Musrati
Midfielder

19

Tobias Slotsager
Defender

70

Fallou Cham
Defender

71

Davide De Battisti
Defender

4

Sandi Lovric
Midfielder

63′

41

Isaac
Attacker

81′

90

Ioan Vermesan
Attacker

82′

5

Edoardo Goldaniga
Defender

7

Álvaro Morata
Attacker

22

Mauro Vigorito
Goalkeeper

8

Sergi Roberto
Midfielder

44

Nikola Cavlina
Goalkeeper

19

Nicolas Kühn
Attacker

21

Noel Törnqvist
Goalkeeper

15

Adrian Lahdo
Midfielder

18

Alberto Moreno
Defender

36′

6

Maxence Caqueret
Midfielder

46′

20

Martin Baturina
Midfielder

46′

28

Ivan Smolcic
Defender

46′

77

Ignace Van Der Brempt
Defender

81′

ByPeter Young

Peter Young is a Senior Reporter with Football Italia.

Original Article