Como Smash Nine Past Lens as Liverpool Stumble in Champions League Thriller

Como turned Wednesday’s Champions League results into a piece of football history, winning 9–1 at Lens to equal the competition’s biggest winning margin and establish its largest away victory. Tasos Douvikas scored a hat-trick as Cesc Fàbregas’ debutants climbed to fourth in the league phase on 4 November.

Liverpool supplied the night’s other major shock, surrendering two leads in a 3–2 defeat at Fenerbahçe. Real Madrid and Manchester City survived five-goal contests of their own, while Arsenal held on in Prague. For South African supporters following the English clubs, the points and the performances told rather different stories.

Como put nine past Lens and join the record books

Our earlier look at the Champions League’s 78-goal Matchday 2 captured a competition already producing extraordinary scorelines. Como have now supplied a record of their own: nine goals away from home, scored by seven different players.

Douvikas struck in the seventh and 32nd minutes before Nico Paz made it 3–0 before half-time. The interval offered Lens no relief. Lucas Da Cunha scored shortly after the restart, Marc-Oliver Kempf headed in and Douvikas completed his treble, turning an emphatic lead into a rout.

Mattia Liberali added another before Ruben Aguilar’s volley briefly interrupted the scoring. Martin Baturina and academy graduate Matteo Papaccioli then completed the damage. Como’s official match report records that Papaccioli made his European debut from the bench and scored in stoppage time. Even the substitutes were finding a way through.

The victory places Como alongside two of Europe’s most decorated clubs. They equalled the eight-goal margin set by Liverpool’s 8–0 victory over Beşiktaş in November 2007 and matched by Real Madrid against Malmö in December 2015. The away-win record, however, now belongs to Como outright.

UEFA’s historical records also put them alongside Bayern Munich as the only clubs to score nine in a Champions League match. Bayern’s 9–2 win over Dinamo Zagreb in September 2024 carried a seven-goal margin.

Douvikas brings a scoring record beyond one remarkable night

Douvikas now leads the competition with six goals, one ahead of Erling Haaland and Club Brugge’s Nicolò Tresoldi. He had scored once on each of the first three matchdays before this hat-trick, so his place at the top isn’t built entirely on Lens’ collapse.

Como’s wider results offer encouragement too: 4–1 wins over Leipzig and Manchester United, alongside a 3–2 defeat at Feyenoord. They have scored 19 goals in four matches. Lens, however, had already lost to Sporting CP and Club Brugge without scoring. Both Como’s attacking quality and the opposition’s vulnerability belong in the assessment.

Liverpool lose control after taking the lead twice

Trey Nyoni put Liverpool ahead after 25 minutes, but Mason Greenwood’s deflected free-kick levelled four minutes later. Substitute Alexander Isak restored the visitors’ advantage in the 69th minute. Again, it lasted just four minutes before Archie Brown made it 2–2.

Vedat Muriqi headed the winner in the 79th minute, securing Fenerbahçe’s first victory in the Champions League proper since 2008. Liverpool’s perfect start was over, and the manner of the defeat deserved scrutiny.

The decisive problems were in defending deliveries. As Opta’s match analysis details, Brown exploited the back post after a corner, before Liverpool failed to deal with the cross for Muriqi’s header. Restoring the lead had changed the score without giving Liverpool control of the game.

One defeat doesn’t undo three victories. Yet the defensive concern extends beyond Istanbul: Liverpool conceded three at LASK, three against Villarreal and three here. Their attack has kept delivering, but that is a demanding way to sustain a European campaign.

Madrid and City find winners as Arsenal withstand pressure

Real Madrid twice trailed AEK Athens before winning 3–2. Jude Bellingham and Kylian Mbappé supplied the equalisers, then Federico Valverde struck from distance in added time. Four wins from four is an excellent return; needing another rescue also leaves questions about how readily Madrid are allowing opponents into matches.

City won 3–2 at Leipzig after Castello Lukeba’s own goal and Enzo Fernández’s header were answered by Ridle Baku and Antonio Nusa. Haaland converted Elliot Anderson’s delivery for the winner. City again found enough attacking quality to settle the contest, despite twice failing to preserve an advantage.

Arsenal’s 2–1 win at Slavia Praha followed a different pattern. Noni Madueke and Viktor Gyökeres established a first-half lead, but the hosts pressed after the break. Gabriel cleared off the line and David Raya made an important save before Wiktor Nowak scored in the 90th minute.

The remaining Wednesday results completed an eventful second night of Matchday 4:

Champions League standings at the halfway point

Paris Saint-Germain lead on 12 points, ahead of perfect-record Madrid on goal difference. Arsenal remain unbeaten in third. These are the positions of the five clubs central to Wednesday’s story after all Matchday 4 matches:

The top eight qualify directly for the last 16; ninth to 24th enter the knockout-phase play-offs. Liverpool remain inside the leading eight, but their nine points are matched by clubs immediately below them. There is no qualification cushion to take for granted.

Como host AEK Athens on 24 November, when Arsenal welcome Dortmund. Liverpool visit Club Brugge a day later. Our 3 November Champions League preview covered the first half of this matchday; the race now resumes with four league-phase games remaining.

The Betting Read

Como’s repeated scoring makes team-goals markets worth examining when prices are available. A team total isolates their attack more directly than a match total, which also depends on the opponent scoring. Asian handicaps add a different requirement: Como must win by enough to cover the chosen line. The 9–1 alone cannot justify accepting a bigger handicap.

AEK are the next test, but later meetings with Paris Saint-Germain and Barcelona demand separate assessments. Carrying the same scoring expectation through that schedule would ignore the change in opposition. Douvikas’ consistency is useful evidence; nine goals from the team is an exceptional outcome.

Liverpool’s recent European games give a stronger reason to investigate both-teams-to-score and match-goals prices than to assume a clean sheet. Those markets still answer different questions: a comfortable win without conceding can satisfy an over line and lose a both-teams-to-score bet.

Madrid and City showed the attacking resources to win difficult away games. Their victories offer much less support for a win-to-nil selection. We would compare the straight-win price with any combined goals bet before deciding whether the extra condition earns its place. Our sports-betting guide explains how to compare markets and decimal odds.

The next round tests what these results really mean

Como have earned attention through more than one spectacular score, while Liverpool have defensive work to do despite remaining well placed. The next round will provide another test of both patterns. For betting purposes, Wednesday offers useful evidence about how these teams create and concede goals. The decision still depends on the next opponent, the selected team and the price.

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