Cesc Fàbregas interview: The Como coach on Champions League ambitions, facing Man United and his mentors
Monday, October 19, 2026
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"It's a pleasure to be here competing," says Como's Spanish coach as his side gear up to face Manchester United on UEFA Champions League Matchday 3.
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Having made 104 UEFA Champions League appearances for Arsenal, Barcelona and Chelsea, two-time EURO-winning Spain midfielder Cesc Fàbregas ended his playing career in Italy with Como, where he has also blossomed into a successful coach.
After a spell with the youth team, Fàbregas – now 39 – helped the seniors win promotion to Serie A in 2024 as assistant to Osian Roberts, and was then given sole command. The Lombardy side finished a creditable tenth in his first season in charge, then earned a Champions League place with a fourth-placed finish last term. As his charges prepare to take on Manchester United on Wednesday, he took stock with UEFA.
This interview was conducted on 17 September 2026
On his Champions League ambitions for this season
We have to tackle everything very calmly. It's a huge step for us to be here playing against the best teams in Europe, in the world. We have a very tough path to qualify for the next stage, and for us it's a pleasure to be here competing against all of [these teams], studying and analysing them.
We were already doing it, but we now have to do it to try to beat them, which makes life quite difficult. We're very happy and calm and we want to enjoy ourselves, enjoy this beautiful journey.
On facing Man United
It's a great match against one of the best and biggest teams in history. I think it will be a beautiful occasion for the whole city, for the whole club, for all the fans, for the players, for the staff. It's a match to dream about, but we must try to do our best to try to win and pick up the three points, which is always the most important thing.
We know them very well. They have great players, and a manager with a lot of experience who has done very well. We slowly have to understand what it's like to face the top sides, when you know that they're better than you, but you still have to compete with what you have. Our inner strength and our mentality are what must make us strong and allow us to believe that we can do it.
On what he learned working under Arsène Wenger, Pep Guardiola and José Mourinho
I've been very lucky to have worked with the best coaches, or some of the best coaches, in history. So, yes, I slowly picked up a few things, some positive things. Whatever wasn't so positive – from the squad's point of view, or my own – you then take it and put it into a ball, in a way, to form your own ideas, create your own methodology, your style of play.
At the end of the day, you must be yourself too, how you see football. And I always ask myself the same question: 'How do I want to lose?' That's vital for me: 'How do you want to lose?' I want to go home after a loss knowing that we did what we wanted to do. I don't want to go home after a loss thinking that we weren't ourselves. If that's ever happened to us, it really hurts me.
On the value of having worked his way up as a coach
I coached the [Como] Primavera side for four months, which was a wonderful and gratifying experience because I had some kids who weren't top players. Some of them didn't have the right mindset, some of them arrived late and it wasn't a very united team. Little by little, we managed to organise them and provide them with some discipline, respect and organisation, and I think the boys enjoyed themselves. I learned a lot and enjoyed myself a lot.
Then in Serie B, I was coaching youngsters who were my team-mates. Some of them were my friends and I had to make very tough decisions about them – you're playing, you're not playing – explaining certain decisions that a player never understands because they're only thinking about themselves and they always want to play. We then slowly formed a stable, solid team that could grow in Serie A, which is a very competitive league.