Cesc Fabregas is shaking up Serie A.

Como wrote the biggest fairytale in Serie A this season, while Cesc Fabregas showed that Italian football can still change if it dares to step out of its familiar comfort zone.

Fabregas' Como team has qualified for the UEFA Champions League next season.

On the day Como officially secured their Champions League qualification for the first time in history, the most memorable image wasn't the flares that covered Piazza Volta or the crowds of fans overflowing with blue and white colors.

The most memorable moment came right on the pitch after the defeat against Cremonese in the final round of Serie A. While Como was still waiting for the result of Milan's match against Cagliari to be sure of fulfilling their Champions League dream, Cesc Fabregas called the whole team to stand in a circle in the middle of the pitch.

That has become a familiar image of Como throughout this season. But in the most tense moment, Fabregas's composure still drew attention.

He told his students, "You are the reason everything is so beautiful." A short statement, but it almost perfectly encapsulates Como's extraordinary journey this season.

Because not so long ago, that team was still playing in Serie C. And when Fabregas retired while playing for Como in 2023, the club had almost nothing but a few ideas and the self-respect of people who wanted to survive in football.

Cesc himself once recounted that Como had to get massages in the lounge area of ​​a bar. That image sounds more like amateur football than the environment of Serie A.

Fabregas revived a diminutive Como.

Yet just a few years later, Como finished the season behind Inter, Napoli, and Roma, while Milan and Juventus both disappeared from the Champions League.

It's no longer simply a surprising phenomenon.

Como won not just with money.

Of course, Como is not a poor team.

Since being promoted to Serie A in 2024, the club has invested heavily in the transfer market. According to FIFA reports, Como is the 11th highest-spending team in the world in 2025. They will spend around 200 million euros, surpassing both Juventus and AC Milan in total investment.

However, if one only looks at the money, they will overlook the most important thing in Fabregas's story.

Serie A has no shortage of clubs with money. What Italian football has lacked for many years is teams that dare to build a different style of football and patiently pursue it.

Fabregas did just that at Como. He didn't turn the team into a copycat version of Barcelona or Arsenal. Instead, Cesc built an extremely well-organized, modern, and highly controlled system, yet one that was still suited to the Serie A environment.

Como plays with a proactive mindset. They control the ball, move constantly to find space, and try to get the ball as close to the opponent's penalty area as possible. However, the true foundation of this team lies in its organization and defensive capabilities.

Como has kept 19 clean sheets this season, a figure that shows Fabregas isn't building his team on improvisation. It's noteworthy that the majority of Como's most active players are under 23 years old. Despite this, they play with a rare maturity, like players who have competed at the highest level for many years.

Fabregas's impact on Como is immense.

That was Fabregas's greatest achievement. He instilled absolute faith in his system in a young team and made them step onto the pitch with the mentality of a big team, despite Como having only played in Serie C a few years prior.

Serie A needs more Fabregas.

For many years, Italian football has often been associated with an image of slowness, aging, and a lack of vitality. In this context, Fabregas has become a fascinating exception.

He is only 39 years old, much younger than many coaches in Serie A. His team is also younger than most of their opponents. But the most important thing lies in the football philosophy that Fabregas brings.

Cesc doesn't see Serie A as a place where you have to play it safe at all costs. He built Como with a desire to control the game rather than just reacting to the opponent. That's what makes this team so much more interesting to watch than the rest of Serie A.

It would be an exaggeration to call Fabregas a revolutionary figure in Italian football right now. However, Como's arrival at least shows that Serie A still has room for new ideas and modern approaches to football.

It's worth noting that Fabregas doesn't give the impression of a coach living off the glory of a former player. He's the first one to open the training center doors every morning. After a night of celebrating Champions League qualification that lasted until late, Cesc still insisted he would be in the office by 8 a.m. the next morning.

That detail partly explains why Como has progressed so far in such a short time. Fabregas didn't build the team on past fame. He did it through daily work, by creating a team that was organized, disciplined, and believed in the football they were pursuing.

In a season where both Milan and Juventus were knocked out of the Champions League, Como's participation in Europe's biggest competition felt very strange to Serie A.

But sometimes, it is precisely these "earthquakes" that Italian football needs most to pull itself out of the familiar stagnation of the past many years.

Source: https://znews.vn/cesc-fabregas-dang-lay-chuyen-serie-a-post1654139.html