Lens 1-9 Como: Douvikas hat-trick turns Bollaert into a statement night

Como did not just win at Stade Bollaert-Delelis on Wednesday night. They reshaped the UEFA Champions League league-stage table around themselves.

Cesc Fàbregas brought a 4-2-3-1 to Lens, and it played with frightening clarity: Maximo Perrone and Luis Milla gave control, Nico Paz found the spaces Lens could not protect, and Anastasios Douvikas finished the night as the name on every document. Three goals, one assist, 61 minutes, job done.

Lens, set up by D. Toppmöller in a 3-4-2-1, were beaten 9-1 at home. The scoreline was brutal, but it was not random. Como were sharper in every zone, faster in every decision, and merciless once the first goal arrived.

Match report

Como were ahead in the 7th minute, Douvikas scoring after an assist from Maximo Perrone. It immediately changed the emotional temperature of the match. Lens wanted noise, pressure and territory. Como gave them a problem instead: how to chase a game against a side comfortable playing through pressure.

Lens had a possible route back in the 17th minute, when a penalty for Florian Thauvin was cancelled after a VAR review. That mattered. At 1-0, Bollaert still had air in it. Once that decision went, Como took the oxygen away.

Douvikas scored again in the 32nd minute, this time assisted by Álex Valle. Two minutes later, Samson Baidoo was booked for a foul, and Lens were now playing with the look of a side pulled out of shape.

The third came in the 40th minute. Nico Paz scored, assisted by Douvikas, and that exchange summed up the night: Como’s centre-forward was not only finishing moves, he was connecting them. Lens’ back three of Ruben Aguilar, Samson Baidoo and K. Antonio never found a stable reference point.

Toppmöller acted at half-time. In the 45th minute, Saud Abdulhamid came on for Michał Skóraś, and Mezian Soares Mesloub replaced Franjo Ivanović. The changes did not stop the slide.

Lucas Da Cunha scored in the 47th minute, assisted by Nico Paz. Marc-Oliver Kempf made it five in the 53rd minute, assisted by Luis Milla. Douvikas completed his hat-trick in the 57th minute, with Nico Paz again providing the assist.

Then came the depth. Fàbregas made three changes in the 58th minute: Samuele Ricci replaced Luis Milla, Martin Baturina came on for Nico Paz, and Mattia Liberali replaced Lucas Da Cunha. In the 61st minute, Matteo Papaccioli came on for Douvikas.

Within a minute, Liberali scored in the 62nd minute, assisted by Jacobo Ramón. Lens did get one back in the 65th minute, with Ruben Aguilar scoring from a Florian Thauvin assist. It was a moment of pride, not a shift in the match.

Como kept going. Baturina scored in the 69th minute, assisted by Liberali. Lens made further changes in the 70th minute, Junior Kadile replacing Thauvin and Andrija Bulatović replacing Amadou Haidara. Fàbregas then sent on Ivan Smolčić for Kempf in the 72nd minute.

Michaël Cuisance was booked in the 75th minute for a foul, and the final cut came in stoppage time. Papaccioli scored in the first minute of added time, assisted by Liberali. The goal was confirmed by VAR in the second minute of added time.

Why Como won it

Como’s 4-2-3-1 gave them clean passing angles and constant access into the attacking line. Perrone and Milla were important because they did not let the game become emotional. They moved it away from Lens’ pressure and into the zones where Paz, Da Cunha and Douvikas could hurt them.

Paz was the accelerator. His goal in the 40th minute, plus assists in the 47th minute and 57th minute, gave Como both control and edge. He played only 58 minutes, but by the time he came off, the match was finished.

Douvikas was the execution. He scored in the 7th minute, 32nd minute and 57th minute, and assisted Paz in the 40th minute. That is the complete centre-forward package on a Champions League away night: finish the chances, then help make the next one.

Liberali changed the second half from heavy defeat into humiliation for Lens. Introduced in the 58th minute, he scored in the 62nd minute, assisted Baturina in the 69th minute, and assisted Papaccioli in added time. That is impact, not just minutes.

Lens’ 3-4-2-1 never settled. Thauvin and Thorgan Hazard were asked to support Franjo Ivanović, but Como’s double pivot cut off rhythm and the wing-backs could not pin Como back. Once Lens had to chase, the spaces became bigger and Como became colder.

Starting lineups

Lens, D. Toppmöller, 3-4-2-1:
R. Risser; R. Aguilar, S. Baidoo, K. Antonio; M. Skóraś, M. Cuisance, A. Haidara, M. Udol; F. Thauvin, T. Hazard; F. Ivanović.

Como, Cesc Fàbregas, 4-2-3-1:
J. Butez; Yan Couto, Jacobo Ramón Naveros, M. Kempf, Álex Valle; M. Perrone, Luis Milla; L. da Cunha, N. Paz, M. Caqueret; T. Douvikas.

Key numbers

The xG tells part of the story. Como created better chances, but the finishing was savage: 12 shots on goal, nine goals. Lens had 11 shots, but only three on target.

What it means

Como move to 9 points after four league-stage matches, sitting 4th with a +13 goal difference. In this format, that is gold. It strengthens their position in the automatic last-16 places and gives Fàbregas a serious platform.

Lens are 33rd, on 3 points, with a -12 goal difference. The table is now the problem as much as the performance. Their Champions League campaign is not mathematically finished, but the margin for error has gone.

The wider league-stage picture is moving quickly. Paris Saint-Germain remain the standard at the top, and their broader schedule will be watched closely in Paris Saint-Germain vs Estac Troyes preview: leaders get a home test they are expected to pass. Arsenal also stayed in the upper pack after their Prague trip, covered here: Gyökeres Guides Arsenal Past Slavia Praha After Late Prague Scare.

For Como, the next step is managing the noise. Nights like this create expectation. For Lens, the next step is simpler and harder: stop the bleeding.