Douvikas hat-trick fuels Como’s record 9-1 demolition of Lens

A record evening in Lens

Como produced one of the most extraordinary nights in Champions League history on Wednesday, routing RC Lens 9-1 at the Stade Bollaert-Delelis in what BBC Sport confirmed was an equal-record haul of goals in a single game in the modern era. The Italian side’s sixth successive win in all competitions was sealed with a hat-trick from Anastasios Douvikas and goals from eight different scorers across 90 minutes.

Neither side trailed by a trivial margin at any stage. Goal.com’s live coverage recorded two different scorelines passing through two different goals, with Douvikas netting his second of the night inside the opening exchanges. Nico Paz, marked out as man of the match in GOAL’s matchday coverage, pulled the scorer strings from midfield alongside substitute Niccolò Liberali, who registered both a goal and an assist.

The 18-year-old Matteo Papaccioli, making his Champions League debut, found the net — one of three teenagers to score for the visitors, with Dejan Baturina also adding to the misery. BBC Sport noted that Douvikas’s hat-trick put him level with Alessandro Del Piero for the record of scoring in each of Como’s first four Champions League fixtures since their debut season in the competition.

VAR denial and Parisian comparisons

The visitors were denied at least one more tally early on. Goal.com’s liveblog recorded a penalty awarded to Lens at 0-2 down, only to be overturned by VAR after replayed images showed encroachment in the box; the French hosts never capitalised, and the final tally read 1-9 with Douvikas fitting the final piece of the first half-hat-trick before the break.

Lens, chasing points in the league phase, started brightly for two minutes, but Get French Football News handed out complete and utter humiliation verdicts across the squad in their player ratings, with every outfield player rated six or below. For a couple of minutes there was a sense this could be competitive, the outlet wrote — it collapsed almost immediately thereafter.

Chelsea loanee Nico Paz took charge of the tempo in the middle, while Atlanta’s young forward Dejan Baturina’s pace cost Lens right-back Loïc Badé a miserable evening. Football Italia credited Como’s five-match winning streak, which reached Lens having won all five of their Champions League league phase games so far.

After the match, cameras caught a bemused Frank Ntcham from the home dugout, his face buried in his palms. The French midfielder had no answers for a team that pressed, passed and scored like a side with nothing to lose.

What next

Como return to Italy on Saturday for a Serie A trip to Hellas Verona, while Lens host Angers in Ligue 1 the same weekend. Cesc Fàbregas’s side next feature in the Champions League on 25 November away to Red Bull Salzburg.