Fabregas hails Ricci after Como beat Venezia: ‘He plays like Totti and Pirlo’
· Yahoo Sports
Cesc Fabregas called Como’s 1-0 win over Venezia “incredibly valuable”, and admitted his side were fortunate not to concede a penalty for Luis Milla’s handball.
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With quotes via TuttoMercatoWeb, the Como coach spoke to DAZN and then in his press conference, after Lucas Da Cunha’s first-half penalty settled the game at the Sinigaglia. The win lifts Como to 23 points, two behind Inter and Lazio, before Wednesday’s Champions League trip to Lens and a meeting with Inter next weekend.
“Nothing on the pitch is easy, and today we saw there’s incredible value in this victory,” Fabregas told DAZN. “We’ve played a lot of games away from home. I give a lot of value to what we did, and it isn’t trivial. It’s very difficult to win in football, I see it every week, and today was a fundamental game.
“Venezia had one shot on target. We didn’t concede anything, and the lads aren’t used to this kind of schedule, one game after another. We’re practically not training, but we have to continue with this mentality.”
Fabregas is managing without several wide players, with Assane Diao and Jesús Rodríguez both out injured.
“There are millions and millions of coaches, fans and directors, and I think we can all say that when you play against a low block, one-on-one wingers are fundamental. At the moment we don’t have them, and I never talk to the players about who’s missing,” he said. “The player’s interpretation becomes fundamental. We mustn’t look for excuses, we need to find an extra solution. But I’d like to have many more solutions.”
Asked what he enjoys most about his group, he said: “The mentality and the courage to always play the game. Today Nico was exhausted, and Da Cunha has played every game. They always try to do what we want, and we always try to play the way we want. We know who we are, and we want to become a better team every week.”
COMO, ITALY – NOVEMBER 01: Lucas Da Cunha of Como 1907 celebrates scoring his team’s first goal with teammates Tasos Douvikas and Luis Milla during the Serie A match between Como 1907 and Venezia FC at Giuseppe Sinigaglia Stadium on November 01, 2026 in Como, Italy. (Photo by Marco Luzzani/Getty Images)
Fabregas on Como performance and VAR call
In his press conference, Fabregas called it Como’s most important win of the season.
“We won a lot of games 1-0 last year. We were the best team in the world at doing it,” he said. “This was a fundamental win, the most important of the 13 games we’ve played. It’s very complicated to win in modern football. Well done to the team, especially in the defensive phase.
“We only conceded one shot on target, in the 94th minute, but if you look at their games against other teams, they had at least four or five chances to score. Today we gave away practically nothing. Zero. We could have scored another goal, but we can’t train, we can’t prepare games the way we have in recent years. So it has to become our mentality. We need a work culture for how we play in these moments, when there’s a game every three or four days. Today the team showed me it understood how important the game was.”
On whether he was nervous in the closing stages, he said: “We had to make changes, do different things, with people who hadn’t played for a while, like Liberali. But at 1-0 anything can always happen. It’s the typical nervousness of wanting to win the game. I don’t know how it looked from outside, but with great control in the last 15 minutes, games change. With a long ball, anything can happen in football today.”
Fabregas was honest about the Venezia penalty that was overturned by VAR. “When I saw it, it looked like a clear penalty to me. Before coming here, I asked whether it was a penalty or not. It’s not me saying it, but I was told it wasn’t, because Luis doesn’t move his arm and is trying to keep it out of the way,” he said. “It looked like a penalty to me, we were lucky, but people who understand it better than me, professionals, said it wasn’t.
“Ours? That was clearer. If the ball reaches Tasos and he isn’t touched from behind, it’s a goal. It’s difficult, and I’m saying that honestly.”
ITALY – OCTOBER 24: Tasos Douvikas of Como celebrates after scoring the opening goal during the Serie A match between Como 1907 and US Sassuolo at Giuseppe Sinigaglia Stadium on October 24, 2026 in Italy. (Photo by Claudio Villa/Getty Images)
Fabregas on Douvikas and Ricci
He refused to get carried away by the table after Inter’s derby defeat. “Every week is decisive. Two hours before the game my wife texted me: ‘Today you have to win.’ But for three years we’ve had to win them all. Lens and Inter are fundamental too, but right now I’m not interested in the table. I’m interested in how we won this game.
“Now we’ll rest, then prepare in very little time for an important game on our journey. We have to find energy wherever and however we can.”
Fabregas wouldn’t say whether Tasos Douvikas would be fit for Lens, but he was full of praise for Samuele Ricci. “I can’t answer you on Douvikas, we have to see who has the most energy when they wake up tomorrow. I see a lot of top movement from him. Sometimes we judge by the chances created. We didn’t see that today, but believe me, he won a penalty, and that’s like scoring a goal.
ITALY – OCTOBER 24: Darryl Bakola of Sassuolo and Samuele Ricci of Como in action during the Serie A match between Como 1907 and US Sassuolo at Giuseppe Sinigaglia Stadium on October 24, 2026 in Italy. (Photo by Claudio Villa/Getty Images)
“I’m very happy with Ricci. I saw the Samu I knew at Torino and Milan. He plays brilliantly, like Totti and like Pirlo. Great lad, great mentality. If we give him a bit more, he can become a very strong player in Italy. He has great technique and legs.
“On Wednesday we’ll have 16 players, and we’ll all have to be ready for the Champions League.”