Man United struggles in Baku, Como celebrates Champions League debut
On a warm evening at the Baku City Stadium, an empty stand watched the return journey of Man United from Azerbaijan, while in Italy the small Como at the Giuseppe Sinigaglia Stadium celebrated a historic Champions‑League debut with a convincing 4‑1 victory.
Man United struggles in Baku
Manchester United arrived in Baku after a long journey from Azerbaijan, but the away side could not score any goal and returned empty‑handed, after a 4‑0 defeat to Sabah. Matheus Cunha opened the scoring after about half an hour, well supplied by Patrick Dorgu, and thus became the first Brazilian to score. The second and third goals came before halftime, first by Bruno Fernandes with a pass from Youri Tielemans, then by Benjamin Sesko who calmly out‑witted Sabah’s goalkeeper.
After the break, Lisandro Martínez appeared on the scoresheet, thanks to a rehearsed free kick that Sabah could not clear; he scored the fourth goal twenty minutes before the end. Diogo Dalot, Harry Maguire and Marcus Rashford started on the bench, while Michael Carrick led the team. The combination of the goals and the absence of the star players underscored the difficulty the English club faced in the first Champions‑League match of the season.
Como writes Champions‑League history
In Italy the small Como celebrated a historic evening at the Stadio Giuseppe Sinigaglia, where the club concluded its Champions League debut with a convincing 4‑1 victory over RB Leipzig. Martin Baturina opened the scoring after a quarter of an hour, followed by Anastasios Douvikas who delivered the second goal on Baturina’s cue.
Assane Diao made the third goal ten minutes after the break, after Nico Paz had supplied the ball; the visitors from Leipzig later reduced the deficit via Andrija Maksimovic, but could not recover the damage. The result marks a rapid rise for the club that was promoted to Serie A in 2024 and now immediately makes an impression on the European stage.
Both matches show the contrasting experiences of clubs taking their first steps in the Champions League: while Man United struggled with a heavy defeat in Baku, Como demonstrated that even a small club can surprise with a historic victory.