As recently as 2019, the lakeside club were playing in Serie D. Tonight, they make their debut in Europe's leading club competition at home to RB Leipzig.
Led by Cesc Fabregas, Como were underdogs when they entered Serie A in 2024 – Dennis Wise had been CEO, but left that summer.
With a population of 84,000, the city is home to the rich and famous, its picturesque location beside Lake Como drawing people from further afield. The football club was bought by Indonesia's Hartono family (net worth: more than £30bn) seven years ago.
A who's who
Thierry Henry invested in 2022, before Fabregas did the same, as he ended his playing days with the club in Serie B. The Spaniard stepped up as gaffer, guiding them into the top tier and to 10th in their first campaign, before a remarkable fourth-place finish last season.
Pepe Reina and Raphael Varane joined after promotion, with Alvaro Morata following last summer, but progress has been less about established stars and more about smart recruitment, such as young Argentine playmaker Nico Paz from Real Madrid, and Greek top scorer Anastasios Douvikas from Celta Vigo.
After such a fine job in his first stint as a manager, Fabregas has inevitably been linked with jobs elsewhere, but turned down Inter a year ago.
Como overtook Milan on the final day of last season to claim a top-four spot, making this the first time since the Champions League's rebrand that the competition will contain neither the Rossoneri nor Juventus.
There were doubts whether the Stadio Giuseppe Sinigaglia would met UEFA requirements, and Como might have needed to play in Sassuolo (120 miles away) or Udine (200 miles). However, the club pulled off a 90-day construction miracle to achieve Category 4 approval following a rapid redevelopment.
Shakhtar Donetsk, who also entered the league stage, won't play at home for obvious reasons. They held talks about using Brentford's ground, with a fallback option in Germany, but have opted to play at Stamford Bridge.
Several shock champions started the summer in qualifying – Mjallby, from a fishing village of just 800 people, won their inaugural Swedish title, while FC Thun became Swiss kings for the first time. Levski Sofia ended the 14-year Bulgarian winning streak of Ludogorets, whose name is an anagram of ‘good result' – no longer quite so fitting. They fell short of the world record of 15 titles in a row, held by Vanuatu club Tafea.
None of the clubs mentioned above made the league phase proper, but Como are there.
