Cesc Fabregas says Como must demonstrate their character when they face Arsenal at Emirates Stadium, while insisting his own return to London is secondary to testing his players in front of a 65,000-strong crowd.
The pre-season friendly began at 19:30 UK time (20:30 CEST), providing an emotional return for Fabregas, who spent several successful years as an Arsenal midfielder before coming back to the club as a coach with Como.
Asked about facing his former side, Fabregas told Sportitalia: “It’s wonderful,”
“I think it’s a great opportunity for us. I am the least important one here. It’s lovely to come back somewhere I was very, very happy, of course, but I’m more interested in seeing how the lads play in front of 65,000 people and how we handle the atmosphere. I want to see us still play like ourselves, with character and show what we can do.”
Como arranged high-profile friendlies against Arsenal and Liverpool to help prepare for the demands of a new level. The Italian club had never qualified for a European competition before securing fourth place in Serie A last season and earning Champions League football.
Fabregas said the exposure would be especially valuable for a squad containing several teenagers.
“This is the objective, we are a very young squad, many are 19 or 20 in this team, so the most important thing at this age is to experience games like this,” added Fabregas.
“We know we have quality and technique, but the more matches we can experience at this level, that will improve them. It’s not just about quality, but the atmosphere and passion, so at times people forget this matters a lot as well as the football.”
Como were competing in Serie B only two years ago, but have since enjoyed a rapid rise under Fabregas and the substantial backing of the Suwarso family, who lead the club.
Their progress continued last season when they reached the semi-finals of the Coppa Italia and finished fourth in Serie A, taking the final Champions League place ahead of Milan and Juventus.
Arsenal named a starting line-up featuring Kepa, Julienne, Salmon, Gabriel, Hincapie, Lewis-Skelly, Eze, Nwaneri, Dowman, Jesus and Martinelli.
Their substitutes were Raya, Setford, Meslier, Mosquera, White, Odegaard, Gyokeres, Tzolis, Madueke, Vieira, Merino, Havertz, Calafiori, Guimaraes and Ogunnaike.
Como began with Butez, Kempf, Valle, Ramon, Cuoto, Baturina, Perrone, Liberali, Da Cunha, Diao and Douvikas.
The Como bench consisted of Audero, Tornqvist, Vigorito, Da Silva, Goldaniga, Milla, Morata, Caqueret, Gabrielloni, Dossena, Lahdo, Carballo, Kuhn, Fadera and Chalobah.
Fabregas’ focus, however, was not on his personal return to the Emirates but on whether Como’s young players could remain true to their style under the pressure of facing one of England’s biggest clubs.
