Fabregas: ‘So proud of Como courage against Inter’ in 4-3 thriller

Cesc Fabregas insists Como gave Inter a real scare in their recent 4-3 thriller, expressing immense pride in his team's "courage to compete against anyone." Despite the loss, Fabregas emphasized the team's fighting spirit and willingness to challenge formidable opponents.

Como got off to a perfect start, leading Serie A leaders Inter 2-0 with goals from Alex Valle and Nico Paz. However, Inter demonstrated their clinical efficiency, converting most of their chances to secure a 4-3 victory in the second half, with Marcus Thuram and Denzel Dumfries each scoring twice. A late penalty from Lucas Da Cunha and a crossbar hit by Alberto Moreno in stoppage time were not enough for Como to equalize.

Fabregas proud of Como fight

"I don’t know what position we are in the table, because I haven’t checked since the start of the season and I’m not going to now," Fabregas told DAZN Italia. "My team once again proved it is courageous, eager, and even in defeat showed character. It’s true we made mistakes, but this is a young team and we were up against an opponent that will penalise you for every error."

Fabregas noted the team's impressive statistics, stating, "I like to look at statistics, and not many sides manage 20 shots on goal against Inter. If you had told me two years ago that we’d be challenging Inter like this, I’d have assumed we had organised a friendly match, but we are fighting them on an even playing field."

The momentum of the game shifted when Thuram scored just before halftime, and Fabregas acknowledged the importance of mentality. "That’s what I mean, you can talk about tactics all you want, but ultimately the mentality makes the difference," he agreed. He explained his half-time message: "Regardless of the result, we needed to keep playing like this." He also addressed the defensive lapse that led to the equalizer, stating, "The 2-2 was not a dangerous situation and we didn’t deal with it well, but after that Inter are so strong. We created some good counter-attacks, but they are so incredible on set plays, not just against us. As I said, being competitive against Inter today was an important step in our growth process."

Fabregas fielded a surprisingly attacking lineup. When questioned about his tactics, he said, "We have another game to play against Inter in 10 days, we prepare matches in different ways, so I don’t want to explain our ideas too much right now." He concluded by reiterating his pride in his players' progress over the last two and a half years, highlighting their "desire to improve and the courage to compete against anyone we are up against."

Como had previously held Inter to a 0-0 draw in the Coppa Italia semi-final, though they lost 4-0 in Serie A in December. Fabregas sees this match as a significant improvement.

"Mistakes are part of the game, they can often help you grow faster, because they force you to take a good look and not just keep coasting along. That is true of life as well as of football," Fabregas explained. "The team gave everything, the result is a pity. I too want to learn from my mistakes, as against Milan I talked about the focus being on results rather than performance, so I won’t be saying that again. I just say that it was a good performance and we don’t stop now, there are six rounds to play plus the Coppa Italia, and we’ll see where we end up."

This result places Como in fifth place, tightly contested for Champions League spots, with only six points separating third from sixth place in Serie A with six rounds remaining.