Nico Paz credits Fabregas for Como rise and Champions League dream

Nico Paz says his transformation from a Real Madrid reserve to one of Serie A‘s most inventive midfielders rests on the guidance of Como coach Cesc Fabregas, who he says “taught me practically everything.”

Paz, the 21-year-old Argentine attacking midfielder, made his remarks to UEFA’s official channels ahead of Como’s maiden Champions League campaign, describing the club’s European debut against RB Leipzig as a dream come true.

The Argentine arrived in Lombardy in 2024 following a spell at Real Madrid Castilla, where he made only a handful of appearances for the first team. Fabregas, a former Barcelona and Chelsea midfielder, brought him to Como and immediately installed him as a central figure in the team’s build-up play.</n

“I arrived here as a young player from Castilla,” Paz said. “I’d played a few games for Real Madrid, but in the end I was a reserve-team player in a lower division. Coming here and playing in Serie A, the top flight, allowed me to grow and improve a lot, both as a player and as a person.”

Paz’s development reflects a deliberate shift in Fabregas’s project at Como, a club that climbed from Serie B into the Champions League in just two seasons under a model prioritizing technical, possession-based football. Fabregas, who has been without a club since leaving Sassuolo in 2023, took charge at Como in 2024 and has since reshaped the squad around creative midfielders.

The impact is measurable. Paz has become a regular for both Como and the Argentina national team, playing a key role in a side that qualified for Europe’s premier competition for the first time in its history.

“He believed in me and brought me here. From the first day he let me play the way I wanted and gave me a lot of freedom,” Paz said. “I think the player I am today is all down to him.”

That freedom came at the right time in Paz’s career. His father, Fernando Paz, is a former professional striker who spent several years at AC Milan in the late 1990s and early 2000s, giving the midfielder a football upbringing steeped in Italian club culture. After moving to Spain as a teenager to join Real Madrid’s youth system, Paz spent time on loan at Como during the 2022-23 season, making six Serie A appearances, before the club exercised an option to sign him permanently in 2024.

The contrast between his status in Madrid and his standing in Como is stark. At the Santiago Bernabéu he featured sparingly behind a midfield stocked with established internationals. At Como, Fabregas handed him the license to operate between the lines, a role that suits a player whose strengths lie in tight-space passing, progressive dribbling, and late arrivals into the box.

Como’s Champions League introduction last month against Leipzig capped a rapid ascent. The Saxons, accustomed regulars in European competition, presented a familiar challenge, but the atmosphere inside Stadio Giuseppe Sinigaglia offered something both sides had rarely experienced.

“It was incredible, walking out with the Champions League anthem playing, and in our own stadium,” Paz said. “Hearing that anthem meant we were finally playing in the Champions League. It gave us a huge boost. It was special because every child dreams of playing in the Champions League, and most of us had never played in it before. It was a dream come true and a step forward.”

The result of that encounter will be confirmed by UEFA after the match, with Como’s group-stage position to be decided by their results in what promises to be a demanding group.

Paz acknowledges the competition will only intensify. “We can always give more. We have to, otherwise we’ll reach a dead end. We’ll face progressively stronger teams, and there are difficult games ahead in the Champions League,” he said.

For a club of Como’s size, the financial and prestige stakes are unusually high. Participation in the Champions League brings revenue that dwarfs Serie A television rights distribution, a factor that could alter the trajectory of a team that began the decade outside the top flight. The challenge lies in retaining the squad Fabregas has assembled while navigating an expensive European schedule.

“We have to keep growing to be able to face those teams,” Paz said. “But we’re doing it and we’ll keep doing it. We’re an ambitious team and we want to keep growing. We want to play well in every game, and we will, because our team is mentally ready.”

When pressed on what success means, Paz sidestepped a points target and instead pointed to effort as the benchmark.

“I think the key is giving everything on the pitch. If at the end of the game you walk off thinking you could have run a bit more or done something differently… If everyone walks off knowing they gave their all and the opponents win because they’re stronger, then you have to give them credit. But if everyone gives their best and we grow and improve as a team, then I think we’ll do well in the Champions League.”

Como will now turn to the domestic league while balancing European fixtures, with squad rotation becoming a central tactical consideration for Fabregas.