At the picturesque Stadio Giuseppe Sinigaglia, located on the south-west tip of Lake Como in Northern Italy, two old English Premier League midfield rivals will go head-to-head for the first time as managers on Wednesday evening.
In the dugout for Serie A side Como for their Uefa Champions League clash with Manchester United will be Cesc Fabregas, the Spanish World Cup winner who made more than 500 appearances during spells with Arsenal and Chelsea separated by three seasons at Barcelona.
On the away bench will be Michael Carrick, the English schemer who pulled the strings for West Ham United, Tottenham Hotspur and, predominantly, the Red Devils, across close to 700 matches that overlapped Fabregas's two stints in England.
Both Fabregas, 39, and Carrick, 45, enjoyed hugely successful, trophy-laden playing careers, with both also deciding to make the jump into coaching immediately after hanging up their boots.
In the summer of 2022, Fabregas left Monaco as a free agent to join then second-tier Como, an arrival that then chief executive Denis Wise – the former England and Chelsea midfielder – described as being “fundamental to our three-year plan to reach Serie A”.
The Lombardy outfit had endured a catastrophic free fall after being relegated from Serie A in 2003, dropping down the divisions while also twice going bankrupt. As recently as 2019, they had been in the non-professional fourth tier, but that was also the year Indonesian tobacco manufacturer Djarum took over and the club's fortunes quickly changed.
After one season as a player, when Como finished 13th, Fabregas joined the club's coaching staff and was soon appointed first-team caretaker manager after Moreno Longo was sacked. The team duly rose from seventh to third in Serie B before Welshman Osian Roberts took over as interim manager with Fabregas dropping to assistant, as he did not yet have the required Uefa coaching badges.
Then, in a dramatic end to the 2023-24 campaign, Como secured a place back in the top-flight for the first time in 21 years after Simone Verdi's 75th-minute penalty earned them a 1-1 draw with Cosenza – clinching the second and final automatic promotion spot behind Parma.
During that summer, Fabregas was formally appointed as manager, while Roberts took over as head of development. In his first full season in charge, which included a club-record six consecutive Serie A wins, Fabregas led Como to a comfortable 10th-place finish.
Just 12 months later, the club finished fourth – ahead of Italian giants AC Milan and Juventus – thanks to a 4-1 thrashing of Cremonese on the final day of the season, securing Champions League football for the first time in their history.
Como ended the campaign as Serie A's second-highest scorers with 65 goals, and with the meanest defence conceding just 29 times. “It's up there with all my achievements for how it was done and with whom we did it, because we did it with very young players, almost all of them are under 23 years old. That's amazing,” said Fabregas, who – along with France legend Thierry Henry – is a minority shareholder in the club.
Ambitions stepped up a gear during the summer as around €130 million was spent on the likes of defender Trevoh Chalobah (€40 million from Chelsea), winger Jesus Rodriguez (€30m from Real Betis) and Argentine playmaker Nico Paz (€60m from Real Madrid).
The latter joined Como for just €6m two years ago, in a deal that included a sell-on clause and buy-back options for Madrid and has been a revelation – scoring 21 and assisting as many in 84 appearances.
During the summer, Como forked out a further club-record €60m in a deal with Madrid for the 21-year-old, who has blossomed during his time in Italy. The deal includes another buy-back option of €80m that is only active next summer. “Nico Paz has everything, physique and quality,” Fabregas told La Gazzetta dello Sport in August. “Nico has extraordinary courage, vision and ambition. He is 21 years old, but it feels like he's been playing for a decade.”
Como's Champions League campaign opened with a memorable 4-1 home demolition of RB Leipzig, but they then lost 3-2 at Feyenoord last week. Next up will be three-time European champions United.
“It's a great match against one of the best and biggest teams in history,” Fabregas told Uefa.com. “It will be a beautiful occasion for the whole city, for the whole club, for all the fans, for the players, for the staff. It's a match to dream about.”
Over in Manchester, Carrick – like Fabregas – also went through a successful caretaker period before being given the United job full-time. Taking over from the sacked Ruben Amorim in January, with United in sixth place and out of both domestic cup competitions, Carrick was back for his second temporary stint, having been in charge for three games in 2021 following Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's exit.
It was a risky choice for United as Carrick's managerial CV consisted of two-and-a-half years in the second tier with Middlesbrough before he was sacked in June 2025. But his impact at Old Trafford was impressive as he guided United to third place and a return to the Champions League, with his reward being a two-year permanent contract.
Carrick talked of “the magic of Manchester United” and “challenging for the biggest honours again” after his new deal was announced. But having played 464 games for the club over 12 years, as well as being on the coaching and managerial staff for nearly four more, he would have been acutely aware of the pressures involved in occupying the United hot seat.
And that pressure intensifies if your team goes on a six-game winless streak like the one Carrick's is currently going through – their worst since 2019.
Sunday's Premier League draw at Leeds United leaves the Red Devils down in 13th place on seven points – 14 shy of leaders Manchester City. And Carrick's cause has not been helped by defender Lisandro Martinez's incendiary interview after last week's Champions League loss at Atletico Madrid, or by the poor form of key midfielder and captain Bruno Fernandes.
Next up will be Como and his old midfield foe Fabregas, but the Spaniard dismissed any idea that they were facing a club in chaos.
“Crisis? You make them up. We don’t feel them. We’re footballers. We’re professionals,” insisted Fabregas on Tuesday. “All we want to do is play and compete. I don’t believe in crises. Man United have great players. Tomorrow we’re going to go out there and try to win.”