Cesc Fabregas reveals one major regret after Como thrash Manchester United

Cesc Fabregas admitted he was left with one major regret after watching his Como side destroy Manchester United last night.

The Italian side enjoyed arguably the biggest victory in their history as they marked their maiden Champions League campaign with a thoroughly deserved 4-1 victory.

Nico Paz produced a stellar man of the match display which included two goals and assist as he lay waste to a bedraggled United team which has now won just two of its 11 games in all competitions this season.

Jacobo Ramon put the home side four goals to the good 14 minutes from the end, after which Fabregas revealed he instructed his team to take their foot off the pedal with their upcoming match against Sassuolo this weekend in mind.

That lack of intensity in the closing stages contributed to the concession of Joshua Zirkzee’s meaningless consolation goal but, ever the perfectionist, Fabregas confessed to his mistake.

He said: ‘I regret the last ten minutes because I was the one who told the team to slow down the tempo because there’s another match and at 4-0 we could manage things a little.

‘I told the players to stop running and stay in the middle and that is something I regret because I’m the first to always push them to fight until the end.

‘Their goal hurt me because we dropped our intensity and dropped our defensive block, but it was my fault.’

‘It’s a special night, but we are still at the beginning for everything we have in our minds,” Fabregas told Sky Sport Italia after full-time.

‘The team played well this evening, but we need to keep our feet on the ground and remember there is another match coming up on Saturday.

‘I want to dedicate the win to one of our kit staff, he knows why.’

Asked if Como were capable of repeating last night’s performance against Europe’s elite, Fabregas added: ‘I don’t know about that, it’s a bold statement. We must try to remain humble.

‘We will always prepare and try to play our game, whether it’s against Inter in the Coppa Italia semi-final, or with Napoli and Roma in Serie A. Preparation is fundamental, but so is the belief of these lads. It is all more difficult if they don’t have that.

‘This was Manchester United we were up against tonight, it doesn’t matter if they are struggling at the moment, we must never forget that some of our players were having the third Champions League game of their entire careers.

‘This is why the belief of these lads and their way of doing things gives me life. Winning this way is very satisfying, but this is where it gets difficult, playing the same way on Saturday in Serie A.’