Fabregas Says It Is 'An Honour' to Have Messi's Family Wearing Como's Shirts

Cesc Fabregas paused questions about Manchester United to talk about Lionel Messi. The Como coach called it 'an honour' to see the best player in history in his club's shirt, as his family's support became the surprise story before a historic Champions League night.

'An honour' — Fabregas on seeing Messi in Como colours

Cesc Fabregas stopped his press conference in its tracks. Minutes into previewing Como's Champions League meeting with Manchester United, the coach was asked about Lionel Messi's family being spotted in Como shirts — and he did not hide how much the gesture meant to him.

"I think it's an honour to see the best player in history wearing our shirt," Fabregas said. "Until recently, it was unimaginable."

The remarks, reported from his pre-match briefing on Tuesday, were framed by CBS Sports as 'surprise support' — not a transfer rumour, not a signing, just a family publicly backing a friend's club on the eve of the biggest night in its history.

It was a remarkable line from a man who knows Messi better than most. The two were teammates at Barcelona during one of the most decorated eras in club football history, and Fabregas has never hidden his admiration. For a club that was playing in Italy's second tier three years ago, seeing the greatest player of all time in their colours was, in his words, unthinkable.

"An evening like tomorrow's is a reward for what we've done in recent years," he added. "We deserve to play matches like this. We're really looking forward to it and proud to be able to play in it."

A friendship that keeps resurfacing

This is not the first time the Fabregas-Messi friendship has intersected with Como's rise. The families are close — Fabregas has said Messi visited his home while on holiday — and the club has long flirted, half-seriously, with the idea of the Argentine wearing their shirt.

Last year, Messi's wife Antonela Roccuzzo was seen at the Sinigaglia with their children during a pre-season friendly against Lille, accompanied by Fabregas's wife. Asked then whether Messi could ever join Como, the coach grinned and answered: "Never say never."

Messi remains in the United States with Inter Miami, and nobody at Como is pretending a move is imminent. But the moment captured something real about the bond between the two: a decade after their Barcelona days, the Argentine is still showing up — even symbolically — for his old teammate.

The wider press briefing also touched on the influence of Arsène Wenger on Fabregas's coaching, the goalkeeper competition between Robert Sánchez and Jean Butez, and his long-term ambitions to stay and build at Como.

A Champions League night three years in the making

Wednesday's game was the first-ever meeting between Como and Manchester United, with both sides sitting on three points heading into matchday three of the league phase.

Como are competing in the Champions League for the first time in their history. Their European debut began with a thumping 4-1 home win over RB Leipzig before a 3-2 defeat away to Feyenoord — and a win over United would make them the first Italian side since Lazio in 1999-00 to win their first two home games in the European Cup or Champions League.

• Fixture: Como vs Manchester United, Champions League matchday 3
• Venue: Stadio Giuseppe Sinigaglia, Como
• Date: Wednesday, 21 October 2026
• Context: First-ever meeting; both clubs on three points

Fabregas was emotional about the occasion: "Just three years ago, when we were in Serie B, it would have been unthinkable that Manchester United might come to the Sinigaglia. Yet, on Wednesday, that is exactly what will happen. For us, it's a dream come true; we'll take our chances."

Domestically, Como are flying. They sit fifth in Serie A, five points behind leaders Inter after Sunday's 3-1 victory over Fiorentina, and their 14 points from the first seven matches equalled the club record for this stage of a season — matching the tally from 1950-51.

No crisis talk, no United job talk

Fabregas spent much of the press conference batting away the narratives around his opponents. He refused to describe United as a club in crisis, dismissing the entire premise.

"Crises in football don't exist: there's a match every three days, and there's no time to think about whether there's a crisis or not," he said. "It's eleven against eleven, and you try to win. You invent the crisis... They're Manchester United and they have great players."

He was equally firm when asked about speculation linking him with the Manchester United job, insisting such talk would disrespect the man currently in charge.

"As you can understand I won't answer that question because I think that's not a very nice question," Fabregas said, via Sky Sports. "I don't think that shows enough respect to a great footballer and manager like Michael Carrick at the helm of a wonderful Manchester United side."

He credited Carrick with bringing United back into the Champions League for the first time in many years, and pointed out that he knows United's assistant Steve Holland well from their years together at Chelsea.

The dugout battle carries extra history: Fabregas and Carrick will face each other as managers 17 years after playing on opposite sides in both legs of the 2008-09 Champions League semi-final between Arsenal and United, which the Red Devils won 4-1 on aggregate.

Injury headaches before a historic night

Como head into their biggest game with a growing injury list. Fabregas confirmed that Jesús Rodríguez faces a lengthy spell on the sidelines after injuring himself with a shot at goal at the end of training, describing the injury as "a little more serious" than first feared.

Trevoh Chalobah will be out for two weeks, missing four matches, while Moise Kean remains a doubt. Assane Diao, at least, is expected to return after the international break.

That leaves Fabregas short of options in attack against one of Europe's most storied clubs — although he was keen to stress the occasion rather than the absentees. "Tomorrow will be a historic day, once again," he said. "We're going through a special period and we need to adapt well, aware of the importance of the challenge. United are a great team with great players and an incredible history. We'll try to win, as always."

What it says about Messi's shadow over the game

There is a neat symmetry to the story. Messi's final act in an Argentina shirt came in the 3-0 friendly win over Benin on 6 October, when he bowed out of international football in front of an emotional Buenos Aires crowd. Since then, his legend has only kept growing — and it is turning up in unexpected places.

That his family would choose this of all weeks to be seen in Como colours is a measure of what Fabregas's project has become. "We are a new club, not in terms of our history, but because we started from scratch three years ago," the coach said, and nights like this are the proof.

The press briefing even touched on the Argentina number 10 debate in its closing stages, with Nico Paz's development at Como part of the discussion — a reminder that the question of who carries the torch after Messi is never far away. Fabregas, for one, seems content to let his old friend keep casting his long shadow, one shirt at a time.

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