Como secured a thumping 9-1 win in Lens as they continued to thrive in Europe with their margin of victory equalling Champions League history

Cesc Fabregas' Como made Champions League history with an incredible 9-1 win at Lens as their European fairytale continued.

The Italian team are playing in the tournament for the first time but have not been overawed. They have enjoyed a rapid rise in recent years and on Wednesday night hammered their French opponents on their own patch.

Como have won three of their four games to sit fourth in the league phase at the halfway stage - above the likes of Barcelona, Manchester City, Liverpool and Bayern Munich.

Just weeks after hammering Manchester United Como reached new eights and their win in France equals the margin for the biggest victory ever in the Champions League.

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Liverpool's 8-0 win over Besiktas in 2007 and Real Madrid's victory over Malmo by the same scoreline in 2015 are the largest winning margins in the tournament's history. Como have now added themselves to that list but unlike the Reds and Real, they did so away from home.

Fabregas' side were 3-0 up at half-time with Anastasios Douvikas scoring two of those. He would complete his hat-trick in the second-half as the Italians added six more goals to their tally. Nico Paz and Lucas Da Cunha among the scorers as seven different players found the back of the net.

Como, who sit fourth in Serie A, will play AEK Athens and Real Betis before the year is out, by which time they may have secured their passage into the knockout stages. They will then get the chance to underline their credentials with their final two games against PSG and Barcelona.

Fabregas claimed in the aftermath of their 4-1 win against the Red Devils that he regretted telling his side to ease off despite being so dominant.

"I have some regrets over the last 10 minutes maybe," the Spaniard later said. "I was actually saying to the team to 'slow the tempo, because we have another game coming up'."

Como's 19 goals in four Champions League games is second only to holders PSG, who have scored 20 times so far in Europe.