Feyenoord edge Como as Van Bronckhorst and Fabregas reflect

Como made a bright start to their first European away match, with Assane Diao opening the scoring in the 18th minute. The visitors’ lead lasted only two minutes, however, as Gjivai Zechiël brought Feyenoord level with a fine strike.

Anis Hadj Moussa then took centre stage after the break, scoring in the 52nd minute before a Robert Sánchez own goal extended Feyenoord’s advantage to 3-1. Tasos Douvikas pulled one back in stoppage time, but the hosts held on.

Feyenoord coach Giovanni van Bronckhorst was pleased with his team’s response after their heavy defeat to Barcelona in the opening round.

“The football we saw was a source of pride. The 1-1 helped us quite a lot at a difficult stage of the match. We never lost our mentality against a team like this. Did you see the players’ reaction after conceding?”

Van Bronckhorst also highlighted the importance of Hadj Moussa, who caused Como repeated problems with his pace and attacking quality.

“Look at what he means to us. In the first half he made runs and had shots on target, but he has to keep playing all the time. With his quality, he can create goalscoring opportunities, and he did that twice. I am not worried, but it is important that he stays fit.”

The Feyenoord manager said the victory would provide confidence as the campaign continued, while acknowledging the demands of European football.

“Winning is always good. The opponents are different in every match. It is always difficult to play in the Eredivisie, but the level here is different, and you can see why Como have reached this competition.”

Como coach Cesc Fabregas, meanwhile, urged his young side to learn from the experience without allowing the defeat to undermine their progress.

“We chose this approach because we thought it was a good way to attack them, as we saw with our goal through Diao. Football is like that. The team has to learn certain situations. We have a striker and we have to manage him well, because we also have Serie A. We must keep growing.”

Fabregas refused to blame individual players for the defensive mistakes that helped Feyenoord take control.

“Let the players be. These things happen. Playing at home and playing away changes everything, and this was only the second Champions League match in our history. We need to stay calm. Serie A is the most important thing for us now.”

Como return to domestic action against Fiorentina on Sunday, while Feyenoord will look to build on a valuable European result.