Serie A | Verona 0-1 Como: Fabregas secures European qualification

It was the hosts who threatened first early doors. Kieron Bowie did excellently to hold the ball up and play a low ball into the six yard box off the left flank, but Jean Butez pulled out a top-class reaction save to deny Tomas Suslov’s shot from the edge of the six-yard box.

Verona managed to hit the crossbar in the second phase of the resulting corner, but it wouldn’t have counted anyway as the offside flag was raised shortly afterwards. 

Verona sent another warning shot when Rafik Belghali made it to the right byline 20 minutes in, but Bowie wasn’t quite able to get his shot away properly after receiving the cut-back. Martin Frese should have done better when running in on Butez’s goal unopposed less than a minute later.

Como got their first attempt on target midway through the first half: Rodriguez trying his luck from distance, but it was straight at Lorenzo Montipo in the Verona net.

Fabregas’s side would eventually break the deadlock midway through the second half. Marc-Oliver Kempf pumped a hopeful long ball down the left, Andrias Edmundsson made a mess of his attempted headed clearance and Douvikas was on hand to punish him with an excellently taken touch and finish that he slammed into the bottom corner of the net. 

Verona thought they had equalised through Bowie in the following attack. The Scot had the ball in the back of the net in a congested penalty area, but Nicolas Valentini, who got the penultimate touch, was in an offside position. Despite being fairly clear on the replays, it still required a VAR check that lasted several minutes to confirm the on-pitch decision. 

Today’s result lifts Como into fifth place, where they sit two points behind Milan and one point above Roma ahead of their matches later on Sunday. Como can no longer finish any lower than sixth place in Serie A in 2025-26, which means that they are guaranteed a spot in the Conference League at a minimum.

Verona 0-1 Como 

Douvikas (C) 71’

10-05-2026 11:30 MatchDay 36 Stadio Marcantonio Bentegodi

Verona

Como 0 - 1

Player statistic

2nd half

		61'		Maxence Caqueret
		71'

Anastasios Douvikas (Assist: Marc-Oliver Kempf) Martin Frese

89'    

Match statistic

36 Possession % 64 11 Total shots 11 3 Shots on target 4 5 Shots off target 4 3 Blocked shots 3 7 Corners 7 3 Offsides 2 17 Fouls 14 Verona Como

Starting lineups

1

Lorenzo Montipò Goalkeeper 5 Andrias Edmundsson Defender 3 Martin Frese Defender 6 Nicolás Valentini Defender 7 Rafik Belghali Defender 82' 15

Victor Nelsson Defender 24

Antoine Bernede Midfielder 63' 11

Jean-Daniel Akpa Akpro Midfielder 81' 63

Roberto Gagliardini Midfielder 18 Kieron Bowie Attacker 10

Tomas Suslov Attacker 1

Jean Butez Goalkeeper 3 Álex Valle Defender 36' 34

Diego Carlos Defender 2

Marc-Oliver Kempf Defender 31

Mërgim Vojvoda Defender 46' 23

Máximo Perrone Midfielder 46' 10

Nico Paz Midfielder 11

Anastasios Douvikas Attacker 38 Assane Diao Attacker 81' 17 Jesús Rodriguez Attacker

46' 33 Lucas Da Cunha Attacker

Substitutes

21

Abdou Harroui Midfielder 34 Simone Perilli Goalkeeper 12

Domagoj Bradaric Defender 14

Pol Lirola Defender 94 Giacomo Toniolo Goalkeeper 72 Junior Ajayi Attacker 9 Amin Sarr Attacker 73 Moatasem Al-Musrati Midfielder 19 Tobias Slotsager Defender 70 Fallou Cham Defender 71 Davide De Battisti Defender 4

Sandi Lovric Midfielder 63' 41 Isaac Attacker 81' 90 Ioan Vermesan Attacker 82' 5

Edoardo Goldaniga Defender 7

Álvaro Morata Attacker 22

Mauro Vigorito Goalkeeper 8

Sergi Roberto Midfielder 44 Nikola Cavlina Goalkeeper 19 Nicolas Kühn Attacker 21 Noel Törnqvist Goalkeeper 15 Adrian Lahdo Midfielder 18

Alberto Moreno Defender 36' 6

Maxence Caqueret Midfielder 46' 20 Martin Baturina Midfielder 46' 28 Ivan Smolcic Defender 46' 77

Ignace Van Der Brempt Defender

81'