Como Coach Fabregas on RB Rumors: “I Won’t Go Into Detail”

Cesc Fàbregas, who was courted by RB Leipzig last year, sees the Bundesliga club as a role model for his own team. “They play consistently year after year. They have an identity, a clear vision, and they select their coaches based on that. We’re trying to do the same here. In that regard, Leipzig is a role model,” said the coach of Como 1907.

The former World Cup champion will make his Champions League debut tomorrow (9:00 p.m./DAZN) with the Italian first-division club against Leipzig. Last spring, the Saxons wanted to sign Fàbregas as coach but were thwarted by a veto from the Como bosses. “I don’t want to go into detail there,” the 39-year-old said regarding Leipzig’s attempts to recruit him. But he knows Marcel Schäfer, Mario Gomez, and Jürgen Klopp. Leipzig is a fantastic club.

Connection to Demichelis

He also knows Leipzig’s current coach, Martin Demichelis, very well. They met as players in the Premier League, and later Fàbregas followed the Argentine’s coaching career. “He’s earned this opportunity in Leipzig,” said Fàbregas. Demichelis is a great coach, he added, and he’s proven that in Argentina and Spain.

Fàbregas is relatively calm about Como’s Champions League debut. He sees it as a game like any other. “I understand the emotions of the city and the fans; it’s a historic occasion. But we have to remain professional,” said Fàbregas.

Parallels with Leipzig

He won’t be preparing a speech. “I’m a spontaneous person. I say what I feel,” said the former star midfielder. “Sometimes it’s better to say less.”

Leipzig and Como certainly have parallels. Both clubs made the journey from the fourth division to the Champions League, and both have financially strong investors behind them. Como is majority-owned by the Hartono family from Indonesia, whose fortune is estimated at more than 35 billion dollars.