Como: ‘Fabregas is our pillar and we’re confident he will remain’

Como director Carlaberto Ludi insists Cesc Fabregas ‘is our pillar’ and they are ‘certain we’ll keep going together for a long time. We never felt afraid of losing him.’

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The Coppa Italia semi-final kicks off at San Siro at 20.00 UK time (21.00 CEST).

You can follow all the build-up and action as it happens on the Liveblog.

The first leg ended 0-0 at the Stadio Sinigaglia on March 3, so it is all to be decided here, and if it’s level after 90 minutes, they go to extra time and potentially even a penalty shoot-out.

Whoever wins will play in the Final on May 13 against either Atalanta or Lazio.

Como trust Fabregas will remain

“Cesc is our pillar around which the entire team rotates. I’ve said he was a phenomenon for years, he has an ambition and hunger that I’ve never seen in a person before,” Ludi told Sport Mediaset.

“We owe him a lot, we are aligned in every way, culturally and in terms of targets. I am certain we will keep going together for a long time, because just as we owe him a great deal, he too owes Como so much.”

Inter had famously been among the clubs that approached Como to poach Fabregas last summer, while the likes of Real Madrid are linked for next term.

“We never felt afraid of losing him, of course we can never say what will happen in the future, but we trust our rapport with Cesc and the quality of work we are doing every day.”

These sides met only on April 12 in Serie A, as Como fumbled a 2-0 lead to eventually lose 4-3 and have since also lost 2-1 to Sassuolo, sliding down the table to joint fifth with Roma.

Como have repeatedly shaken up their tactics in recent weeks, and seem to have a three-man defence this evening, with Tasos Douvikas the centre-forward.