Fabregas left with ´slightly bitter taste´ after Inter draw

Cesc Fabregas revealed that Como were left with a “slightly bitter taste in our mouths” after their goalless draw with Inter in the Coppa Italia semi-final first leg.

Como were the better side at Stadio Giuseppe Sinigaglia, producing 0.9 expected goals (xG) from five shots to Inter’s 0.1 from just three off-target attempts.

Across all competitions, Inter have registered no more than three shots in a single match for the first time since March 2018, against Napoli in Serie A.

An incredible miss from Alex Valle in the six-yard box early in the second half accounted for 0.7 of Como’s xG, as the hosts could not make the most of their chances.

Fabregas felt his side did enough to win the match, with all still left to play for in next month’s second leg.

“The result is what it is. Overall, I feel that perhaps we deserved to score a goal, or at least got closer to scoring one,” Fabregas told Sport Mediaset.

“It was a chess match, very tactical, where against the most dominant team in Serie A, we played the game we wanted to.

“We were solid, had two or three very good chances, with Alex Valle, where it seemed harder to miss than to score, but these things happen.

“Inter have dominated Italian football in the last five years, but they had only one shot on goal today. It leaves a slightly bitter taste in our mouths, because we feel like we could’ve at least won this 1-0.”

Thank you Lariani, you’re incredible pic.twitter.com/2vFjoNLfiU

— Como1907 (@Como_1907) March 3, 2026

Cristian Chivu made plenty of changes to his Inter side, with Francesco Pio Esposito the only striker in the starting line-up.

Andy Diouf and Davide Frattesi started behind the forward as Chivu altered Inter’s usual 3-5-2 formation, but they struggled without the presence of injured captain Lautaro Martinez.

“I had a few problems to deal with, we were forced into some changes. It’s the first time I played with a pair of creative midfielders supporting the striker,” said Chivu.

“They are so good at keeping the ball, passing it around and drawing you out to then attack the space. We did well to understand what we needed to do, and were fortunate in a couple of situations.

“Considering we didn’t have much time to prepare, playing after 72 hours, the lads did well to understand the instructions quickly and give their best, knowing that at times we had to accept Como’s possession play.”