Jean Butez, Como's Belgian goalkeeper, heads into the 2025-26 Serie A season carrying the residue of a pre-season that ended with a penalty shootout defeat against Arsenal in London — a result that drew scrutiny to his shot-stopping under pressure at the highest level. The Lariani drew 1-1 in normal time before falling 5-4 on penalties, a sequence that placed Butez at the centre of the post-match conversation.

The question now is whether that moment defines the opening weeks of his campaign or simply fades into the noise of pre-season. For a goalkeeper rated 7.20 on average across 38 Serie A appearances last season — a figure that reflects consistent rather than spectacular contribution — the Emirates test was always going to be read as a referendum on his ceiling. Como finished fourth with 71 points, conceding only 29 goals across the entire campaign. That defensive record is the clearest evidence of Butez's value: a goalkeeper does not anchor a backline that tight without doing the unglamorous work correctly, match after match.

Fàbregas's Como have built something methodical and difficult to break. The 20 wins and 11 draws from 38 matches tell the story of a side that rarely collapses, and Butez has been the last line of that structure. His single assist across the season is a minor curiosity — goalkeepers who contribute to build-up play tend to be valued by coaches who want to press high and recycle quickly, and Fàbregas is precisely that kind of coach.

The pre-season fixture against Arsenal also brought Trevoh Chalobah into the Como picture, with the defender making his debut in the friendly. Fàbregas is reportedly tracking further Chelsea-connected players to complete his squad, which suggests the club's ambitions for 2025-26 extend well beyond consolidating fourth place. A more complete squad raises the defensive bar — and with it, the standard Butez must meet every week.

At 31, Butez is at the age where goalkeepers typically reach their most reliable phase: the reflexes remain sharp, the positional reading has matured, and the experience of a full Serie A season at a competitive club has sharpened his understanding of Italian football's particular demands. His AI overall rating of 73 out of 100 places him in competent rather than elite territory, which is an honest assessment — he is a goalkeeper who makes a team functional, not one who single-handedly wins matches.

The penalty shootout at the Emirates will not appear in any Serie A table. What will matter is whether Como's defensive structure — 29 goals conceded in 38 matches last season — holds its shape when the points are real. Butez's job is to make sure the answer is yes.