Como midfielder Máximo Perrone stepped into Champions League football on September 11 as part of a Como side that dismantled RB Leipzig 4-1 in their historic European debut — the club's first appearance in the competition, and the first time Cesc Fàbregas has led a team onto that stage.
For Perrone, 23, the occasion carries a particular weight. He is a young midfielder building his identity in Serie A at a club that has arrived, almost improbably, at the summit of European competition. The 4-1 result against Leipzig is the kind of scoreline that announces a team; the question now is what role Perrone carves out within it.
His Serie A numbers through three matches are modest in the traditional sense — no goals, no assists, an average rating of 6.73 — but that framing misses the point of what a holding or box-to-box midfielder does in a Fàbregas system. The Argentine's value is structural. Como sit fourth in the table with seven points from three matches, two wins and a draw, having scored seven and conceded three. That defensive solidity and attacking output do not happen without midfield discipline, and Perrone is part of that architecture.
His AI overall of 72 out of 100, with a potential of 78, suggests a player who has not yet reached his ceiling. At 23, with Champions League minutes now accumulating alongside Serie A appearances, the conditions for growth are in place. Fàbregas, who described himself as honoured to be the first Como coach in the competition's history, has spoken about the need to perform every three days across both Serie A and the Champions League — a demand that will test squad depth and individual resilience in equal measure.
Perrone's next examination arrives soon. Feyenoord await in the next Champions League fixture, and Como's domestic schedule runs concurrently. Whether he starts, rotates, or deepens his role will tell us more about how Fàbregas rates him in high-pressure environments than any early-season rating can.
The platform is historic. The work, for Perrone, is just beginning.