Como are making their Champions League debut this season, and Nico Paz is the obvious place to start. He has already scored 1 goal in 3 Serie A appearances this season, is averaging a 7.27 rating, and arrives with the status of having been named Serie A’s best midfielder last season.

Paz's early-season form

The numbers are already strong enough to make him more than a headline pick for Como’s first European campaign. Three league appearances is not a huge body of work, but 1 goal in that span is a useful return for a young attacking midfielder, especially when it sits alongside that 7.27 average rating.

Metro’s football feature writer summed up the appeal neatly: "The 22-year-old attacking midfielder, who was born in Spain but plays for Argentina, was named as the best midfielder in Serie A last season and will look to continue that form on the European stage this campaign."

That is a fair read of where he stands. Paz is not being sold as a future idea here, he is being presented as a player who has already produced in league football and now gets the Champions League stage that comes with it.

Como's debut and Paz's pedigree

The other part of the story is Como itself. Metro also wrote that "Como are making their Champions League debut this season and boast one of the most sought-after young players in the world in Paz."

Paz’s background gives that line real weight. He made three appearances for Real Madrid's group-stage team in the 2023/24 Champions League, so this is not his first look at the competition. The step is bigger for Como than it is for him.

There is also the matter of how Como got here. They finished 4th in Serie A last season, and their last five league matches brought four wins and one draw. That kind of domestic form is a decent platform for a debut in Europe, but Paz is still the player who gives the project its clearest attacking reference.

Como do not need him to be a finished product to make this interesting. They need him to keep turning good league form into something that travels, and the first Champions League nights will show whether he can do that against better opposition.

Written by Daniel Hartley with AI-assisted research, cross-checked against 1 outlet. How we work →