Serie D

And I was like, "Look, I mean, it's not like I'm gonna do like the San Marino challenge or whatever." And I was like, "Oh, actually that's, that sounds like the sort of thing that I would like." Like pick the shittest football team in the world and then get the shittest manager to try and make them less shit.

So I was like, "Right, let's do a little Google, work out how you do the San Marino challenge." And um, it turned out, so you got, you need the database anyway 'cause they're in like Serie D, aren't their list? Like Samarin- San Marinese, San Marin- San Ma- San Marinesi Club.

San Marinese, yeah, yeah.

San Marinese Club.

Um-

[laughs]

So where they are, so they're Serie D, which is like difficult, uh, to get in the database.

But unfortunately when I started googling the club, turns out those stupid bastards got relegated to Serie E, which is like Sunday League I think.

... go back to that environment and rebuild it.

I feel, I feel that's what he needs for his own benefit and his own career going forward because un- unfortunately, I do feel he'll probably be one of those players that will just be considered as what could have been potentially players, and he'll just fly out of the league itself and yeah, before you know it, he'll be probably in Serie D before we know it.

[chuckles] Yeah, well abso-

Clearly.

Thank you.

Well, 10 years ago, Como was an idyllic lakeside city best known for George Clooney's villa and a football club in Serie D.

Today, that club is in the Champions League.

It's one of the most remarkable rises in modern football, and it was bankrolled by Indonesian billionaires, steered by Cesc Fabregas, God bless that hero, on the touchline, and run by a man with no apparent footballing background at all.

You have been the guy that scores last minute for us.

You need to be the one that wins us the World Cup taking this penalty kick." And the last time he took a penalty was in Serie D, fourth division-

[laughs]

... five years prior.

I mean, the thing that struck me walking into this stadium for a game like that was that, yeah, this is a big occasion.

This is a club that we know the story around the growth of this club in rapid rise from Serie D to where it is now.

But it still felt very much like a community, small club in a good sense.

So when you walk into the atmosphere, it's intimate, it's local.