Serie A: Inter beat Como before hosting Liverpool in the Champions League

Inter Milan reached the top of Serie A on Saturday after beating high-flying Como 4-0 at the San Siro ahead of the visit of struggling Liverpool in the Champions League.

Strike partner Lautaro Martinez and Marcus Thuram scored in each half before Hakan Calhanoglu and Carlos Augusto netted late as Inter eased to a win, moving two points clear of AC Milan and Napoli, both of whom have yet to play.

Champions Napoli host fierce rivals Juventus on Sunday evening, while Milan will be favorites to beat their local rival in Torino on Monday.

“Today we showed how good we are against a very good team in Como,” Martinez said. “We showed how hungry we are to get as many points as possible… it’s a really good win for us.”

Saturday’s win was the perfect warm-up for Tuesday’s match with Liverpool, which could be crucial in whether Cristian Chivu’s side qualify directly for the last 16 of the 2025/26 UEFA Champions League.

A good sign for Chivu was the strong performance of Luis Henrique at right wing-back, which has been a difficult position for Inter since Denzel Dumfries suffered an ankle injury last month.

It was Henrique who was the key to Martinez’s opening goal in the eleventh minute. The Brazilian burst into the penalty area from his own half, cut inside and perfectly fed his captain who scored a seventh goal in Serie A.

And in the 59th minute, Thuram added to his brace in Inter’s midweek cup tie against Venezia with his first league goal since returning from a hamstring injury suffered in September.

French striker Thuram fired in from close range after Federico Dimarco’s corner caused chaos for Como, who had started the second half as the better team and should have equalized after one of two big chances for Tasos Douvikas and Alex Valle.

Cesc Fabregas’ Como dropped one place to sixth, six points behind Inter, after their first defeat since August, which was highlighted by Calhanoglu scoring his seventh goal of the season in the 81st minute and Carlos Augusto’s lovely volley shortly afterwards.

«It’s hard to analyze when you’ve been beaten 4-0. It’s a tough defeat… but to be honest, I didn’t see a big difference between the two teams tonight,» Fabregas insisted.

“A result like today helps you develop… A big defeat is when you grow the most and when you learn the most.”

The crisis at Fiorentina continues

Fiorentina fell deeper into crisis with a 1-3 defeat at promoted Sassuolo, leaving them bottom of the division without a win this season.

Fiorentina was once home to the likes of Gabriel Batistuta and Rui Costa and finished in sixth place last season. It has only collected six points from fourteen matches.

And even with the support of some 4,000 traveling fans, the ‘Viola’ were terrible in Reggio Emilia, where they fell in their eighth league defeat after taking the lead after Rolando Mandragora’s ninth-minute goal.

Cristian Volpato equalized for Sassuolo five minutes later with a deflected goal. Tarik Muharemovic gave the hosts a deserved lead on the stroke of half-time when he was given freedom in Fiorentina’s penalty area to head home his first Serie A goal.

From then on, Fiorentina showed nothing to suggest a comeback and Ismael Kone got full points for Sassuolo in the 65th minute, shortly after Volpato had a shouter ruled out for a soft-looking foul on Fabiano Parisi.

That decision infuriated Sassuolo’s coach Fabio Grosso, who was subsequently sent off for dissent.

Grosso’s counterpart Paolo Vanoli, who took charge of Fiorentina a month ago, shouted in vain from the touchline as his team remained six points from safety with just over a third of the season gone.

Raffaele Palladino’s bright start as the Atalanta coach scored a goal with a 1-3 defeat to Verona in the late game of the day.

Published on December 7, 2025