One of the most successful players of his generation, Cesc Fabregas played for clubs like Barcelona, Chelsea and Arsenal while winning both the World Cup and the EUROs with the Spain national team. Since retiring, he has made a successful transition into management. His Como FC side are now established in Serie A and are looking to take the next step. Before that, they might have to take on Celtic in pre-season.
Of course, Celtic have pulled off some impressive results in pre-season so far. They got a 2-0 win over Portuguese champions Sporting Lisbon before handing Newcastle United a 4-0 defeat.
Those are very positive results. Now, they will look to carry on moving in that positive direction in the Como Cup, where they will be taking on Ajax and either Fabregas' side or Al Ahli, either in the final or the third place game.
Fabregas is proving himself as one of the top rising managers in the game and Celtic fans will love his assessment of Brendan Rodgers' side as well as his own experience of playing at Parkhead. As reported by The Glasgow Times, he said:
"It was incredible to play at [[Celtic]] Park.
“It will be nice because they have quality players. They won the league by far this year and they play in Europe.
"If we do play against them, it will be a big test."
Celtic fans will love what Cesc Fabregas said about the club
It is very clear that Como have been keeping an eye on Celtic. That is why they were ready to shell out a transfer fee north of €19 million to sign Nicolas Kuhn this summer. The German winger might line up against his former teammates sooner than anybody could have anticipated.
At the end of the day, this is pre-season and the results really don't matter. That being said, winning is a habit and it is always good to come out on the positive end of a match, no matter at what level or what time of the year it is played in.
The Como Cup will be another chance to have a look at players like Benjamin Nygren and Hayato Inamura, who are impressing in pre-season and might have roles in the first-team next season. That will be especially surprising when it comes to the latter, who was expected to be sent out on loan even before he was officially signed.