Marked for Ignacio Vázquez
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad7 Dec 2026
29 days out for Lautaro Vera after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Platense will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Market7 Dec 2026
Manuel Tucker hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Platense can pretend not to have heard.
Squad7 Dec 2026
A row about effort at Platense
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Nico López was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad7 Dec 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Gonzalo Goñi commits to Platense for another 3 years.
The dugout7 Dec 2026
Juan Saborido is still being punished for one mistake
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
Squad7 Dec 2026
The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Nicolás Sumavil has come out of it lower. He will be told it is temporary, and the players who have heard that before will avoid his eye.
Transfer targets7 Dec 2026
A loan enquiry to Rapid Wien: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
Market7 Dec 2026
Platense have let the market know Ignacio Vázquez can be had. No price in the advert, but everyone in the trade knows roughly what it says.
The dugout7 Dec 2026
Gonzalo Goñi gets it from the manager
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad9 Nov 2026
Words exchanged at Platense
Ignacio Vázquez and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Match7 Nov 2026
Deportivo Riestra left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
The manager makes an example of Nico López
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
The manager has not finished forgetting Juan Saborido's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑2 defeat, delivered by Julián Torres to a room that had heard them before.
Player ratings9 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 15. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Player ratings9 Nov 2026
Ten men and a goalkeeper behind him, and it still finished in the net. He knew before anybody told him, and nobody at Platense needed to.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Words at Platense training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Bautista Merlini is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
Iván Gómez asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match24 Oct 2026
Whatever happens, Platense do not lose
6 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.
Squad26 Oct 2026
A row about effort at Platense
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Nico López was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
The manager makes an example of Nicolás Sumavil
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Match24 Oct 2026
Three points for Platense, 1‑0 the final word against Estudiantes in a contest settled by the finer margins.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Julián Torres on a 1‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
The plan did not have a place for Iván Gómez
Nobody at Platense is suggesting he is out of form. The manager simply wanted somebody with a different set of qualities for ninety specific minutes, and there is nothing a player can train to fix that.
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 12. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
Augusto Lotti knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Platense, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Looking ahead26 Oct 2026
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Central Córdoba SdE in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad12 Oct 2026
Words exchanged at Platense
Nico López and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad12 Oct 2026
18 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Too much change too quickly at Platense
17 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Looking ahead12 Oct 2026
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Augusto Lotti’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Platense needing him to play as if none of it matters.
Market12 Oct 2026
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Nicolás Sumavil’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
Pablo Ferreira has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Platense will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
The manager makes Augusto Lotti a promise
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Platense. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
Squad12 Oct 2026
The penny has dropped for Nico López
He looks like a man who lives here now rather than one who is working here. It took most of a season, and at Platense the difference is visible from the back of the stand.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Player ratings5 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 43. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Market5 Oct 2026
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Platense is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad5 Oct 2026
A row about effort at Platense
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Nico López was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout5 Oct 2026
Iván Gómez gets it from the manager
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Player ratings5 Oct 2026
Nobody on the pitch touched Juan Saborido
7.54, and no serious argument from anybody who was there. Platense had eleven men on the pitch and one of them decided how it went.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Juan Saborido named in the team of the month
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Juan Saborido is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
Squad5 Oct 2026
It will be explained as a change for the team and it may even be one. Nobody who has worn one believes that, and neither does the man who has just had it taken away.
The dugout5 Oct 2026
Half-satisfied: Julián Torres on the draw
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 0‑0, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Not a new contract, not a new number: a new place in the manager’s thinking, which is the only promotion in football that actually matters. Franco Zapiola has moved up it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market28 Sep 2026
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Platense can pretend not to have heard.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
At 34 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.44 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Match26 Sep 2026
It had gone 7 games. The players did not celebrate like men who had won a match; they celebrated like men who had been let out of something.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Nico López in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Platense this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match26 Sep 2026
It finished 2‑1, and it was Nico López’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Platense.
Squad28 Sep 2026
200 games in this shirt, through managers and relegations and everything else. Service like it is disappearing from the game and the crowd knows what it is watching.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
A promise honoured at Platense
Something was said to Juan Saborido and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Julián Torres on a 2‑1 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Words at Platense training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Bautista Merlini is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market21 Sep 2026
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Match19 Sep 2026
The wait goes on for Platense
7 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Squad21 Sep 2026
A falling-out at Platense
Ignacio Vázquez and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 20. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
Iván Gómez knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Platense, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
Half-satisfied: Julián Torres on the draw
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 0‑0, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
No place in the plan for Iván Gómez
The manager wanted a different profile for this opponent, which is a real football reason and no consolation. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
Match19 Sep 2026
The crowd waited for a goal that never came. Instituto defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 29. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Market17 Aug 2026
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Words exchanged at Platense
Nico López and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Bautista Merlini falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Platense are still strangers to each other
17 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
Marked 7.27. Ask anyone leaving the ground what settled it and you will get one name, which is the only award that has ever really counted.
The dugout17 Aug 2026
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Nicolás Sumavil trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The dugout17 Aug 2026
Half-satisfied: Julián Torres on the draw
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 0‑0, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
The dugout17 Aug 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Santiago Dalmasso, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad10 Aug 2026
8 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.
Market10 Aug 2026
Morelia come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Platense did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Market10 Aug 2026
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Platense is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Boardroom10 Aug 2026
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Gonzalo Goñi has agreed terms with Tigre for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
Squad10 Aug 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Ignacio Vázquez commits to Platense for another 4 years.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Nico López in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Platense this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad10 Aug 2026
A muscle injury and 16 days out for Iván Gómez
The most common injury in the game and the most rushed back from. Platense will quote 16 days and will be careful with it, because the second one is always worse than the first.
Player ratings10 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 19. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Market10 Aug 2026
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Alejandro Sánchez has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad3 Aug 2026
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Player ratings3 Aug 2026
No sign of nerves from Manuel Tucker at 21 — 7.76
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Manuel Tucker did not need any: 7.76, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Player ratings3 Aug 2026
Up for the corner, and Ignacio Vázquez delivers — 7.55
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Ignacio Vázquez scored, was marked 7.55, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
Squad3 Aug 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Nico López and Platense agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad3 Aug 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Platense this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match1 Aug 2026
6 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Platense and San Lorenzo in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Match1 Aug 2026
2‑4 to San Lorenzo, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Ignacio Vázquez falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Market3 Aug 2026
The phone has started ringing about Franco Minerva again, and this time the name on the line is Morelia. Platense are listening politely and promising nothing.