Marked for Iván Tapia
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 23. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Juan Espínola was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Words at Barracas Central training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jhonatan Candia 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.
Squad19 Oct 2026
The manager makes an example of Gastón Campi
“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.
Match17 Oct 2026
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad7 Sep 2026
There were 7 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Player ratings7 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 27. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match5 Sep 2026
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Barracas Central are no longer polite ones.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Juan Espínola was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Words at Barracas Central training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jhonatan Candia 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.
Squad7 Sep 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Lucas Gamba, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match26 Aug 2026
Out, 1‑2 to Banfield, and the long argument about which of the small moments decided it. The league is all there is now, and everybody knows it.
Squad31 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 Barracas Central this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 22. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Jhonatan Candia 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.
Squad31 Aug 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Fernando Tobio, and the manager let it.
Match26 Aug 2026
Conceding is one thing; the response is what tells you about a dressing room. Norberto Briasco had Barracas Central level again within 3 minutes, and Banfield never got to play with a lead at all.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 29. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad17 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 Barracas Central this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Jhonatan Candia 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.
Match15 Aug 2026
Beaten 1‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad17 Aug 2026
The manager makes an example of Juan Espínola
“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.
Boardroom17 Aug 2026
Nobody left the Barracas Central dressing room in a hurry
The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.
Squad17 Aug 2026
The plan did not have a place for Fernando Tobio
Nobody at Barracas Central 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 ratings17 Aug 2026
He was not in the side at half past three and he had settled it before five. Half an hour, and Barracas Central had a different afternoon.
Loan watch17 Aug 2026
3 appearances at Chaco For Ever and the goals keep coming. Barracas Central are watching this more closely than the borrowing club would like.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad10 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 Barracas Central this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Jhonatan Candia 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.
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.
Squad10 Aug 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Nicolás Capraro and Barracas Central agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Market10 Aug 2026
48 months and counting on Iván Tapia
Still no offer on the table, and Iván Tapia’s deal keeps shrinking. In boardroom language, silence this long stops being an oversight and starts being an answer.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad3 Aug 2026
Iván Tapia has been here 11 seasons
240 appearances across 11 seasons in one shirt. Nobody builds a career like that on purpose any more; it happens to a certain kind of footballer at a certain kind of club.
Player ratings3 Aug 2026
Lucas Gamba, 39, rolls back the years — 7.83
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 7.83 at 39, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Market3 Aug 2026
The offer from Fjolnir for Gastón Silvero was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Squad3 Aug 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Lucas Gamba and Barracas Central agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Gastón Campi was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Player ratings3 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 21. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Words at Barracas Central training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jhonatan Candia 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.
Match1 Aug 2026
Banfield held the lead for 4 minutes, which is not long enough to enjoy it. Barracas Central answered before the celebration had properly finished, and the shape of the afternoon changed with it.
Market3 Aug 2026
36 months to run and not a word offered. A club that lets the calendar negotiate for it usually ends up losing to the calendar.