Marked for Ignacio Abraham
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market18 Jan 2027
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Banfield, and it is not being withdrawn.
The dugout18 Jan 2027
Nicolás Gaitán: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Banfield have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Market18 Jan 2027
Banfield say no — this time
The offer from Aris Thessaloniki for Lisandro Piñero 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.
Squad18 Jan 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Banfield this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Words at Banfield training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ignacio Abraham 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.
Squad18 Jan 2027
The system has changed and his position has not. A footballer can improve his form; he cannot improve the manager’s formation, and that is the whole of the problem.
The dugout18 Jan 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Ignacio Pais, and the manager let it.
The dugout18 Jan 2027
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Matías Hernández is on it.
The dugout18 Jan 2027
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Valentín Viola has written the date down.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad11 Jan 2027
A falling-out at Banfield
Diego Rodríguez and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Ignacio Abraham 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.
Transfer targets11 Jan 2027
Banfield asked and HNK Rijeka said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad11 Jan 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Marcos López and Banfield agree another 5 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Too much change too quickly at Banfield
5 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 dugout11 Jan 2027
“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 dugout11 Jan 2027
Nicolás Gaitán 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 Banfield, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market11 Jan 2027
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Banfield know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
The dugout11 Jan 2027
Lautaro Villegas has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Banfield 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Transfer targets28 Dec 2026
Vélez wanted more than $3.4M and the board would not go there. Walked away, for now, which in a transfer window means until somebody blinks.
Transfer targets28 Dec 2026
Banfield have gone to Estudiantes with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
Market28 Dec 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.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Enzo Cardozo gets the move he always wanted
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Enzo Cardozo has just signed for Banfield, and for once the answer mattered.
Market28 Dec 2026
Joaquín Molina has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Banfield they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Transfer targets28 Dec 2026
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. San Lorenzo have kept their man, and Banfield go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Market28 Dec 2026
He left as a boy and has come back still knowing where the away end is. Most signings have to be explained to a town; this one needed a photograph and nothing else.
Market28 Dec 2026
The fee is $270.0K, the contract is signed, and the argument about whether he is worth it can begin. Almirante Brown drove a hard bargain; time will say who won it.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Ignacio Abraham 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market21 Dec 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.
The dugout21 Dec 2026
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Transfer targets21 Dec 2026
$3.4M on the table at Vélez. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Boardroom21 Dec 2026
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Facundo Romeo has pre-agreed a move away, which means every appearance between now and June is made by a man the club can no longer sell, and somebody upstairs will be asked why the contract was allowed to get here.
Market21 Dec 2026
Only the photograph left for Facundo Romeo
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Facundo Romeo will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Banfield the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Ignacio Abraham 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.
Squad21 Dec 2026
A falling-out at Banfield
Santiago López García and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets21 Dec 2026
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Grasshopper have kept their man, and Banfield go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Transfer targets21 Dec 2026
Banfield have made the call to HNK Rijeka. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market14 Dec 2026
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Banfield people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Squad14 Dec 2026
A falling-out at Banfield
Diego Rodríguez and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets14 Dec 2026
Banfield asked and Casa Pia said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Words at Banfield training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Lisandro Piñero 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.
Transfer targets14 Dec 2026
Grasshopper have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
The dugout14 Dec 2026
Lautaro Ríos knocks on the manager’s door
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Lautaro Ríos trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Market14 Dec 2026
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Banfield know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
The dugout14 Dec 2026
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
Squad14 Dec 2026
A wage question at Banfield
Juan Luis Alfaro has done the arithmetic and does not like the answer. Nothing corrodes a squad faster, and no club has ever solved it by explaining the wage structure to a footballer.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market7 Dec 2026
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Squad7 Dec 2026
48 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Words exchanged at Banfield
Diego Rodríguez 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.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Ignacio Abraham 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.
Transfer targets7 Dec 2026
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Venezia have kept their man, and Banfield go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad7 Dec 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Lucas Palavecino and Banfield agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Transfer targets7 Dec 2026
A loan move for Enzo López is in the works
Banfield have made the call to Sivasspor. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
The dugout7 Dec 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Valentín Viola, and the manager let it.
The dugout7 Dec 2026
The manager has not finished forgetting Lautaro Gómez'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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market30 Nov 2026
Only the photograph left for Joaquín Molina
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Joaquín Molina will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Banfield the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Diego Rodríguez 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.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Words at Banfield training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ignacio Abraham 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.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Banfield are still strangers to each other
5 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.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Banfield, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Lautaro Villegas is on it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad16 Nov 2026
A falling-out at Banfield
Diego Rodríguez and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad16 Nov 2026
A row about effort at Banfield
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ignacio Abraham was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
“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 dugout16 Nov 2026
Lisandro Piñero 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.
Market16 Nov 2026
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Banfield know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Squad16 Nov 2026
He goes off to be somebody else’s player for a fortnight. Banfield lose him for the window and would like him returned in the condition he left.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad9 Nov 2026
Words at Banfield training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ignacio Abraham 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.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Santiago López García 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.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Nicolás Gaitán, and the manager let it.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.
Squad9 Nov 2026
The system has changed and his position has not. A footballer can improve his form; he cannot improve the manager’s formation, and that is the whole of the problem.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Matías Hernández is on it.
Market9 Nov 2026
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Banfield, another week without a signature from Lucas Palavecino.
Market9 Nov 2026
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Marcelino Ñamandú may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market2 Nov 2026
Joaquín Molina has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Banfield they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Words exchanged at Banfield
Santiago López García 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.
Squad2 Nov 2026
A row about effort at Banfield
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Nicolás Gaitán was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad2 Nov 2026
7 new faces, and Banfield are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
Squad2 Nov 2026
A place in the month's best eleven for Ignacio Abraham
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Ignacio Abraham has come out of that comparison in the side, and Banfield have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
Market2 Nov 2026
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Banfield, another week without a signature from Nicolás Gaitán.
The dugout2 Nov 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Demian Rea, and the manager let it.
The dugout2 Nov 2026
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
The dugout2 Nov 2026
Lautaro Ríos has been promised minutes
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Lautaro Ríos has written the date down.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match24 Oct 2026
5‑2, and the margin flattered nobody — it could have carried another goal or two without complaint. Afternoons like this are why people keep coming.
Squad26 Oct 2026
The match ball belongs to Adrián Balboa, whose 3 goals turned a difficult afternoon into a procession.
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
Favio Álvarez, 33, rolls back the years — 8.05
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.05 at 33, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Market26 Oct 2026
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Banfield they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad26 Oct 2026
24 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Squad26 Oct 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 Banfield this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
Marked 9.98 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Ignacio Abraham 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market19 Oct 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.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Squad19 Oct 2026
A falling-out at Banfield
Diego Rodríguez and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Ignacio Abraham 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.
Boardroom19 Oct 2026
The paperwork is done long before the player is. Mauro Smarra has agreed terms to come here when his current deal runs out, which means Banfield have spent a summer's transfer budget on a phone call.
Match17 Oct 2026
It had gone 5 games. The players did not celebrate like men who had won a match; they celebrated like men who had been let out of something.
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.22, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
A performance of 8.04 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match5 Oct 2026
Banfield sink to position 14
5 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Market5 Oct 2026
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Banfield is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Match3 Oct 2026
The wait goes on for Banfield
4 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.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Diego Rodríguez 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.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Ignacio Abraham 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.
Match3 Oct 2026
Beaten 1‑3, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout5 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.
Player ratings5 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 16. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Too much change too quickly at Banfield
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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 33. 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.
Squad28 Sep 2026
There were 8 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.
Market28 Sep 2026
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Lucas Palavecino will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Banfield the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Boardroom28 Sep 2026
He will play here until the summer and then walk out of the door for free, having already signed elsewhere. Supporters will manage the first part of that sentence; it is the second they will struggle with.
Squad28 Sep 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 Banfield this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad28 Sep 2026
A row about effort at Banfield
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ignacio Abraham was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match26 Sep 2026
Aldosivi left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout28 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 dugout28 Sep 2026
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑1, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad14 Sep 2026
A row about effort at Banfield
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ignacio Abraham was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad14 Sep 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 Banfield this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout14 Sep 2026
“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.
Match12 Sep 2026
A goal on 86 minutes turned three points into one and a good afternoon into an argument about game management that will run until Saturday.
Match12 Sep 2026
1‑1, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
The dugout14 Sep 2026
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Diego Sánchez after the 1‑1 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
Squad14 Sep 2026
“I did not sign to watch. Nobody does.” The oldest complaint in the game, and Banfield will have to answer it with minutes or with a move.
Squad14 Sep 2026
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation Banfield are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
Looking ahead14 Sep 2026
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Tigre in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market7 Sep 2026
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Diego Rodríguez 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 Banfield training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ignacio Abraham 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
13 new faces, and Banfield are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Lisandro Piñero named in the team of the month
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Lisandro Piñero is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
The dugout7 Sep 2026
Ignacio Pais 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.
Market7 Sep 2026
Lautaro Cano is free to find somewhere else
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Banfield has been clear about where Lautaro Cano stands, which is more than many ever get.
The dugout7 Sep 2026
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
The dugout7 Sep 2026
Tomás Adoryan 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
Uneasy
Match19 Aug 2026
Banfield march on in the cup
Morón are out and Banfield go through, 6‑4 the final word. The bracket opens up a little, and everyone allows themselves a look at it.
Match22 Aug 2026
1‑4 to Huracán, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
Match19 Aug 2026
At 3 goals adrift this was a formality, and the formality lasted right up until it did not. Banfield found something the first half had given no notice of, and Morón could not hold what they had.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Two goals and a mark of 9.35 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Jaider Victoria, 20, plays like he has been here for years — 8.22
A mark of 8.22 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 20-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Squad24 Aug 2026
A falling-out at Banfield
Diego Rodríguez and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match22 Aug 2026
No clean sheets in sight for Banfield
5 games now with at least two against. The back line has been rearranged, the goalkeeper has been backed publicly, and the goals keep going in anyway.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 21. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Ignacio Abraham 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match15 Aug 2026
Nowhere to hide for Banfield
2‑5 against River Plate, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
Lisandro Piñero, 19, plays like he has been here for years — 7.71
A mark of 7.71 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 19-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Market17 Aug 2026
Banfield say no — this time
The offer from Al Ahly for Gino Santilli 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.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Words exchanged at Banfield
Diego Rodríguez 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.
Match15 Aug 2026
Adrián Balboa among the goals in a wild afternoon
7 goals in one match, Adrián Balboa on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Banfield and River Plate.
Squad17 Aug 2026
A row about effort at Banfield
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ignacio Abraham was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Boardroom17 Aug 2026
Nobody left the Banfield 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.
The dugout17 Aug 2026
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 2‑5, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Whether it was the goalkeeper or the ten in front of him is the argument that will fill every conversation in town this week. 3 saves does not settle it either way.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market10 Aug 2026
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Banfield is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Boardroom10 Aug 2026
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Gino Santilli has agreed terms with Independiente for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
Market10 Aug 2026
Banfield say no — this time
The offer from Sioni for Joaquín Molina 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.
Squad10 Aug 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Ignacio Abraham and Banfield agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
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 Banfield this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match8 Aug 2026
1‑3 to Atlético Tucumán, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The dugout10 Aug 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Nehuén Paz, and the manager let it.
Market10 Aug 2026
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Tomás Colombo 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.
Market10 Aug 2026
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Roberto Colombo has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
In brief
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Squad
Lautaro Ríos falls out with a teammate over standards
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Squad
Banfield are still strangers to each other
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The dugout
The view from the dugout
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad3 Aug 2026
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 12 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Player ratings3 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 29. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Boardroom3 Aug 2026
He will play here until the summer and then walk out of the door for free, having already signed elsewhere. Supporters will manage the first part of that sentence; it is the second they will struggle with.
Squad3 Aug 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Diego Rodríguez commits to Banfield for another 2 years.
Market3 Aug 2026
Joaquín Molina has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Banfield they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Diego Rodríguez 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.
Squad3 Aug 2026
A row about effort at Banfield
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ignacio Abraham was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match1 Aug 2026
A point taken on 96 minutes is worth exactly one point and considerably more than that to a dressing room. This side does not stop, which is a reputation worth more than the result.
Match1 Aug 2026
It finished 2‑2, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.