Marked for Marcelo
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match19 Dec 2026
4‑1, and Borislav Rupanov took the headlines on an afternoon when everything Leiria tried came off. Days like this are retold all winter.
Player ratings21 Dec 2026
A brace, and Borislav Rupanov takes the afternoon — 8.99
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Borislav Rupanov provided it, and the 8.99 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Player ratings21 Dec 2026
A brace, and Diogo Pinto takes the afternoon — 8.18
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Diogo Pinto provided it, and the 8.18 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Squad21 Dec 2026
A falling-out at Leiria
Railan and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad21 Dec 2026
A row about effort at Leiria
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jair Silva was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The terraces21 Dec 2026
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Borislav Rupanov has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Match19 Dec 2026
Another one collected away from home
3 on the bounce on the road for Leiria. The coaches leave early, arrive at unlovely grounds in the dark, and keep coming home with three points.
Player ratings21 Dec 2026
Marked 8.06 — 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.
The dugout21 Dec 2026
No hiding place for Marcelo
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Marcelo, and the manager let it.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad14 Dec 2026
11 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.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Tempers go at Leiria
Juan Muñoz 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 ratings14 Dec 2026
Successful dribbles: 21. 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.
Match12 Dec 2026
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout14 Dec 2026
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 0‑1, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
The dugout14 Dec 2026
The manager makes an example of Felipe Cardoso
“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 dugout14 Dec 2026
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
The dugout14 Dec 2026
Marcelo 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 Leiria, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Looking ahead14 Dec 2026
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Leixões in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad7 Dec 2026
Tempers go at Leiria
Railan 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 Dec 2026
A row about effort at Leiria
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Pablo Fernández was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match5 Dec 2026
A 1‑0 win over Penafiel, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Player ratings7 Dec 2026
Juan Muñoz was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.15. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
The dugout7 Dec 2026
Daniel Rivas 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.
The dugout7 Dec 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.
Squad7 Dec 2026
The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Ibrahima Guirassy is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Marc Baró makes the team of the month
Four or five weekends of consistency, measured against everybody else in the division. A quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
The dugout7 Dec 2026
The view from the dugout
“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” Hugo Teixeira, on a 1‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match21 Nov 2026
Leiria win it in stoppage time
The board had gone up, the arguing had started, and then the ball was in the net in the 91th minute. Benfica B will replay every second of the added time for a week.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Words exchanged at Leiria
Juan Muñoz 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.
Match21 Nov 2026
Three points for Leiria, 3‑2 the final word against Benfica B in a contest settled by the finer margins.
The terraces23 Nov 2026
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Mateo Sanabria has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Player ratings23 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 18. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
Marcelo 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.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
The manager’s verdict
“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” Hugo Teixeira kept it short after the 3‑2 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
Squad23 Nov 2026
The first one is the one every signing is asked about until it arrives. It has arrived, and he can stop being asked.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
The form table has caught Daniel Rivas
Somebody else has been better, the manager has said so with a team sheet, and there is no argument to be had. He will get the shirt back the only way it can be got back.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad26 Oct 2026
20 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Leiria lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 6 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 23. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Words exchanged at Leiria
Juan Muñoz 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.
Squad26 Oct 2026
A row about effort at Leiria
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Pablo Fernández was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match24 Oct 2026
Académico de Viseu left with the points after a 1‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
Railan 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.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 1‑2, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
The shape wanted a different profile against this opponent, which is a real football answer and no comfort at all to the man it is about. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad5 Oct 2026
A falling-out at Leiria
Juan Muñoz and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad5 Oct 2026
The step up is real for José Nabil
At 20 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Squad5 Oct 2026
A row about effort at Leiria
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Pablo Fernández was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The terraces5 Oct 2026
He is 22 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
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.
Match3 Oct 2026
A 2‑0 win over Oliveirense, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Player ratings5 Oct 2026
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.13, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings5 Oct 2026
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.02, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Somebody has moved past him. It is not a dropping and it is worse than one, because a dropping is about a Saturday and this is about where he stands.