Erick Marcus

Attacking Midfielder (R) - Ludogorets
4 Oct 2027
Monday
Process

Marked for Erick Marcus

60 Edition

The Ludogorets Sentinel

20 Sep 2027
From our football correspondent Triumph

Match

Ludogorets refuse to drop out of the race

Position 3, 18 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.

Match

Nobody wants to play Ludogorets right now

4 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.

Player ratings

A defender's afternoon for Filip Kaloč

Defensive actions: 26. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.

Player ratings

Erick Marcus runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 24. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Squad

Filip Kaloč stays put

“The easiest signature of my career.” Filip Kaloč and Ludogorets agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.

Squad

Petar Stanić 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 Ludogorets this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Player ratings

Nothing got past Darlin Yongwa

Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 23 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.

Player ratings

One of those days for Aguibou Camara

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 9.47, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

Match

Ludogorets find a way past Lokomotiv Plovdiv

Lokomotiv Plovdiv made Ludogorets work for it, but the scoreboard read 2‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.

In brief

Back issues
59 Edition

The Ludogorets Sentinel

13 Sep 2027
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Market

Edvin Kurtuluş puts it in writing

“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 The request is on a desk at Ludogorets, and it is not being withdrawn.

Market

Ludogorets turn down CSKA 1948 for Erick Marcus

The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.

Player ratings

Nothing got past Filip Kaloč

Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 29 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.

Player ratings

Erick Marcus runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 25. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Squad

Ludogorets count the cost of losing Maks Ebong

120 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.

Match

Ludogorets cannot stop winning

3 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.

Squad

Tempers go at Ludogorets

Caio Vidal 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 ratings

Maks Ebong shuts the door

Defensive actions: 23, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.

Squad

Erick Marcus signs on for more

“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Erick Marcus and Ludogorets agree another 5 years.

In brief

58 Edition

The Ludogorets Sentinel

6 Sep 2027
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Match

No mercy from Ludogorets

Septemvri will want this one forgotten quickly: 3‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Ludogorets were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.

Squad

A one-man rearguard from Dimitar Evtimov

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.

Squad

Idan Nachmias keeps the receipts

“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Ludogorets may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.

Market

Caio Vidal wants to know where this is going

“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at Ludogorets hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.

Squad

Petar Stanić 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 Ludogorets this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Aguibou Camara

Marked 9.37 — 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.

Player ratings

Erick Marcus in the eights

A performance of 9.38 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

Player ratings

A defender's afternoon for Maks Ebong

Defensive actions: 21. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.

Player ratings

Petar Stanić in the eights

A performance of 8.70 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

In brief

57 Edition

The Ludogorets Sentinel

30 Aug 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Player ratings

Nothing got past Filip Kaloč

Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 29 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.

Market

Ludogorets turn down Montana for Jonathan Lima

The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.

Market

Vinícius Nogueira moves on

Arda pay $1.6M, and the deal is done. The number reads well on a balance sheet; whether it reads well on the pitch is next season's question.

Player ratings

Erick Marcus runs at them all day

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.

Squad

Tempers go at Ludogorets

Petar Stanić 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 ratings

A defender's afternoon for Maks Ebong

Defensive actions: 21. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.

Player ratings

A defender's afternoon for Olivier Verdon

Defensive actions: 21. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.

Match

Ludogorets find a way past Arda

Arda made Ludogorets work for it, but the scoreboard read 2‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.

Squad

Joel Andersson 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.

In brief

56 Edition

The Ludogorets Sentinel

23 Aug 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Match

Ludogorets march on in the cup

Dobrudzha are out and Ludogorets go through, 2‑0 the final word. The bracket opens up a little, and everyone allows themselves a look at it.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Erick Marcus

Successful dribbles: 29. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Player ratings

Ivan Yordanov shuts the door

Defensive actions: 29, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.

Market

Vinícius Nogueira puts it in writing

“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 Ludogorets, and it is not being withdrawn.

Squad

Ludogorets lose Hendrik Bonmann

33 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.

Squad

Caio Vidal 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 Ludogorets this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Market

Business is business: Ivaylo Chochev goes

Botev Vratsa paid $820.0K and Ludogorets took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Stanislav Ivanov

Marked 9.20 — 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.

Player ratings

One of those days for Alberto Salido

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.58, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

In brief

55 Edition

The Ludogorets Sentinel

16 Aug 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

Edvin Kurtuluş puts it in writing

“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 Ludogorets, and it is not being withdrawn.

Squad

Jonathan Lima says Ludogorets went back on their word

“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.

Market

Cherno More come back empty-handed

The bid was some way short and Ludogorets did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.

Squad

Petar Stanić stays put

“The easiest signature of my career.” Petar Stanić and Ludogorets agree another 5 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.

Match

The wait goes on for Ludogorets

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.

Squad

Tempers go at Ludogorets

Petar Stanić 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.

Market

Lokomotiv Sofia watching Erick Marcus

The interest is real enough to have reached print. Ludogorets have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.

Player ratings

Aguibou Camara in the eights

A performance of 9.06 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

Squad

The manager makes an example of Marko Grujić

“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.

In brief

54 Edition

The Ludogorets Sentinel

9 Aug 2027
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

Petar Stanić 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 Ludogorets this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Match

A bad afternoon for Ludogorets against CSKA Sofia

1‑2 to CSKA Sofia, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.

Squad

Hendrik Bonmann 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 ratings

A masterclass from Aguibou Camara

Marked 8.42 — 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.

Player ratings

One of those days for Rwan Cruz

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.04, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

Squad

Ludogorets count the cost of losing Jonathan Lima

29 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.

Market

The Ivaylo Chochev conversation is coming

Everyone has stopped pretending: Botev Vratsa will make the call about Ivaylo Chochev this week. Ludogorets have a number in mind, and the number is not shy.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Erick Marcus

Successful dribbles: 16. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Squad

Hendrik Bonmann lets one through his hands

A defender's mistake gets tidied up by somebody else; a goalkeeper's ends up in the net. He knew before the ball crossed the line, and so did everybody in the ground.

In brief

53 Edition

The Ludogorets Sentinel

2 Aug 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Match

Whatever happens, Ludogorets do not lose

28 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.

Squad

A one-man rearguard from Hendrik Bonmann

There were 9 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.

Market

Ludogorets turn down Montana for Erick Marcus

The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.

Market

Idan Nachmias 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 Ludogorets can pretend not to have heard.

Squad

Tempers go at Ludogorets

Caio Vidal 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 ratings

Nobody could get near Erick Marcus

Successful dribbles: 20. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Squad

The manager makes an example of Alejandro Piedrahita

“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.

Player ratings

The afternoon belonged to Rwan Cruz

A mark of 7.85, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.

Market

The Gonzalo Ávila conversation is coming

Everyone has stopped pretending: Cherno More will make the call about Gonzalo Ávila this week. Ludogorets have a number in mind, and the number is not shy.

In brief

52 Edition

The Ludogorets Sentinel

26 Jul 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Match

Still nobody has beaten Ludogorets

The unbeaten run reaches 27. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.

Market

Ludogorets turn down Spartak 1918 for Vinícius Nogueira

The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.

Squad

Petar Stanić 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 Ludogorets this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Market

Lokomotiv Sofia watching Deroy Duarte

The interest is real enough to have reached print. Ludogorets have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.

Player ratings

Erick Marcus runs at them all day

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.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Rwan Cruz

Marked 8.21 — 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.

Market

Lokomotiv Plovdiv are about to pick up the phone

A conversation is coming this week. Ludogorets will put a number on him, and from there it stops being football and becomes arithmetic.

Squad

Deyan Paskov signs a new deal

“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Deyan Paskov commits to Ludogorets for another 3 years.

Match

Honours even between Ludogorets and Lokomotiv Sofia

1‑1, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.

In brief

49 Edition

The Ludogorets Sentinel

5 Jul 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

Ludogorets say no — this time

The offer from Botev Vratsa for Deroy Duarte 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.

Squad

Tempers go at Ludogorets

Petar Stanić 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.

Market

Erick Marcus attracts admirers

The name of Erick Marcus has come up in conversations Ludogorets were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.

Squad

Alberto Salido out for 25 days

The medical room confirms 25 days on the sidelines for Alberto Salido, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.

Squad

Somebody is after Marko Grujić’s shirt

A new face in his position, and Marko Grujić suddenly has to win back what he thought he owned. Ludogorets have promised nothing — clubs rarely do at this stage.

Market

The shop window has Noah Sonko Sundberg in it

Ludogorets have let the market know Noah Sonko Sundberg can be had. No price in the advert, but everyone in the trade knows roughly what it says.

In brief

46 Edition

The Ludogorets Sentinel

14 Jun 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Match

Ludogorets are in among the leaders

Position 2 and 54 points on the board. Nobody at the ground will say the word out loud yet, and everybody at the ground is thinking it.

Market

Ludogorets sign Maks Ebong for $3.7M

The paperwork is done: Maks Ebong joins from CSKA Sofia in a deal worth $3.7M. Now comes the harder part.

Market

Ludogorets say no — this time

The offer from CSKA Sofia for Erick Marcus 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.

Market

Ludogorets sign Vasil Simeonov for $920.0K

The paperwork is done: Vasil Simeonov joins from Montana in a deal worth $920.0K. Now comes the harder part.

Squad

Petar Stanić 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 Ludogorets this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Market

Ludogorets sell Anton Nedyalkov for $390.0K

Anton Nedyalkov has left for CSKA Sofia in a $390.0K deal. The accountants are pleased; the supporters are less certain.

In brief

37 Edition

The Ludogorets Sentinel

12 Apr 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Erick Marcus: 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.” Ludogorets have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.

Squad

Petar Stanić 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 Ludogorets this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

No hiding place for Rodrigo Arciero

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Rodrigo Arciero, and the manager let it.

In brief

30 Edition

The Ludogorets Sentinel

22 Feb 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Match

Whatever happens, Ludogorets do not lose

24 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.

Squad

Hendrik Bonmann decides it from twelve yards

3 kept out in the shoot-out, and a stadium that will still be describing them in twenty years. A goalkeeper only needs one of these to be remembered forever.

Match

Cup progress for Ludogorets

A 1‑1 win over Lokomotiv Plovdiv, a place in the next round, and the quiet arithmetic every supporter does on the walk home: how many more until a final?

Match

Ludogorets up to position 2

54 points on the board and a place in the leading group. Nobody at the ground is saying the word out loud yet.

Market

Vinícius Nogueira asks to leave Ludogorets

“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.

Player ratings

Erick Marcus runs at them all day

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.

Squad

Petar Stanić is carrying Ludogorets

11 goals and a season average of 7.49. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.

Squad

Tempers go at Ludogorets

Hendrik Bonmann 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 ratings

A masterclass from Rwan Cruz

Marked 8.38 — 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.

In brief

27 Edition

The Ludogorets Sentinel

1 Feb 2027
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Match

22 unbeaten for Ludogorets

Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 22 matches without defeat is a foundation Ludogorets did not have in the autumn.

Market

Ivaylo Chochev asks to leave Ludogorets

“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.

Market

Caio Vidal wants to know where this is going

“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at Ludogorets hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.

Squad

Petar Stanić 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 Ludogorets this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Player ratings

Erick Marcus in the eights

A performance of 8.85 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Matheus Machado

Marked 8.23 — 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.

Squad

The manager makes an example of Joel Andersson

“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.

Squad

Defences have started doubling up on Caio Vidal

5 goals and a season average of 7.34 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.

Match

Ludogorets and Botev Vratsa take a point apiece

It finished 1‑1, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.

In brief

26 Edition

The Ludogorets Sentinel

25 Jan 2027
From our football correspondent Triumph

Match

Ludogorets refuse to drop out of the race

Position 2, 52 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.

Market

Vinícius Nogueira 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 Ludogorets can pretend not to have heard.

Market

Ludogorets turn down Montana for Erick Marcus

The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.

Squad

Defences have started doubling up on Petar Stanić

11 goals and a season average of 7.51 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.

Match

Ludogorets cannot stop winning

3 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.

Player ratings

A defender's afternoon for Ivan Yordanov

Defensive actions: 24. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.

Squad

Tempers go at Ludogorets

Hendrik Bonmann 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 ratings

Olivier Verdon shuts the door

Defensive actions: 22, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.

Market

Sergio Padt moves on

CSKA Sofia pay $110.0K, and the deal is done. The number reads well on a balance sheet; whether it reads well on the pitch is next season's question.

In brief

25 Edition

The Ludogorets Sentinel

18 Jan 2027
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Match

Still nobody has beaten Ludogorets

The unbeaten run reaches 20. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.

Squad

A one-man rearguard from Hendrik Bonmann

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.

Squad

Petar Stanić 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 Ludogorets this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Defences have started doubling up on Petar Stanić

10 goals and a season average of 7.46 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.

Player ratings

Olivier Verdon shuts the door

Defensive actions: 22, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.

Market

Levski watching Erick Marcus

The interest is real enough to have reached print. Ludogorets have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.

Player ratings

One of those days for Petar Stanić

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.99, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

Match

Ludogorets see off Spartak 1918

Three points for Ludogorets, 2‑0 the final word against Spartak 1918 in a contest settled by the finer margins.

Player ratings

Bernard Tekpetey in the eights

A performance of 8.73 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

In brief

21 Edition

The Ludogorets Sentinel

21 Dec 2026
From our football correspondent Triumph

Match

Still nobody has beaten Ludogorets

The unbeaten run reaches 16. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.

Market

Vinícius Nogueira asks to leave Ludogorets

“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.

Squad

Filip Kaloč out for 39 days

The medical room confirms 39 days on the sidelines for Filip Kaloč, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.

Squad

Petar Stanić 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 Ludogorets this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Player ratings

Caio Vidal runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 21. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Player ratings

One of those days for Petar Stanić

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 9.06, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

Match

Ludogorets get the job done against Septemvri

A 2‑1 win over Septemvri, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.

Player ratings

One of those days for Rwan Cruz

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.53, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

Squad

Petar Stanić is in the form of his life

A season average of 7.37 with 7 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.

In brief

8 Edition

The Ludogorets Sentinel

21 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Player ratings

Nothing got past Filip Kaloč

Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 34 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.

Squad

Tempers go at Ludogorets

Hendrik Bonmann 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 ratings

One of those days for Erick Marcus

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 9.16, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

Player ratings

Aguibou Camara runs at them all day

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.

Match

Ludogorets see off Lokomotiv Plovdiv

Three points for Ludogorets, 1‑0 the final word against Lokomotiv Plovdiv in a contest settled by the finer margins.

Player ratings

Marko Grujić shuts the door

Defensive actions: 17, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.

Squad

No hiding place for Stanislav Ivanov

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Stanislav Ivanov, and the manager let it.

Squad

Hendrik Bonmann 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 Hendrik Bonmann trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.

Squad

Erick Marcus finally opens his account

He wheeled away like a man who had been carrying it for months, because he had. Ludogorets have their signing off the mark and one press-conference question retired.

In brief

1 Edition

The Ludogorets Sentinel

3 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Hendrik Bonmann keeps Ludogorets in it on his own

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.

Market

Racing Genk join the queue for Kwadwo Duah

Add another name to the list: Racing Genk have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Kwadwo Duah. The answer from Ludogorets has not changed — yet.

Squad

Tempers go at Ludogorets

Petar Stanić 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 ratings

Erick Marcus runs at them all day

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.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Petar Stanić

Marked 8.65 — 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.

Squad

Gonzalo Ávila signs on for more

“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Gonzalo Ávila and Ludogorets agree another 2 years.

Market

Ludogorets and Hendrik Bonmann are talking past each other

“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.

Squad

Petar Stanić 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.

Match

Petar Stanić rescues a point for Ludogorets

It needed Petar Stanić to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Levski, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.

In brief