Marked for Pablo Sáenz
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match20 Feb 2027
1‑4 to Betis, 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.
Market22 Feb 2027
Dani Calvo has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Oviedo they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Match20 Feb 2027
The wait goes on for Oviedo
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.
Squad22 Feb 2027
Words exchanged at Oviedo
Santi Cazorla 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.
Squad22 Feb 2027
Words at Oviedo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. David Carmo 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.
Player ratings22 Feb 2027
The game went through Alberto Reina — 6.86
Marked 6.86 on 13 actions at both ends of the pitch. Midfielders like this get described as unspectacular by people who have never tried to play against one.
Squad22 Feb 2027
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 dugout22 Feb 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.
Boardroom22 Feb 2027
Nobody left the Oviedo 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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad25 Jan 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Agustín Pérez
17 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Oviedo lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Match23 Jan 2027
At last: Oviedo win one
11 matches without a win, and then this, against Alavés. Relief is a strange noise in a football ground and it was the only noise at the end.
Market25 Jan 2027
Oviedo say no — this time
The offer from Rodez AF for David Costas 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.
Market25 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 Oviedo, and it is not being withdrawn.
Player ratings25 Jan 2027
Santi Cazorla, 42, rolls back the years — 8.21
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.21 at 42, and nobody on the pitch was better.
The dugout25 Jan 2027
“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.
Market25 Jan 2027
Business is business: Kwasi Sibo goes
Sanluqueño paid $3.3M and Oviedo took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Words exchanged at Oviedo
David Carmo 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.
Transfer targets25 Jan 2027
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
In brief
-
Match
Oviedo see off Alavés
-
Squad
Words at Oviedo training over how hard people work
-
Player ratings
One of those days for Jacobo
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad21 Dec 2026
Agustín Pérez damages knee ligaments — 57 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 57 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Match19 Dec 2026
Chastening afternoon for Oviedo
A 0‑3 beating by Real Madrid was the sort of result that empties a stadium long before the final whistle.
Match19 Dec 2026
The wait goes on for Oviedo
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 Dec 2026
6 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.
Squad21 Dec 2026
A falling-out at Oviedo
David Carmo and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match15 Dec 2026
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad21 Dec 2026
A row about effort at Oviedo
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Santiago Colombatto was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Player ratings21 Dec 2026
Successful dribbles: 18. 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.
The dugout21 Dec 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Ilyas Chaira, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad14 Dec 2026
A knee injury of the worst kind for Santi Cazorla
18 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Oviedo lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Match12 Dec 2026
Oviedo bow out of the cup
Valencia go through and Oviedo go home, 0‑1 the scoreline that did it. The dressing room will call the league the priority now, because that is what dressing rooms say.
Match12 Dec 2026
The wait goes on for Oviedo
5 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.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Words exchanged at Oviedo
Raúl Asencio 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.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Words at Oviedo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nacho Vidal 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 dugout14 Dec 2026
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑1 Andrés Gallardo left the room before anybody could ask which.
The terraces14 Dec 2026
Everybody has an opinion about Aarón Escandell
He is the name in every column and on every phone-in, which is a heavy thing to carry at any age. Some footballers thrive on it; others are quietly finished by it.
The dugout14 Dec 2026
Juan Cruz 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 dugout14 Dec 2026
No place in the plan for Raúl Asencio
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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad23 Nov 2026
Santi Cazorla damages knee ligaments — 40 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 40 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Squad23 Nov 2026
A falling-out at Oviedo
David Carmo and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match21 Nov 2026
Oviedo come up short against Elche
Elche left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Words at Oviedo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nacho Vidal 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 dugout23 Nov 2026
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 0‑2, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
Squad23 Nov 2026
One booking too many, and a game watched from the stand. Oviedo lose him for the most avoidable reason in the sport.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Dani Villahermosa, and the manager let it.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
“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.
Looking ahead23 Nov 2026
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Atlético Madrid in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad16 Nov 2026
Agustín Pérez damages knee ligaments — 98 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 98 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Squad16 Nov 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 Oviedo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Words at Oviedo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. David Carmo 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 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
Pablo Sáenz gets picked when it counts
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 Pablo Sáenz is on it.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Santiago Colombatto trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
In brief
-
Looking ahead
Dani Calvo faces his old club
-
The dugout
A door opens for Pablo Sáenz
-
Looking ahead
Looking ahead: Elche at home
-
Squad
Jacobo named in the team of the week
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad19 Oct 2026
A knee injury of the worst kind for Agustín Pérez
128 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Oviedo lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Match17 Oct 2026
0‑4 to Betis, 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.
Squad19 Oct 2026
David Carmo 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 Oviedo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Words at Oviedo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Santiago Colombatto 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
200 games in these colours. Service of that kind gets rarer every season, and the crowd knows it.
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 17. 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.
Boardroom19 Oct 2026
Nobody left the Oviedo 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 dugout19 Oct 2026
A promise honoured at Oviedo
Something was said to Raúl Asencio and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑4, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market31 Aug 2026
“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 Oviedo, and it is not being withdrawn.
Transfer targets31 Aug 2026
Everything agreed with Veracruz, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Transfer targets31 Aug 2026
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Veracruz keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Squad31 Aug 2026
A falling-out at Oviedo
David Carmo and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets31 Aug 2026
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Levante have kept their man, and Oviedo go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad31 Aug 2026
A row about effort at Oviedo
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Juan Cruz was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match29 Aug 2026
A point taken on 88 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.
The dugout31 Aug 2026
David Costas 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 ratings31 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 16. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.