Marked for Johan Portilla
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad14 Dec 2026
Santiago Córdoba damages knee ligaments — 99 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 99 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.
Transfer targets14 Dec 2026
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Flamengo have kept their man, and Deportivo Pasto go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Lautaro Rivero was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Johan Portilla 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
Boca Juniors 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.
Squad14 Dec 2026
No place for Moisés in the new shape
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation Deportivo Pasto are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
The dugout14 Dec 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Johan Portilla, and the manager let it.
Market14 Dec 2026
A season-long audition: Santos still own him, but the shirt and the minutes are Deportivo Pasto's to give. A loan is a bet both clubs believe they are winning.
Market14 Dec 2026
A season-long look at somebody else’s player: Lautaro Rivero arrives from River Plate with something to prove and a return ticket in the drawer. Good loans make everybody richer; this one starts Saturday.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad7 Dec 2026
Santiago Córdoba damages knee ligaments — 106 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 106 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.
The dugout7 Dec 2026
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Deportivo Pasto may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Transfer targets7 Dec 2026
Everything agreed with Santos, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Johan Portilla 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
The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Santiago Córdoba is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
Boardroom7 Dec 2026
Open for business: Deportivo Pasto enter the window
The registration window is open and the phone has started. Between now and the deadline this club will be linked with forty players and sign three, which is the usual ratio.
Squad7 Dec 2026
A new face in his position and a shirt he thought he owned suddenly up for discussion. Deportivo Pasto have promised nothing, which is what clubs promise at this stage.
The dugout7 Dec 2026
Hassan Vergara 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 Hassan Vergara trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad30 Nov 2026
Santiago Córdoba damages knee ligaments — 117 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 117 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.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Patrick Preciado 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.
The dugout30 Nov 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 dugout30 Nov 2026
Patrick Preciado 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.
The dugout30 Nov 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.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
The manager plants his flag on Matías Pisano
“Judge me on him.” Managers do not say that kind of thing by accident — it moves the pressure from Matías Pisano’s shoulders onto his own, and both of them know it.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad9 Nov 2026
A knee injury of the worst kind for Julián Quiñones
33 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Deportivo Pasto lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market9 Nov 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.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Mayer Gil 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.
The dugout9 Nov 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 dugout9 Nov 2026
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Deportivo Pasto. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad2 Nov 2026
Julián Quiñones damages knee ligaments — 41 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 41 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.
Player ratings2 Nov 2026
Age has not caught Matías Pisano yet — 7.93
At 34 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 7.93 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Match31 Oct 2026
A 2‑1 win over Deportes Tolima, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
The terraces2 Nov 2026
He is 23 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.
Player ratings2 Nov 2026
A performance of 8.36 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad2 Nov 2026
The medical room confirms 28 days on the sidelines for Andres Rangel, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Johan Portilla 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.
Squad2 Nov 2026
The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Patrick Preciado has come out of it lower. He will be told it is temporary, and the players who have heard that before will avoid his eye.
The dugout2 Nov 2026
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 2‑1, Francisco Vargas could afford to be generous.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad26 Oct 2026
Julián Quiñones damages knee ligaments — 48 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 48 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.
Match24 Oct 2026
It finished 1‑0, and it was Jorge Obregón’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Deportivo Pasto.
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
7.85, and no serious argument from anybody who was there. Deportivo Pasto had eleven men on the pitch and one of them decided how it went.
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 Deportivo Pasto this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Deportivo Pasto are still strangers to each other
20 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 dugout26 Oct 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Enrique Serje, and the manager let it.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 1‑0, Francisco Vargas could afford to be generous.
Looking ahead26 Oct 2026
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Fáiner Torijano’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Deportivo Pasto needing him to play as if none of it matters.
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 11. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad19 Oct 2026
55 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Deportivo Pasto lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Deportivo Pasto may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad19 Oct 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.
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
At 34 every good afternoon gets called a throwback, and this one was: 8.15, and nobody on the pitch better.
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.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Diego Chaná is a better footballer than he was
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 21 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Market19 Oct 2026
It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Mateo Garavito wants continental football; whether Deportivo Pasto can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.
Match17 Oct 2026
Beaten 1‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Johan Portilla and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad12 Oct 2026
A knee injury of the worst kind for Julián Quiñones
65 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Deportivo Pasto lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Hervin Goyes is a better footballer than he was
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 20 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Squad12 Oct 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” John Méndez and Deportivo Pasto agree another 4 years.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Patrick Preciado 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.
Looking ahead12 Oct 2026
Atletico Bucaramanga next, and one man in the Deportivo Pasto dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
Hassan Vergara 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 Hassan Vergara trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Market12 Oct 2026
Jeremías Ramírez signs, and the fee column stays empty. Deals like this look small in July and clever by March — or they are never mentioned again.
The dugout12 Oct 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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad14 Sep 2026
Julián Quiñones damages knee ligaments — 96 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 96 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.
Match12 Sep 2026
Junior made Deportivo Pasto work for it, but the scoreboard read 2‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
Marked 8.19 — 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 ratings14 Sep 2026
Santiago Jiménez was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.06. 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 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.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Johan Portilla 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.
The dugout14 Sep 2026
“That is what I want every week. Not the result, the way they went about it.” The manager, after 2‑0, already talking about the next one.
Squad14 Sep 2026
No place for Brayan Gómez in the new shape
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation Deportivo Pasto are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 13. 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.