Marked for Juan David Sánchez
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad19 Mar 2029
A knee injury of the worst kind for Yevhen Banada
141 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Metalist lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Match14 Mar 2029
The cup run ends for Metalist
0‑3 against Metalist, and the road stops here. Cup exits are quick deaths — no second leg, no next week, just the league from now until May.
Squad19 Mar 2029
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 8 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Market19 Mar 2029
“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 The request is on a desk at Metalist, and it is not being withdrawn.
The terraces19 Mar 2029
A cup hiding at Metalist leaves Metalist explaining themselves
0-3, and long before the end the away end had switched from encouragement to something considerably more pointed. Nobody rings a phone-in about losing narrowly.
Squad19 Mar 2029
A falling-out at Metalist
Maksym Zaderaka and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad19 Mar 2029
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Juan David Sánchez has, at Metalist, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
The dugout19 Mar 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Tymur Puzankov, and the manager let it.
Boardroom19 Mar 2029
The manager kept them in and said what needed saying. A response is expected on Saturday, and if it does not come the questions move upstairs.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match17 Jun 2028
1‑4 to Bogota, 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 Jun 2028
Full time on the season at Tigres
Position 6 on 33 points. Every season is a story and this is the last line of it, and now the club has three months to decide what the next one is about.
Market19 Jun 2028
“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 The request is on a desk at Tigres, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market19 Jun 2028
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Tigres people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Market19 Jun 2028
The interest is real enough to have reached print. Tigres have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
Transfer targets19 Jun 2028
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Tigres have done the hard part with Leones, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Squad19 Jun 2028
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Jesús Cano and Tigres agree another 3 years.
Squad19 Jun 2028
A falling-out at Tigres
Déinner Quiñónes and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad19 Jun 2028
Axel Muñoz gets the move he always wanted
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Axel Muñoz has just signed for Tigres, and for once the answer mattered.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market29 May 2028
Aldo Montes 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 Tigres can pretend not to have heard.
The dugout29 May 2028
Ricardo Rosales: 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.” Tigres have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Match27 May 2028
The wait goes on for Tigres
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.
Match27 May 2028
Tigres make home a hard place to visit
11 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.
Market29 May 2028
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Tigres they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad29 May 2028
Words exchanged at Tigres
Déinner Quiñónes 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.
Squad29 May 2028
A row about effort at Tigres
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Luis Bonilla was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Boardroom29 May 2028
Wages eat 189% of everything Tigres earn
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
Squad29 May 2028
16 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
In brief
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Player ratings
Camilo Ibarra was unplayable
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Squad
7 new faces, and Tigres are still learning each other
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The dugout
Half-satisfied: Javier Mina on the draw
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market1 May 2028
Aldo Montes 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 Tigres can pretend not to have heard.
Player ratings1 May 2028
A brace, and Jorge Rivaldo takes the afternoon — 8.89
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Jorge Rivaldo provided it, and the 8.89 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Squad1 May 2028
Jorge Rivaldo is in the form of his life
A season average of 7.48 with 17 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.
Market1 May 2028
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Juan David Sánchez will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Tigres the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad1 May 2028
Words exchanged at Tigres
Déinner Quiñónes 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.
Boardroom1 May 2028
Wages swallow 202% of the Tigres income
Every club pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time it has been tried.
The dugout1 May 2028
The manager makes an example of Aldo Montes
“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.
Squad1 May 2028
50 for the club now, each one filed in somebody’s memory with a date and a scoreline. Numbers like this are what supporters argue about in twenty years.
Match29 Apr 2028
The goal that put America de Cali ahead was still being replayed on the concourse when Tigres equalised, 1 minutes later. Leads are only worth what you do with them.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market3 Apr 2028
“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 Tigres, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad3 Apr 2028
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.
Market3 Apr 2028
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Tigres is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad3 Apr 2028
Words exchanged at Tigres
Déinner Quiñónes 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.
Squad3 Apr 2028
Luis Bonilla 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.
Boardroom3 Apr 2028
Wages eat 200% of everything Tigres earn
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
The dugout3 Apr 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Nicolás Soto, and the manager let it.
Match1 Apr 2028
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Match3 Apr 2028
The half-term report on Tigres
Position 6, 16 points, and every result so far reduced to one line. The second half of the season starts with the same squad and a different set of expectations.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad6 Mar 2028
The match ball belongs to Jorge Rivaldo, whose 4 goals turned a difficult afternoon into a procession.
Match4 Mar 2028
No mercy from Tigres
Deportes Quindio will want this one forgotten quickly: 4‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Tigres were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Market6 Mar 2028
“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.
Market6 Mar 2028
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Juan David Sánchez will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Tigres the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Match4 Mar 2028
7 unbeaten for Tigres
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 7 matches without defeat is a foundation Tigres did not have in the autumn.
Squad6 Mar 2028
Words exchanged at Tigres
Déinner Quiñónes 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.
Player ratings6 Mar 2028
Marked 10.00 — 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.
Boardroom6 Mar 2028
Tigres counting the cost
The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Tigres now.
Boardroom6 Mar 2028
232% of the income goes out in wages at Tigres
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match5 Feb 2028
7 matches without a win for Tigres
The run now stands at 7, and the questions being asked around Tigres are no longer polite ones.
Market7 Feb 2028
“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.
Boardroom7 Feb 2028
An order from above at Tigres: somebody has to go
Balance sheets do not care about form or about who the manager was planning to build around. The board have decided a sale is required, and the only question left is which name ends up carrying it.
Market7 Feb 2028
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Tigres they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad7 Feb 2028
Words exchanged at Tigres
Déinner Quiñónes 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.
Boardroom7 Feb 2028
The numbers do not look good at Tigres
Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.
Boardroom7 Feb 2028
143% of the income goes out in wages at Tigres
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
Match5 Feb 2028
Tigres rescue it on 91 minutes
Behind, and beaten by any honest reading, until minute 91. Real Santander had the points in their pocket and a corner of the ground still believed, which is generally when it happens.
Squad7 Feb 2028
Omar Preciado 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
Market31 Jan 2028
“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 Tigres, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market31 Jan 2028
Aldo Montes has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Tigres they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Match29 Jan 2028
No end in sight to Tigres's wait for a win
6 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Tigres has to find a result from somewhere.
The dugout31 Jan 2028
Camilo Ibarra: 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.” Tigres have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Boardroom31 Jan 2028
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.
Squad31 Jan 2028
Tempers go at Tigres
Jorge Rivaldo 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.
Squad31 Jan 2028
The formation has left Brayan Gómez behind
Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. Tigres will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
Player ratings31 Jan 2028
Successful dribbles: 16. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad31 Jan 2028
Too much change too quickly at Tigres
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.