Marked for Sergio Ramirez
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match12 May 2029
The wait goes on for Leones
12 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.
Match9 May 2029
The small margins put Leones out
Out, 0‑1 to Independiente Medellin, and the long argument about which of the small moments decided it. The league is all there is now, and everybody knows it.
Squad14 May 2029
15 days out for Sergio Ramirez after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Leones will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Market14 May 2029
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Leones can pretend not to have heard.
Market14 May 2029
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Jeimar Ibargüen will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Leones the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad14 May 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Leones this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings14 May 2029
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.44, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad14 May 2029
A row about effort at Leones
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Miguel Ángel Arboleda was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout14 May 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Miguel Ángel Arboleda, and the manager let it.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match5 May 2029
The wait goes on for Leones
10 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.
Squad7 May 2029
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 24 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The dugout7 May 2029
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Leones have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad7 May 2029
Tempers go at Leones
Germán Meneses 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.
Match5 May 2029
Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad7 May 2029
A row about effort at Leones
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Omar Villadiego was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout7 May 2029
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 0‑2 Edwin Quintero left the room before anybody could ask which.
Squad7 May 2029
Wainer Marquez slips down the pecking order
The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Wainer Marquez is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
The dugout7 May 2029
The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match28 Apr 2029
The wait goes on for Leones
9 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.
Squad30 Apr 2029
A fracture rules Sergio Ramirez out for 31 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Leones will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market30 Apr 2029
“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.
The dugout30 Apr 2029
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Leones have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad30 Apr 2029
A row about effort at Leones
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Edmilson Herazo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match28 Apr 2029
Beaten 1‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Player ratings30 Apr 2029
A performance of 8.10 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Match28 Apr 2029
The goal that put Deportivo Pereira ahead was still being replayed on the concourse when Leones equalised, 2 minutes later. Leads are only worth what you do with them.
Squad30 Apr 2029
A falling-out at Leones
Thiago López 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
Uneasy
Match21 Apr 2029
No end in sight to Leones's wait for a win
8 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Leones has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad23 Apr 2029
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 39 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Match23 Apr 2029
Leones are in real trouble now
Position 18, 9 points, and a fixture list with fewer games left in it than excuses. The arithmetic is not cruel yet, but it has stopped being kind.
Squad23 Apr 2029
Words at Leones training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Edmilson Herazo 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.
Squad23 Apr 2029
Words exchanged at Leones
Omar Villadiego 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 dugout23 Apr 2029
“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 Apr 2029
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 0‑0, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
The dugout23 Apr 2029
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.
Match21 Apr 2029
Nil-nil, and few chances worth the name. La Equidad came to defend and left with exactly what they came for.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad16 Apr 2029
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 46 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Match14 Apr 2029
No end in sight to Leones's wait for a win
7 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Leones has to find a result from somewhere.
Market16 Apr 2029
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Leones is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Player ratings16 Apr 2029
Jorge Aristizábal ran the middle of the pitch — 7.04
He won it back and then made something of it, which is two jobs and the reason the scoreline looks the way it does. 13 combined actions and a mark of 7.04, and not one of them will make a highlights package.
Squad16 Apr 2029
A row about effort at Leones
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Omar Villadiego was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout16 Apr 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Cristian Rodríguez, and the manager let it.
The dugout16 Apr 2029
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 0‑0, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
The dugout16 Apr 2029
Germán Meneses 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.
Looking ahead16 Apr 2029
Leones take on the side everybody is chasing
La Equidad arrive as leaders. A side at the top is beaten roughly once a month, and the club that does it gets a week it remembers for a year.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad9 Apr 2029
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 53 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Match7 Apr 2029
No end in sight to Leones's wait for a win
6 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Leones has to find a result from somewhere.
Market9 Apr 2029
It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether Leones can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.
Squad9 Apr 2029
Tempers go at Leones
Germán Meneses 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 ratings9 Apr 2029
11 combined actions and 6.57. The job he did is the one that shows up as other people looking good, and the only reliable way to notice it is to watch what happens on the afternoons he is missing.
Squad9 Apr 2029
A row about effort at Leones
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Roinner Fruto was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Player ratings9 Apr 2029
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.06, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings9 Apr 2029
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.01, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Match7 Apr 2029
Leones rescue it on 87 minutes
Behind, and beaten by any honest reading, until minute 87. Junior had the points in their pocket and a corner of the ground still believed, which is generally when it happens.