Marked for Pablo López
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match29 Mar 2027
Every point is an argument now for Chiapas
Position 18 and 12 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
Market29 Mar 2027
Pablo López 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 Chiapas can pretend not to have heard.
Squad29 Mar 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Chiapas may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad8 Mar 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Chiapas may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Player ratings8 Mar 2027
Successful dribbles: 29. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Market8 Mar 2027
“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.
Match6 Mar 2027
The wait goes on for Chiapas
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.
Player ratings8 Mar 2027
25 defensive actions and a clean sheet at the end of them. A defender's afternoon can only be told by what did not happen, which is why nobody makes a highlights package out of one and every manager in the division would take it.
Squad8 Mar 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Jorge Torres Nilo and Chiapas agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match1 Mar 2027
Every point is an argument now for Chiapas
Position 18 and 11 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
Market1 Mar 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Chiapas can pretend not to have heard.
Squad1 Mar 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Chiapas may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Player ratings1 Mar 2027
Raúl Torres pops up at the right end — 7.62
7.62, 1 on the scoresheet, and the specific comedy of a back-four player celebrating like somebody who does this every week. He does not, and that is exactly why the ground reacted the way it did.
Match27 Feb 2027
No end in sight to Chiapas's wait for a win
4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Chiapas has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad1 Mar 2027
Jorge Torres Nilo 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.
Match27 Feb 2027
Raúl Torres scored, and precious little else went right: 1‑3 to Queretaro, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.
Squad1 Mar 2027
Words at Chiapas training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alejandro Arana 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.
Squad1 Mar 2027
The manager makes an example of Juan Miguel
“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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market8 Feb 2027
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Market8 Feb 2027
Pablo López 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 Chiapas can pretend not to have heard.
Player ratings8 Feb 2027
No sign of nerves from Diego Sánchez at 21 — 7.62
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Diego Sánchez did not need any: 7.62, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Player ratings8 Feb 2027
Ulises Torres goes up and wins it — 7.86
A defender on the scoresheet, which happens rarely enough that everybody in the ground remembers who took the corner. 1 for him, and a mark of 7.86 for the rest of it.
Squad8 Feb 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Chiapas this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Alejandro Arana 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.
Squad8 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.
Match6 Feb 2027
Honours even between Chiapas and Leon
2‑2, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
Player ratings8 Feb 2027
Successful dribbles: 15. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match12 Dec 2026
No end in sight to Chiapas's wait for a win
21 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Chiapas has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad14 Dec 2026
A one-man rearguard from Ricardo Díaz
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.
Market14 Dec 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.
Squad14 Dec 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 Chiapas this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match12 Dec 2026
Chiapas cannot find the net
3 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
Squad14 Dec 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Daniel Amador, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match28 Nov 2026
No end in sight to Chiapas's wait for a win
19 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Chiapas has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad30 Nov 2026
A one-man rearguard from Ricardo Díaz
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.
Player ratings30 Nov 2026
23 defensive actions and a clean sheet at the end of them. A defender's afternoon can only be told by what did not happen, which is why nobody makes a highlights package out of one and every manager in the division would take it.
Squad30 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 Chiapas this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad30 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.
Squad30 Nov 2026
A promise honoured for Pablo López
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Chiapas told Pablo López something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
Player ratings30 Nov 2026
13 defensive actions and a clean sheet at the end of them. A defender's afternoon can only be told by what did not happen, which is why nobody makes a highlights package out of one and every manager in the division would take it.
Player ratings30 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 12. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Match28 Nov 2026
Chiapas and Tigres cancel each other out
Nil-nil, and few chances worth the name. Tigres came to defend and left with exactly what they came for.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match21 Nov 2026
18 matches without a win for Chiapas
The run now stands at 18, and the questions being asked around Chiapas are no longer polite ones.
Market23 Nov 2026
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Chiapas can pretend not to have heard.
Squad23 Nov 2026
A one-man rearguard from Ricardo Díaz
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.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Jorge Torres Nilo 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.
Match21 Nov 2026
Atlas left with the points after a 1‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Player ratings23 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 18. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match17 Oct 2026
13 matches without a win for Chiapas
The run now stands at 13, and the questions being asked around Chiapas are no longer polite ones.
Market19 Oct 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 Chiapas, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Diego Sánchez: 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.” Chiapas have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad19 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 Chiapas this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad19 Oct 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Hassan Vergara, and the manager let it.
Match17 Oct 2026
0‑1 to Guadalajara, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match29 Aug 2026
The wait goes on for Chiapas
6 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.
Match29 Aug 2026
The goals have deserted Chiapas
5 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Chiapas can tell you which week it ends in.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Jorge Torres Nilo 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 Aug 2026
Words at Chiapas training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alejandro Arana 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.
Squad31 Aug 2026
The manager makes an example of Manuel Madrid
“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.
Squad31 Aug 2026
17 new faces, and Chiapas are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match1 Aug 2026
Beaten 1‑4 by Tigres, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.
Squad3 Aug 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Daniel Amador commits to Chiapas for another 4 years.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Pablo López 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.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Pablo López 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.
Market3 Aug 2026
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Chiapas has been clear about where Maximiliano Cruz stands, which is more than many ever get.
Boardroom3 Aug 2026
Nobody left the Chiapas 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.
Market3 Aug 2026
“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.
Market3 Aug 2026
49 months left and silence from upstairs — no offer, no talks, nothing for his people to answer. Clubs that let a calendar do their negotiating usually end up negotiating with the calendar.
Squad3 Aug 2026
8 new faces, and Chiapas are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.