91 minutes played. Mariano Penepil found the finish in time that only existed because of earlier delays, and Guadalajara went from a point to nothing inside one movement.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Ponferradina will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
3 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
12 combined actions and 7.10. 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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Mariano Penepil has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 81 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ponferradina this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Ponferradina, and 3 appearances in 9 say he has earned the hearing.
A mark of 7.56, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
The manager’s verdict
“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” Alejandro García kept it short after the 1‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Ponferradina, and both men came out saying it was fine.
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.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Ponferradina will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Ponferradina have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Slavy 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Ponferradina will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The 88th minute, half the ground already edging towards the exits, and Slavy decided nobody was going anywhere. Bilbao Athletic had no time left to answer.
Two goals and a mark of 8.80 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
At 24 the improving is meant to be over. It is not: 3 points better than the mark taken at the start of the year, which is the sort of thing that happens to players who take the boring parts of the job seriously.
Successful dribbles: 18. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad5 Oct 2026
10 new faces, and Ponferradina 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.
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 3‑2, Alejandro García could afford to be generous.
In brief
The dugoutHenry Harris asks for a word with the manager
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 105 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Boris Moltenis, and the manager let it.
The dugout28 Sep 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 0‑2 Alejandro García left the room before anybody could ask which.
Bilbao Athletic next, and one man in the Ponferradina dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Steven Petkov has written the date down.
Ninety specific minutes wanted a different sort of player, and the manager picked one. He is not out of form and he is not in the side, and both are true.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 112 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ponferradina this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 0‑0 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against Barakaldo? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
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.
“I have done everything asked of me in training and it has not changed a thing on a Saturday.” The most familiar complaint in football, and one Ponferradina will have to answer with minutes or with a transfer.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Ponferradina, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 121 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Boca Juniors keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Ponferradina asked and Valencia said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Minute 91, against Tenerife, and a goal that felt like a win to everybody who had stayed. It was a draw. Nobody leaving the ground will describe it as one.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Ponferradina, and both men came out saying it was fine.
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 1‑1 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 129 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
Deadline passes with 20 signed and 2 gone
That is the business done at Ponferradina until the window opens again. Whether it was enough will be answered on Saturdays rather than in a column, and the first Saturday is close.
Everything agreed with Boca Juniors, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Estudiantes keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Atalanta have kept their man, and Ponferradina go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad7 Sep 2026
10 new faces, and Ponferradina 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.
The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Carlos Calderón 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Slavy trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 137 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Boca Juniors have kept their man, and Ponferradina go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Ponferradina have made the call to River Plate. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation Ponferradina are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Ponferradina will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Deian Verón has, at Ponferradina, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ponferradina this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Ponferradina asked and River Plate said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Ponferradina have made the call to Stockport County. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
It is the least glamorous business a club does and the reason seasons do not collapse in February. Deian Verón is here for the weeks when three men are injured and somebody still has to play.
A new face in his position, and Boris Moltenis suddenly has to win back what he thought he owned. Ponferradina have promised nothing — clubs rarely do at this stage.