Out, 0‑2 to Atlético Madrid, and the long argument about which of the small moments decided it. The league is all there is now, and everybody knows it.
Successful dribbles: 32. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Player ratings9 Nov 2026
Branco Salinardi, 19, plays like he has been here for years — 7.92
A mark of 7.92 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 19-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Córdoba this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 19-year-old it feels ownership of. Branco Salinardi 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Córdoba this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Málaga left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Words at Córdoba training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ignasi Vilarrasa 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.
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.
Some goals win a match and some take one off somebody else. Christian Carracedo scored in the 85th minute, Mirandés had already begun thinking about the journey home, and Córdoba took the lot.
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 11 matches without defeat is a foundation Córdoba did not have in the autumn.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Words at Córdoba training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Isma Ruiz 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.
Fabricio 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.
Marked 8.35. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Córdoba.
Squad26 Oct 2026
7 new faces, and Córdoba 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.
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
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.
Christian Carracedo 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.
The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Córdoba now.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Isma Ruiz 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.
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.
Branco Salinardi, 19, plays like he has been here for years — 8.00
A mark of 8.00 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 19-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Córdoba this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 19-year-old it feels ownership of. Branco Salinardi 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.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Xavi Sintes 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.
Squad28 Sep 2026
7 new faces, and Córdoba 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.
Successful dribbles: 34. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Words at Córdoba training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Isma Ruiz 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Córdoba this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The offer from Deportivo La Coruña for Xavi Sintes was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Córdoba this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Córdoba now.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Words at Córdoba training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Xavi Sintes 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.
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Ignasi Vilarrasa has come out of that comparison in the side, and Córdoba have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
The offer from Rayo Vallecano for Isma Ruiz was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Ninety minutes of very little, and then everything at once. The winner arrived in the 87th, and Eibar spent what remained of the match appealing to the referee rather than chasing the ball.
Mallorca paid $2.6M and Córdoba took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Córdoba this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Diego Bri 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.
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.
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.
The offer from Celta for Juan Gutiérrez was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Christian Carracedo 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.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Isma Ruiz 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.
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Christian Carracedo and Córdoba agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Córdoba this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Words at Córdoba training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Isma Ruiz 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.
The name of Diego Percan has come up in conversations Córdoba were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Córdoba, another week without a signature from Sergi Guardiola.
Christian Carracedo 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
Isma Ruiz 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.