Marked for Cristopher Toselli
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings27 Mar 2028
Successful dribbles: 29. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match25 Mar 2028
The unbeaten run reaches 9. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.
Squad27 Mar 2028
Justo Giani 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.
Squad27 Mar 2028
Daniel González 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.
Squad27 Mar 2028
“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.
Loan watch27 Mar 2028
“I watch every Universidad Catolica game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Universidad de Chile runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad6 Mar 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.
Squad6 Mar 2028
Vicente Bernedo 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.
Squad6 Mar 2028
Words at Universidad Catolica training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Daniel González 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.
Match4 Mar 2028
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Mohanad Ali. 1‑0 against Audax Italiano, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Player ratings6 Mar 2028
Mohanad Ali was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.41. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
Player ratings6 Mar 2028
Successful dribbles: 17. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Player ratings6 Mar 2028
14 times he got in the way of something. Centre-halves get written about when they make mistakes and ignored when they do not, so an afternoon like this needs saying out loud: he is the reason the scoreline reads as it does.
Player ratings6 Mar 2028
4.93. Every footballer has these and most of them happen away from a full ground; his did not, and he will be aware of that all week.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings14 Feb 2028
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.16, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Squad14 Feb 2028
Matías Moreno is a better footballer than he was
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 20 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Squad14 Feb 2028
Justo Giani 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.
Market14 Feb 2028
Juan Díaz wants European nights
The general version of this complaint is that a player wants more. The specific version names the thing: he wants to walk out under floodlights against clubs from other countries, and he has stopped pretending otherwise.
Boardroom14 Feb 2028
5 academy players handed senior numbers at Universidad Catolica
The morning the pathway stops being a brochure and becomes a team sheet. Most of them will not be here in three years; all of them have already done the hard part, which was getting to today.
Match12 Feb 2028
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Mohanad Ali. 3‑2 against Cobresal, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Squad14 Feb 2028
Daniel González 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.
Squad14 Feb 2028
“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.
Market14 Feb 2028
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Gonzalo Valencia has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market20 Dec 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 Universidad Catolica can pretend not to have heard.
Market20 Dec 2027
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Squad20 Dec 2027
Justo Giani in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Universidad Catolica this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market20 Dec 2027
Some transfers need a press campaign. This one needed a shirt with the old number on it. Cristopher Toselli is a Universidad Catolica player again, and the town has its story of the summer.
Market20 Dec 2027
It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Juan Díaz wants continental football; whether Universidad Catolica can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.
Squad20 Dec 2027
Fernando Zuqui 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
Squad20 Dec 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Grecco Álvarez
33 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Universidad de Chile lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Match20 Dec 2027
63 points on the board and a place in the leading group. Nobody at the ground is saying the word out loud yet.
Squad20 Dec 2027
Lucas Assadi in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Universidad de Chile this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market20 Dec 2027
The general version of this complaint is that a player wants more. The specific version names the thing: he wants to walk out under floodlights against clubs from other countries, and he has stopped pretending otherwise.
Market20 Dec 2027
Universidad Catolica pay $34.0K, and the deal is done. The number reads well on a balance sheet; whether it reads well on the pitch is next season's question.
Squad20 Dec 2027
Words at Universidad de Chile training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Israel Poblete 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.
Squad20 Dec 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Zacarías López and Universidad de Chile agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Loan watch20 Dec 2027
“I did not go to Iquique to sit and watch. I want to come back to Universidad de Chile and fight for my place.” 0 appearances in 51 matches say the rest.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match17 Jul 2027
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 21 matches without defeat is a foundation Universidad de Chile did not have in the autumn.
Market19 Jul 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 Universidad de Chile can pretend not to have heard.
Boardroom19 Jul 2027
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Salvador Negrete has agreed terms with Universidad de Concepcion for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
Squad19 Jul 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 Universidad de Chile this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market19 Jul 2027
Every dressing room knows how to read a signing like this one. Facundo Vila is not here to sit and wait indefinitely, and the man whose place he has been bought to take knows it better than anyone.
Player ratings19 Jul 2027
Successful dribbles: 21. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad19 Jul 2027
Charles Aránguiz 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.
Squad19 Jul 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Juan Martín Lucero, and the manager let it.
The terraces19 Jul 2027
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Lucas Assadi 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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match26 Jun 2027
Momentum is a hard thing to buy and an easy thing to lose, and right now Universidad de Chile have 3 straight wins of it.
Squad28 Jun 2027
Gabriel Castellón 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.
Squad28 Jun 2027
Words at Universidad de Chile training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Charles Aránguiz 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.
Player ratings28 Jun 2027
Successful dribbles: 20. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Match26 Jun 2027
A 1‑0 win over Huachipato, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Player ratings28 Jun 2027
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 19 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Squad28 Jun 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.
Squad28 Jun 2027
The manager has not finished forgetting Juan Martín Lucero's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
Loan watch28 Jun 2027
“I did not go to Iquique to sit and watch. I want to come back to Universidad de Chile and fight for my place.” 0 appearances in 26 matches say the rest.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings7 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 25. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad7 Sep 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 Universidad de Chile this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match5 Sep 2026
Union La Calera left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Words at Universidad de Chile training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Israel Poblete 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.
Squad7 Sep 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Israel Poblete, and the manager let it.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
The music was off and the showers ran late. What was said in that dressing room stays there, but Saturday will publish the minutes.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad10 Aug 2026
Charles Aránguiz 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.
Market10 Aug 2026
It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Fabián Hormazábal wants continental football; whether Universidad de Chile can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.
Squad10 Aug 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.
The terraces10 Aug 2026
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Lucas Assadi 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.
Player ratings10 Aug 2026
Ninety minutes of Lucas Assadi at his very best
Marked 8.76. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Universidad de Chile.
Squad10 Aug 2026
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.
Match8 Aug 2026
A 1‑1 draw with Audax Italiano leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
Market10 Aug 2026
48 months to run and not a word offered. A club that lets the calendar negotiate for it usually ends up losing to the calendar.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Squad3 Aug 2026
447 appearances across 8 seasons in one shirt. Nobody builds a career like that on purpose any more; it happens to a certain kind of footballer at a certain kind of club.
Market3 Aug 2026
The general version of this complaint is that a player wants more. The specific version names the thing: he wants to walk out under floodlights against clubs from other countries, and he has stopped pretending otherwise.
Squad3 Aug 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 Universidad de Chile this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings3 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 21. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad3 Aug 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.