Marked for Luis Murillo
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad16 Nov 2026
Yordan Osorio pulls a muscle — 16 days out
The injury that keeps coming back, keeps being rushed back from, and quietly costs more careers than the dramatic ones. 16 days is the estimate; the honest figure depends on whether anybody is patient.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Aldair Quintana 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.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and José Ortiz was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
Aldair Zárate knocks on the manager’s door
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Aldair Zárate trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Martín Rea, and the manager let it.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market28 Sep 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.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 23. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Aldair Quintana 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.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Jefferson Mena 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.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
The manager makes an example of Luciano Pons
“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.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
A mark of 7.76, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.
Squad28 Sep 2026
14 new faces, and Atletico Bucaramanga 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 dugout28 Sep 2026
The view from the dugout
“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” Francisco Falcao, on a 1‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 37. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Fabián Sambueza 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.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and José Ortiz was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Market14 Sep 2026
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Richard Caicedo has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
Market14 Sep 2026
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Fabian Duque has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
The dugout14 Sep 2026
The manager makes an example of Luis Murillo
“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.
The dugout14 Sep 2026
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Francisco Falcao after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
The dugout14 Sep 2026
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Aldair Gutiérrez is on it.
Market14 Sep 2026
“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Fabry Castro has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at Atletico Bucaramanga.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match5 Sep 2026
Fabián Sambueza wins it after the whistle should have gone
94 minutes played. Fabián Sambueza found the finish in time that only existed because of earlier delays, and Aguilas Doradas went from a point to nothing inside one movement.
Player ratings7 Sep 2026
At 38 every good afternoon gets called a throwback, and this one was: 7.83, and nobody on the pitch better.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Fabián Sambueza 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.
Player ratings7 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 21. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Squad7 Sep 2026
José Ortiz 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.
Match5 Sep 2026
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Fabián Sambueza. 2‑1 against Aguilas Doradas, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
The dugout7 Sep 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.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Martín Payares slips down the pecking order
The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Martín Payares is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Fabián Sambueza named in the team of the month
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Fabián Sambueza is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.