Marked for Luis Miranda
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad25 Sep 2028
31 days out for Carlos Cordoba after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Millonarios will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Player ratings25 Sep 2028
At 34 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.57 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Squad25 Sep 2028
Ian Vera is in the form of his life
A season average of 7.25 with 22 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.
Market25 Sep 2028
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Millonarios can pretend not to have heard.
Match23 Sep 2028
Momentum is a hard thing to buy and an easy thing to lose, and right now Millonarios have 3 straight wins of it.
Squad25 Sep 2028
Jaine Barreiro 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.
Match23 Sep 2028
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Ian Vera. 3‑1 against Aguilas Doradas, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Player ratings25 Sep 2028
A masterclass from Ian Vera
Marked 8.67 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Player ratings25 Sep 2028
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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad18 Sep 2028
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 39 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Player ratings18 Sep 2028
Two goals and a mark of 8.45 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Squad18 Sep 2028
Jaine Barreiro 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.
Squad18 Sep 2028
Daniel 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.
Match16 Sep 2028
A 2‑1 win over America de Cali, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Market18 Sep 2028
It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Cristian Graciano wants continental football; whether Millonarios can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.
Squad18 Sep 2028
“The easiest signature of my career.” Juan Pablo Gallego and Millonarios agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Player ratings18 Sep 2028
Successful dribbles: 15. 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.
The dugout18 Sep 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Iván Scarpeta, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match2 Sep 2028
No end in sight to Millonarios's wait for a win
5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Millonarios has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad4 Sep 2028
Daniel Ruiz and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match2 Sep 2028
1‑2 to Santa Fe, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Player ratings4 Sep 2028
Luis Miranda beats them one at a time
Successful dribbles: 17. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
The dugout4 Sep 2028
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 1‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
Squad4 Sep 2028
Somebody has moved past him. It is not a dropping and it is worse than one, because a dropping is about a Saturday and this is about where he stands.
Market4 Sep 2028
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Millonarios has been clear about where Sebastián Valencia stands, which is more than many ever get.
The dugout4 Sep 2028
The manager makes an example of Rodrigo Ureña
“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.
Squad4 Sep 2028
Javier Burrai 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
Crisis
The dugout28 Aug 2028
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Millonarios may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Match26 Aug 2028
4 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.
Squad28 Aug 2028
John Córdoba 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 Millonarios this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market28 Aug 2028
It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether Millonarios can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.
Squad28 Aug 2028
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Daniel Ruiz was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Player ratings28 Aug 2028
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 Aug 2028
Beaten 1‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout28 Aug 2028
The manager makes an example of Stiven Vega
“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 dugout28 Aug 2028
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 1‑2 defeat, delivered by Wilmar Borja to a room that had heard them before.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad14 Aug 2028
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 17 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Player ratings14 Aug 2028
At 34 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.05 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
The dugout14 Aug 2028
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Squad14 Aug 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Millonarios this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market14 Aug 2028
It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Iván Scarpeta wants continental football; whether Millonarios can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.
Player ratings14 Aug 2028
Toni Villa runs at them all day
Successful dribbles: 19. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Match12 Aug 2028
Late, late show earns Millonarios a point
Minute 94, against Deportivo Pasto, 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.
The dugout14 Aug 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.
Match12 Aug 2028
It finished 3‑3, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market10 Jul 2028
The unthinkable, invoiced: Luis Miranda sold
Millonarios arrived with $4.2M and left with the best player in the building. The board will call it business; the queue at the ticket office will use other words.
The terraces10 Jul 2028
Luis Miranda has gone, the accounts have $4.2M in them, and the supporters have the feeling of having been sold something themselves. Good business and a good decision are not always the same thing.
Market10 Jul 2028
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Transfer targets10 Jul 2028
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Llaneros have done the hard part with Fortaleza CEIF, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Squad10 Jul 2028
Francisco Meza 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.
Squad10 Jul 2028
Néider Ospina 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 dugout10 Jul 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Jhildrey Lasso, and the manager let it.
The dugout10 Jul 2028
Jhildrey Lasso is still being punished for one mistake
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
The dugout10 Jul 2028
Néider Ospina asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad10 Jul 2028
A fracture rules Jhomier Guerrero out for 60 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Millonarios will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad10 Jul 2028
A day Ian Vera will not forget
3 goals in one game. The first was taken well, the second was taken greedily, and by the third the crowd were simply waiting for him to get the ball.
Market10 Jul 2028
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Millonarios people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Market10 Jul 2028
Llaneros did not want to sell and the number is why they did. $4.2M for Luis Miranda, and the expectation that arrives with him is the kind no amount of settling-in period softens.
The dugout10 Jul 2028
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Millonarios may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad10 Jul 2028
A move Luis Miranda would have made for nothing
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Luis Miranda is living that version at Millonarios, and it tends to show in the first month.
Match8 Jul 2028
No end in sight to Millonarios's wait for a win
4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Millonarios has to find a result from somewhere.
Transfer targets10 Jul 2028
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Squad10 Jul 2028
John Córdoba 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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market3 Jul 2028
“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.
Market3 Jul 2028
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Market3 Jul 2028
Only the photograph left for Emilio Pardo
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Emilio Pardo will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Llaneros the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad3 Jul 2028
“The easiest signature of my career.” David Guerrero and Llaneros agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad3 Jul 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Llaneros this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad3 Jul 2028
Néider Ospina 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.
Transfer targets3 Jul 2028
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Boardroom3 Jul 2028
Wages eat 109% of everything Llaneros earn
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Transfer targets3 Jul 2028
The clubs have shaken hands with Llaneros; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
Market3 Jul 2028
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Santa Fe waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Millonarios is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Transfer targets3 Jul 2028
Everything agreed with Cortulua, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Market3 Jul 2028
Iván Díaz 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 Millonarios can pretend not to have heard.
Squad3 Jul 2028
Jaine Barreiro 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.
Squad3 Jul 2028
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Carlos Romaña and Millonarios agree another 4 years.
Boardroom3 Jul 2028
Independiente Medellin will keep picking him until June and will get nothing for him after it. Daniel Cataño has pre-agreed a move to Millonarios, and the only people who lose in that arrangement are the ones who let the contract run down.
Match1 Jul 2028
Beaten 1‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Player ratings3 Jul 2028
Daniel Ruiz beats them one at a time
Successful dribbles: 17. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings12 Jun 2028
At 36 every good afternoon gets called a throwback, and this one was: 8.36, and nobody on the pitch better.
Market12 Jun 2028
“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.
Transfer targets12 Jun 2028
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Llaneros have done the hard part with Central Norte, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Squad12 Jun 2028
Words exchanged at Llaneros
Yorleys Mena 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 ratings12 Jun 2028
Luis Miranda beats them one at a time
Successful dribbles: 22. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad12 Jun 2028
Néider Ospina 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.
Squad12 Jun 2028
Defences have started doubling up on Yorleys Mena
13 goals and a season average of 7.21 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.
Match10 Jun 2028
A 2‑0 win over Depor, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Market12 Jun 2028
Add another name to the list: Pakhtakor have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Jhon Moreno. The answer from Llaneros has not changed — yet.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings5 Jun 2028
Age has not caught Yorleys Mena yet — 8.20
At 36 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.20 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Market5 Jun 2028
Yefri Velasco 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 Llaneros can pretend not to have heard.
Market5 Jun 2028
The bid was some way short and Llaneros did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Market5 Jun 2028
Emilio Pardo has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Llaneros they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad5 Jun 2028
A falling-out at Llaneros
Yorleys Mena and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad5 Jun 2028
Words at Llaneros training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. David Guerrero 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.
Match3 Jun 2028
The run at home goes on for Llaneros
8 matches unbeaten here. Every visiting manager is asked about it in the week before, which is precisely why it keeps going.
Player ratings5 Jun 2028
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.
Player ratings5 Jun 2028
A performance of 8.10 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings29 May 2028
At 36 every good afternoon gets called a throwback, and this one was: 8.15, and nobody on the pitch better.
Market29 May 2028
Mateo Guerrero has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Llaneros they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad29 May 2028
A falling-out at Llaneros
Francisco Meza and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Boardroom29 May 2028
Llaneros counting the cost
The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Llaneros now.
Squad29 May 2028
Néider Ospina 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.
Match27 May 2028
It finished 2‑0, and it was Néider Ospina’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Llaneros.
Player ratings29 May 2028
A performance of 8.03 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
The dugout29 May 2028
Luis Muriel: “That is the standard”
“That is what I want every week. Not the result, the way they went about it.” The manager, after 2‑0, already talking about the next one.
Looking ahead29 May 2028
The leaders are next for Llaneros
Tigres top the table and they are coming into view. Nothing to lose, which is what every manager says before losing.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings8 May 2028
Successful dribbles: 26. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
The dugout8 May 2028
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Llaneros may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Market8 May 2028
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Llaneros is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad8 May 2028
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Francisco Meza commits to Llaneros for another 2 years.
Squad8 May 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Llaneros this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad8 May 2028
Words at Llaneros training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Néider Ospina 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.
Match6 May 2028
Beaten 1‑3, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout8 May 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.
Boardroom8 May 2028
Wages eat 100% of everything Llaneros earn
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
In brief
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The dugout
The view from the dugout
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Player ratings
Jhildrey Lasso will replay that one
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Squad
A place in the month's best eleven for Luis Miranda
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings1 May 2028
Successful dribbles: 39. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Market1 May 2028
Only the photograph left for Mateo Guerrero
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Mateo Guerrero will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Llaneros the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad1 May 2028
A falling-out at Llaneros
Francisco Meza and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Boardroom1 May 2028
Belts tighten at Llaneros
The accounts are being read more closely than the results. Wages before ambition is the order of business now, and the manager has been told so.
Squad1 May 2028
A row about effort at Llaneros
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Néider Ospina was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match29 Apr 2028
Late, late show earns Llaneros a point
Minute 96, against Universitario Popayan, 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.
Match29 Apr 2028
1‑1, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
The dugout1 May 2028
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Luis Muriel was not hiding it after 1‑1, and nobody in the Llaneros dressing room was either.
The dugout1 May 2028
Víctor Vidal 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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings24 Apr 2028
At 36 every good afternoon gets called a throwback, and this one was: 7.95, and nobody on the pitch better.
The dugout24 Apr 2028
Jimmy Medranda: 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.” Llaneros have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Match22 Apr 2028
Nobody wants to play Llaneros right now
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.
Squad24 Apr 2028
Yorleys Mena 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 Apr 2028
A row about effort at Llaneros
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and David Guerrero was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match22 Apr 2028
Barranquilla made Llaneros work for it, but the scoreboard read 2‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Player ratings24 Apr 2028
Ninety minutes of Luis Miranda at his very best
Marked 8.21. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Llaneros.
Player ratings24 Apr 2028
Successful dribbles: 17. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
The dugout24 Apr 2028
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Luis Muriel on a 2‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match15 Apr 2028
Real Santander will want this one forgotten quickly: 4‑1, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Llaneros were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Player ratings17 Apr 2028
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.12, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Player ratings17 Apr 2028
At 36 every good afternoon gets called a throwback, and this one was: 8.05, and nobody on the pitch better.
Player ratings17 Apr 2028
Successful dribbles: 26. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad17 Apr 2028
Words exchanged at Llaneros
Yorleys Mena 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.
Squad17 Apr 2028
Néider Ospina 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.
Player ratings17 Apr 2028
Ninety minutes of Carlos Barreiro at his very best
Marked 8.11. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Llaneros.
The dugout17 Apr 2028
Luis Muriel: “That is the standard”
“That is what I want every week. Not the result, the way they went about it.” The manager, after 4‑1, already talking about the next one.
The dugout17 Apr 2028
Emilio Pardo 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Player ratings3 Apr 2028
Successful dribbles: 28. 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.
Player ratings3 Apr 2028
Age has not caught Yorleys Mena yet — 8.10
At 36 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.10 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Market3 Apr 2028
Only the photograph left for Mateo Guerrero
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Mateo Guerrero will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Llaneros the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Boardroom3 Apr 2028
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Mateo Guerrero has pre-agreed a move away, which means every appearance between now and June is made by a man the club can no longer sell, and somebody upstairs will be asked why the contract was allowed to get here.
Squad3 Apr 2028
A falling-out at Llaneros
Francisco Meza and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Boardroom3 Apr 2028
Belts tighten at Llaneros
The accounts are being read more closely than the results. Wages before ambition is the order of business now, and the manager has been told so.
Squad3 Apr 2028
“The easiest signature of my career.” Geovan Montes and Llaneros agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad3 Apr 2028
David Guerrero 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.
Match1 Apr 2028
Alianza Petrolera left with the points after a 1‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings27 Mar 2028
Successful dribbles: 28. 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.
The dugout27 Mar 2028
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Squad27 Mar 2028
Words exchanged at Llaneros
David Guerrero 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.
Squad27 Mar 2028
Words at Llaneros training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Néider Ospina 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 ratings27 Mar 2028
A mark of 7.90, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.
Match25 Mar 2028
It needed Carlos Barreiro to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Depor, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
The dugout27 Mar 2028
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Luis Muriel was not hiding it after 1‑1, and nobody in the Llaneros dressing room was either.
The dugout27 Mar 2028
Víctor Vidal 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.
Looking ahead27 Mar 2028
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Alianza Petrolera in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match4 Mar 2028
Luis Miranda had done his part in building a 2-goal cushion. What happened after that was collective, and Fortaleza CEIF were allowed back into a match that had been finished with.
Player ratings6 Mar 2028
At 36 every good afternoon gets called a throwback, and this one was: 7.86, and nobody on the pitch better.
Squad6 Mar 2028
A falling-out at Llaneros
David Guerrero and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Boardroom6 Mar 2028
Llaneros counting the cost
The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Llaneros now.
Match4 Mar 2028
2‑3 to Fortaleza CEIF, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad6 Mar 2028
Néider Ospina 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 dugout6 Mar 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Juan Camilo Loaiza, and the manager let it.
Player ratings6 Mar 2028
Ninety minutes of Luis Miranda at his very best
Marked 8.20. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Llaneros.
Squad6 Mar 2028
The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Francisco Meza 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.
In brief
-
The dugout
The view from the dugout
-
Boardroom
Wages eat 88% of everything Llaneros earn
-
Squad
Daniel Mantilla makes the team of the month
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match23 Feb 2028
The small margins put Llaneros out
Out, 1‑2 to America de Cali, and the long argument about which of the small moments decided it. The league is all there is now, and everybody knows it.
Player ratings28 Feb 2028
Adrián Rivas, 20, steals the show — 7.73
Marked 7.73 at 20, in a side that makes no allowances for age. He did not need any, and he looked the least nervous man on the pitch.
Squad28 Feb 2028
Yorleys Mena 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.
Player ratings28 Feb 2028
Successful dribbles: 22. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad28 Feb 2028
Words at Llaneros training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Néider Ospina 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 Feb 2028
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.32, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
The dugout28 Feb 2028
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.” Luis Muriel, on a 2‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
The dugout28 Feb 2028
The manager makes an example of Emilio Pardo
“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
Steady
Match19 Feb 2028
Every run ends on an afternoon somebody had marked down as routine. This one went 9 matches, which is long enough that a town had stopped counting, and short enough that it will remember exactly who stopped it.
Squad21 Feb 2028
Francisco Meza 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.
Player ratings21 Feb 2028
Successful dribbles: 21. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad21 Feb 2028
A row about effort at Llaneros
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and David Guerrero was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match19 Feb 2028
Bogota left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout21 Feb 2028
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 0‑1, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
The dugout21 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.
The dugout21 Feb 2028
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.
Market21 Feb 2028
The name of Juan Camilo Loaiza keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Llaneros say nothing, which says plenty.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad14 Feb 2028
The match ball belongs to Néider Ospina, whose 3 goals turned a difficult afternoon into a procession.
Player ratings14 Feb 2028
Luis Miranda beats them one at a time
Successful dribbles: 28. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Match12 Feb 2028
Still nobody has beaten Llaneros
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.
Market14 Feb 2028
Only the photograph left for Emilio Pardo
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Emilio Pardo will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Llaneros the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad14 Feb 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Llaneros this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad14 Feb 2028
Néider Ospina 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.
Player ratings14 Feb 2028
Néider Ospina was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.19. 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.
Market14 Feb 2028
Dennys Quintero is free to find somewhere else
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Llaneros has been clear about where Dennys Quintero stands, which is more than many ever get.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings7 Feb 2028
Successful dribbles: 31. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Market7 Feb 2028
“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” Ermis had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.
Player ratings7 Feb 2028
Age has not caught Yorleys Mena yet — 7.98
At 36 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 7.98 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Match5 Feb 2028
Whatever happens, Llaneros do not lose
8 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.
Squad7 Feb 2028
A falling-out at Llaneros
Francisco Meza and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Boardroom7 Feb 2028
The numbers do not look good at Llaneros
Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.
Squad7 Feb 2028
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Kelvin Osorio and Llaneros agree another 2 years.
Squad7 Feb 2028
A row about effort at Llaneros
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Néider Ospina was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Market7 Feb 2028
Kelvin Osorio is free to find somewhere else
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Llaneros has been clear about where Kelvin Osorio stands, which is more than many ever get.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market3 Jan 2028
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Match3 Jan 2028
Llaneros are in among the leaders
Position 3 and 42 points on the board. Nobody at the ground will say the word out loud yet, and everybody at the ground is thinking it.
Market3 Jan 2028
“It was not right for me. I am not going to explain why to anybody except the people I owe an explanation to.” A deal agreed between two clubs, and a player who declined to be part of it.
Transfer targets3 Jan 2028
No thanks: Pablo Medina rejects the move
Llaneros had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Cortulua, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Transfer targets3 Jan 2028
Everything agreed with Atletico Nacional, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Squad3 Jan 2028
A falling-out at Llaneros
Francisco Meza and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad3 Jan 2028
A row about effort at Llaneros
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Néider Ospina was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Market3 Jan 2028
Both sides expect a conversation in the coming days. Llaneros will name a price, and everything after that is arithmetic.
Market3 Jan 2028
Jhon Moreno returns a better player
19 games and 8 goals away from here, and a man the manager did not have last summer. The loan did what loans are supposed to do and almost never do.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market20 Dec 2027
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Independiente Medellin waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Llaneros is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
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.
Market20 Dec 2027
Only the photograph left for Emilio Pardo
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Emilio Pardo will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Llaneros the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad20 Dec 2027
Francisco Meza 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.
Squad20 Dec 2027
David Guerrero 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.
Market20 Dec 2027
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Hector Uribe 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.
Squad20 Dec 2027
No place for David Guerrero in the new shape
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation Llaneros are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
Loan watch20 Dec 2027
18 appearances at Vorskla and the goals keep coming. Llaneros are watching this more closely than the borrowing club would like.
Squad20 Dec 2027
A new face in his position and a shirt he thought he owned suddenly up for discussion. Llaneros have promised nothing, which is what clubs promise at this stage.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market13 Dec 2027
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Llaneros people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Market13 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.
Squad13 Dec 2027
Words exchanged at Llaneros
Francisco Meza 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.
Boardroom13 Dec 2027
Belts tighten at Llaneros
The accounts are being read more closely than the results. Wages before ambition is the order of business now, and the manager has been told so.
Transfer targets13 Dec 2027
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Squad13 Dec 2027
A row about effort at Llaneros
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jhildrey Lasso was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout13 Dec 2027
Mateo García asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
Loan watch13 Dec 2027
17 appearances away from home and 7 goals to show for them. Every one of them makes next summer's conversation a little more expensive.
The dugout13 Dec 2027
Jhojan Escobar has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Llaneros will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market30 Aug 2027
Emilio Pardo has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Llaneros they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Market30 Aug 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.
Squad30 Aug 2027
Francisco Meza 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.
Squad30 Aug 2027
Words at Llaneros training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jhildrey Lasso 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 dugout30 Aug 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Carlos Angulo, and the manager let it.
The dugout30 Aug 2027
Mateo García asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
Loan watch30 Aug 2027
The goals keep arriving from Jhon Moreno’s exile
3 goals in 3 games at Vorskla — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Llaneros updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
Market30 Aug 2027
Llaneros have let the market know Brian Benítez can be had. No price in the advert, but everyone in the trade knows roughly what it says.
Squad30 Aug 2027
The shrug has gone, the language is coming, and he now argues in training like somebody who expects to be here next year. Half a signing's value is this and none of it appears on a fee.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match21 Jun 2027
The season ends: position 3 for Llaneros
The last league game has been played and the table has stopped moving: 42 points. The summer begins on Monday, and so does the argument about what it all meant.
Match21 Jun 2027
Llaneros are in among the leaders
Position 3 and 42 points on the board. Nobody at the ground will say the word out loud yet, and everybody at the ground is thinking it.
Player ratings21 Jun 2027
Successful dribbles: 28. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
The dugout21 Jun 2027
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Transfer targets21 Jun 2027
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Valledupar keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Match19 Jun 2027
Llaneros make it 3 in a row
Momentum is a hard thing to buy and an easy thing to lose, and right now Llaneros have 3 straight wins of it.
Squad21 Jun 2027
A falling-out at Llaneros
Francisco Meza and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad21 Jun 2027
Daniel Mantilla 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.
Market21 Jun 2027
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Jose Mina 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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings7 Jun 2027
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 9.34, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Player ratings7 Jun 2027
At 35 every good afternoon gets called a throwback, and this one was: 8.45, and nobody on the pitch better.
Market7 Jun 2027
“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 Llaneros, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad7 Jun 2027
Francisco Meza 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.
Match5 Jun 2027
It finished 3‑2, and it was Joel Contreras’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Llaneros.
Squad7 Jun 2027
A row about effort at Llaneros
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Mateo García was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match5 Jun 2027
2 goals inside twenty minutes with Joel Contreras in the middle of it, and Tigres unable to get near the ball long enough to change anything. Some matches are won before the first drink.
Player ratings7 Jun 2027
Luis Miranda was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.45. 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.
Squad7 Jun 2027
Somebody has moved past him. It is not a dropping and it is worse than one, because a dropping is about a Saturday and this is about where he stands.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad31 May 2027
Words exchanged at Llaneros
Francisco Meza 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.
The dugout31 May 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Mateo García, and the manager let it.
Squad31 May 2027
Words at Llaneros training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kelvin Osorio 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.
Match29 May 2027
No time for Valledupar to settle
The goal that put Valledupar ahead was still being replayed on the concourse when Llaneros equalised, 2 minutes later. Leads are only worth what you do with them.
Squad31 May 2027
The medical room confirms 17 days on the sidelines for Manuel López, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Player ratings31 May 2027
Nobody on the pitch touched Luis Miranda
7.70, and no serious argument from anybody who was there. Llaneros had eleven men on the pitch and one of them decided how it went.
Match29 May 2027
It finished 1‑1, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.
The dugout31 May 2027
Luis Muriel: “We have to be better”
“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.
The dugout31 May 2027
Somebody else has been better, the manager has said so with a team sheet, and there is no argument to be had. He will get the shirt back the only way it can be got back.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match22 May 2027
3‑0, and the margin flattered nobody — it could have carried another goal or two without complaint. Afternoons like this are why people keep coming.
Match24 May 2027
Llaneros are in among the leaders
Position 3 and 32 points on the board. Nobody at the ground will say the word out loud yet, and everybody at the ground is thinking it.
Player ratings24 May 2027
At 35 every good afternoon gets called a throwback, and this one was: 8.23, and nobody on the pitch better.
Player ratings24 May 2027
Mateo García pops up at the right end — 7.96
7.96, 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.
Squad24 May 2027
A falling-out at Llaneros
Francisco Meza and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad24 May 2027
Defences have started doubling up on Yorleys Mena
11 goals and a season average of 7.24 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.
Squad24 May 2027
Kelvin Osorio 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.
Player ratings24 May 2027
Successful dribbles: 18. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Player ratings24 May 2027
A performance of 8.13 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings17 May 2027
At 35 every good afternoon gets called a throwback, and this one was: 7.97, and nobody on the pitch better.
Squad17 May 2027
A falling-out at Llaneros
Yorleys Mena and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad17 May 2027
A row about effort at Llaneros
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Daniel Mantilla was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match15 May 2027
1‑2 to Deportivo Pereira, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Boardroom17 May 2027
143% of the income goes out in wages at Llaneros
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.
Squad17 May 2027
Defences have started doubling up on Yorleys Mena
10 goals and a season average of 7.21 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.
Squad17 May 2027
100 games in these colours. Service of that kind gets rarer every season, and the crowd knows it.
The dugout17 May 2027
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 1‑2 defeat, delivered by Luis Muriel to a room that had heard them before.
Player ratings17 May 2027
Successful dribbles: 15. 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.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Player ratings3 May 2027
Yorleys Mena, 35, rolls back the years — 8.05
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.05 at 35, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Match1 May 2027
Nobody wants to play Llaneros right now
4 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.
Squad3 May 2027
Words exchanged at Llaneros
Francisco Meza 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.
Match1 May 2027
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Yorleys Mena. 3‑1 against Universitario Popayan, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Player ratings3 May 2027
Ninety minutes of Joel Contreras at his very best
Marked 8.51. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Llaneros.
Squad3 May 2027
Words at Llaneros training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kelvin Osorio 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 ratings3 May 2027
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.12, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Match1 May 2027
Llaneros hit back inside 1 minutes
Universitario Popayan held the lead for 1 minutes, which is not long enough to enjoy it. Llaneros answered before the celebration had properly finished, and the shape of the afternoon changed with it.
Squad3 May 2027
46 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
In brief
-
The dugout
A promise honoured at Llaneros
-
Squad
A place in the month's best eleven for Luis Miranda
-
The dugout
The manager’s verdict
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Player ratings26 Apr 2027
Two goals and a mark of 9.17 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Player ratings26 Apr 2027
A brace, and Mateo García takes the afternoon — 8.36
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Mateo García provided it, and the 8.36 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Market26 Apr 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.
Match24 Apr 2027
Nobody wants to play Llaneros right now
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.
Squad26 Apr 2027
A falling-out at Llaneros
Francisco Meza and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match24 Apr 2027
Mateo García among the goals in a wild afternoon
6 goals in one match, Mateo García on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Llaneros and Barranquilla.
Match24 Apr 2027
Barranquilla made Llaneros work for it, but the scoreboard read 4‑2 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Squad26 Apr 2027
Daniel Mantilla 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 terraces26 Apr 2027
At 23 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Match17 Apr 2027
5‑1, and Joel Contreras took the headlines on an afternoon when everything Llaneros tried came off. Days like this are retold all winter.
Player ratings19 Apr 2027
A brace, and Joel Contreras takes the afternoon — 9.67
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Joel Contreras provided it, and the 9.67 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Match19 Apr 2027
Llaneros up to position 3
23 points on the board and a place in the leading group. Nobody at the ground is saying the word out loud yet.
Squad19 Apr 2027
A falling-out at Llaneros
Francisco Meza and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Player ratings19 Apr 2027
A goal and an assist for Luis Marimón — 7.95
Involvement in 2 goals, from a player who spent the ninety minutes doing the thing a manager actually wants: being where the ball was going to end up. 7.95 beside his name.
Match17 Apr 2027
6 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Llaneros and Real Santander in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Player ratings19 Apr 2027
Successful dribbles: 19. 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.
Boardroom19 Apr 2027
130% of the income goes out in wages at Llaneros
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.
Squad19 Apr 2027
Words at Llaneros training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kelvin Osorio 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.
In brief
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Player ratings
One of those days for Luis Miranda
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The dugout
No hiding place for Carlos Angulo
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The dugout
The view from the dugout
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings12 Apr 2027
Successful dribbles: 30. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Player ratings12 Apr 2027
A defender's goal wins it for Llaneros — 7.92
1 for Mateo García, marked 7.92, and a centre-half's name in the part of the report he normally only reaches by mistake. He will not be allowed to forget it in the dressing room for a month.
Squad12 Apr 2027
Words exchanged at Llaneros
Francisco Meza 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.
Match10 Apr 2027
A 2‑1 win over Union Magdalena, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
The dugout12 Apr 2027
The manager makes an example of Mateo García
“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.
Squad12 Apr 2027
A row about effort at Llaneros
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Kelvin Osorio was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Player ratings12 Apr 2027
A performance of 8.10 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
The dugout12 Apr 2027
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Luis Muriel on a 2‑1 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
The dugout12 Apr 2027
Jhildrey Lasso dropped after a run of poor form
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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
The dugout5 Apr 2027
Jimmy Medranda: 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.” Llaneros have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad5 Apr 2027
Francisco Meza 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.
Player ratings5 Apr 2027
Successful dribbles: 22. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match3 Apr 2027
Leones left with the points after a 2‑3 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad5 Apr 2027
Daniel Mantilla 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.
Player ratings5 Apr 2027
Marked 8.10 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Squad5 Apr 2027
100 games in the shirt. Nobody sets out to build a record like that; it happens to a certain kind of player at a certain kind of club, and this town knows what it has.
The dugout5 Apr 2027
The manager makes an example of Léider Riascos
“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.
Match5 Apr 2027
Halfway: Llaneros sit in position 6
17 points at the turn. The first half of a season is a promise; the second is a bill, and the town is about to find out which of the two this one was.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings22 Mar 2027
Yorleys Mena, 35, rolls back the years — 8.52
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.52 at 35, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Player ratings22 Mar 2027
Successful dribbles: 25. 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.
Squad22 Mar 2027
Yorleys Mena 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 Llaneros this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match20 Mar 2027
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Carlos Barreiro. 2‑1 against Tigres, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Squad22 Mar 2027
Kelvin Osorio 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.
Boardroom22 Mar 2027
Wages swallow 114% of the Llaneros income
Every club 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 it has been tried.
The dugout22 Mar 2027
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.” Luis Muriel, on a 2‑1 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
The dugout22 Mar 2027
Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.
The dugout22 Mar 2027
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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad15 Mar 2027
A fracture rules Daniel Mantilla out for 15 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Llaneros will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Match13 Mar 2027
Valledupar will want this one forgotten quickly: 3‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Llaneros were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Player ratings15 Mar 2027
Two goals and a mark of 8.82 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Player ratings15 Mar 2027
Age has not caught Yorleys Mena yet — 8.84
At 35 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.84 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Match13 Mar 2027
The drought breaks for Llaneros
7 without a win is the sort of run that changes how a town talks about its club, and Valledupar were the afternoon it stopped. Nothing is fixed by one result and everything feels different by one.
Squad15 Mar 2027
Words exchanged at Llaneros
Francisco Meza 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 ratings15 Mar 2027
Successful dribbles: 22. 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.
Squad15 Mar 2027
A row about effort at Llaneros
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Mateo García was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout15 Mar 2027
The manager makes an example of Dennys Quintero
“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.
In brief
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The dugout
The view from the dugout
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The dugout
The form table has caught Jimmy Medranda
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Looking ahead
Luis Miranda faces his old club