The Junior Chronicle
Match12 Aug 2026
Déiber Caicedo sends Junior through
Cup ties wait for somebody to seize them, and Déiber Caicedo obliged against Barranquilla. 2‑1 on the night, and the name in the next round’s hat is Junior.
Match12 Aug 2026
Junior strike at the death to beat Barranquilla
There were 89 minutes on the clock and Barranquilla had all but banked the point. Football rarely reads the room, and Junior did not stop to explain themselves.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
A defender's goal wins it for Junior — 7.75
1 for Juan David Ríos, marked 7.75, 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.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Jean Carlos Pestaña 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 Junior this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Words at Junior training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Luis Muriel 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.
Match15 Aug 2026
Junior see off Patriotas
Three points for Junior, 3‑1 the final word against Patriotas in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
Nobody could get near Cristian Barrios
Successful dribbles: 19. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
A masterclass from Jesús Rivas
Marked 8.25 — 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 ratings17 Aug 2026
Ninety minutes of Déiber Caicedo 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 Junior.
In brief
- The dugout The manager’s verdict
- The dugout Daniel Rivera is still paying for one afternoon at Junior
- Squad Vladimir Hernández is a square peg at Junior