Marked for Ignacio Ratti
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match17 Mar 2027
Artigas out of the cup
Liverpool Montevideo ended it 0‑8. The season narrows to the league now, and everyone in the ground knew it before the final whistle.
The terraces22 Mar 2027
0-8, and long before the end the away end had switched from encouragement to something considerably more pointed. Nobody rings a phone-in about losing narrowly.
Squad22 Mar 2027
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.
Match20 Mar 2027
No end in sight to Artigas's wait for a win
4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Artigas has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad22 Mar 2027
A falling-out at Artigas
Braian Vargas and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match17 Mar 2027
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 8 goals between Artigas and Liverpool Montevideo, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
The dugout22 Mar 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Ignacio Ratti, and the manager let it.
Boardroom22 Mar 2027
Nobody left the Artigas dressing room in a hurry
The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.
Player ratings22 Mar 2027
Successful dribbles: 16. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The dugout15 Mar 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.
Player ratings15 Mar 2027
Successful dribbles: 17. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad15 Mar 2027
A falling-out at Artigas
Juan Leguisamón and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Player ratings15 Mar 2027
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 15 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
The dugout15 Mar 2027
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 0‑0, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
Squad15 Mar 2027
A row about effort at Artigas
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Deyvin Maciera was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match13 Mar 2027
Artigas and Colon cancel each other out
Nil-nil, and few chances worth the name. Colon came to defend and left with exactly what they came for.
Looking ahead15 Mar 2027
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Yonathan Gorgoroso’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Artigas needing him to play as if none of it matters.
The dugout15 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
Crisis
Match13 Feb 2027
1‑4 to Rampla Juniors, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
Squad15 Feb 2027
Words exchanged at Artigas
Diego López 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 Feb 2027
A midfielder is measured on whether the team functions when he is on the pitch, which is nearly impossible to see and completely obvious in retrospect. 10 actions, 7.42, and a manager who will not be substituting him again in a hurry.
The dugout15 Feb 2027
Hugo Paz 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.
Boardroom15 Feb 2027
The manager kept them in and said what needed saying. A response is expected on Saturday, and if it does not come the questions move upstairs.
The dugout15 Feb 2027
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 1‑4, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
Squad15 Feb 2027
The one goal every signing is asked about until it comes. It has come, and a press-conference question has been retired.
Squad15 Feb 2027
A long afternoon for Luiz
Beaten 4 times, with 3 saves for company. Goalkeepers carry these scorelines on their record whoever actually caused them, which is the quiet injustice of the job.
Looking ahead15 Feb 2027
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Danubio in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad2 Nov 2026
A knee injury of the worst kind for Rafael Acosta
111 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Artigas lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad2 Nov 2026
A falling-out at Artigas
Diego López and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad2 Nov 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Ignacio Ratti and Artigas agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
The dugout2 Nov 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 dugout2 Nov 2026
Camilo Núñez 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.
Market2 Nov 2026
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Artigas, another week without a signature from Octavio Pereira.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad26 Oct 2026
A knee injury of the worst kind for Rafael Acosta
119 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Artigas lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad26 Oct 2026
No place for Ignacio Ratti in the new shape
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation Artigas are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
Squad26 Oct 2026
A new face in his position, and Ignacio Nicolini suddenly has to win back what he thought he owned. Artigas have promised nothing — clubs rarely do at this stage.