Marked for David Monteiro
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match15 Apr 2028
No end in sight to Leiria's wait for a win
5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Leiria has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad17 Apr 2028
A falling-out at Leiria
Nehuén Pérez and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad17 Apr 2028
Words at Leiria training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Pablo Fernández 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 Apr 2028
Beaten 1‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout17 Apr 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Christian Joel Sánchez, and the manager let it.
The dugout17 Apr 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.
The dugout17 Apr 2028
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 Christian Joel Sánchez is on it.
Player ratings17 Apr 2028
Successful dribbles: 14. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
The dugout17 Apr 2028
The manager wanted a different profile for this opponent, which is a real football reason and no consolation. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad13 Mar 2028
40 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Leiria lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Market13 Mar 2028
Only the photograph left for Marc Baró
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Marc Baró will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Leiria the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad13 Mar 2028
A row about effort at Leiria
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Lucas Villela was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad13 Mar 2028
Words exchanged at Leiria
Marc Baró 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.
Match11 Mar 2028
Vizela left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout13 Mar 2028
No hiding place for Marc Baró
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Marc Baró, and the manager let it.
Player ratings13 Mar 2028
Successful dribbles: 17. 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 dugout13 Mar 2028
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑1, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
The dugout13 Mar 2028
Nobody at Leiria 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
Uneasy
Squad7 Jun 2027
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Leiria will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market7 Jun 2027
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Caldas waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Leiria is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Market7 Jun 2027
Hugo Sousa 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 Leiria can pretend not to have heard.
Market7 Jun 2027
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Leiria heard it as anything else.
Squad7 Jun 2027
A falling-out at Leiria
Nehuén Pérez and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad7 Jun 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Famana Quizera and Leiria agree another 3 years.
Squad7 Jun 2027
A row about effort at Leiria
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jair Silva was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets7 Jun 2027
A loan move for Kiyani Zeggen is in the works
Leiria have made the call to AZ. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
The dugout7 Jun 2027
Lucas Villela knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Leiria, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad31 May 2027
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Leiria will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The dugout31 May 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.
Squad31 May 2027
Words exchanged at Leiria
Juan Muñoz 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.
Squad31 May 2027
A row about effort at Leiria
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Nehuén Pérez was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Market31 May 2027
17 games and 2 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.
Squad31 May 2027
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Leiria know it.
The dugout31 May 2027
“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.
Market31 May 2027
A year in the wrong dressing room for Jakob Odehnal
He went out to keep goal every week and came back with 0 games and 0 of them shut out. Somebody at Leiria argued for this move last summer; nobody is arguing for it now.
The dugout31 May 2027
Lucas Villela 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 Lucas Villela trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match24 Apr 2027
4 matches without a win for Leiria
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Leiria are no longer polite ones.
Squad26 Apr 2027
Tempers go at Leiria
Nehuén Pérez 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.
Squad26 Apr 2027
Jair Silva 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 ratings26 Apr 2027
Nobody could get near Jair Silva
Successful dribbles: 20. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match24 Apr 2027
Leixões left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout26 Apr 2027
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
The dugout26 Apr 2027
“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.
Squad26 Apr 2027
One booking too many, and Flávio sits out. Leiria lose him for the sort of avoidable reason that makes a manager's week longer.
The dugout26 Apr 2027
Diogo Martins gets picked when it counts
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 Diogo Martins is on it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Player ratings19 Apr 2027
Ricard Artero pops up at the right end — 7.73
7.73, 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.
Squad19 Apr 2027
Words at Leiria training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nehuén Pérez 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.
Squad19 Apr 2027
Tempers go at Leiria
Marc Baró 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 ratings19 Apr 2027
Successful dribbles: 18. 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.
Match17 Apr 2027
Leiria rescue it on 88 minutes
Behind, and beaten by any honest reading, until minute 88. Torreense had the points in their pocket and a corner of the ground still believed, which is generally when it happens.
Match17 Apr 2027
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 dugout19 Apr 2027
“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 dugout19 Apr 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.
The dugout19 Apr 2027
No place in the plan for Flávio
The manager wanted a different profile for this opponent, which is a real football reason and no consolation. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match19 Dec 2026
Whatever happens, Leiria 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.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Words exchanged at Leiria
Pablo Fernández 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.
Squad21 Dec 2026
A row about effort at Leiria
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jair Silva was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Player ratings21 Dec 2026
Jair Silva beats them one at a time
Successful dribbles: 18. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad21 Dec 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” David Monteiro and Leiria agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
The dugout21 Dec 2026
“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 dugout21 Dec 2026
Half-satisfied: Leonardo Mota on the draw
“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.
Market21 Dec 2026
The name of Nehuén Pérez keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Leiria say nothing, which says plenty.
Match19 Dec 2026
Leiria and Leixões cancel each other out
Nil-nil, and few chances worth the name. Leixões came to defend and left with exactly what they came for.