Marked for Teo Gutiérrez
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Player ratings2 Nov 2026
Two goals and a mark of 8.78 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
The dugout2 Nov 2026
Miller Bacca: 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.” Junior have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Match31 Oct 2026
Beaten 2‑3, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad2 Nov 2026
200 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.
Squad2 Nov 2026
The medical room confirms 19 days on the sidelines for Santiago Castro, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Boardroom2 Nov 2026
Nobody left the Junior 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.
The dugout2 Nov 2026
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 dugout2 Nov 2026
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Fabian Torres after 2‑3, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
The dugout2 Nov 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Pablo Ortiz, and the manager let it.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.97, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Match24 Oct 2026
It finished 2‑1, and it was Teo Gutiérrez’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Junior.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Mauro Silveira, and the manager let it.
Market26 Oct 2026
It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Jannenson Sarmiento wants continental football; whether Junior can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
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.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
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.
Squad26 Oct 2026
10 new faces, and Junior are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
The manager’s verdict
“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” Fabian Torres kept it short after the 2‑1 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
Luis Muriel 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 Luis Muriel is on it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market19 Oct 2026
It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Cristian Barrios wants continental football; whether Junior can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.
Match17 Oct 2026
Deportivo Cali left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Everybody at Junior saw it before anybody said it, which is how this always goes. At 36 the decline is real and measurable — 3 points — and the only question left is how the club handles somebody it owes a great deal to.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
“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.
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 15. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
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.
Looking ahead19 Oct 2026
Cortulua next, and one man in the Junior dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market12 Oct 2026
It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether Junior can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to José Enamorado, and the manager let it.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Jeffersson Martínez is on it.
Looking ahead12 Oct 2026
Deportivo Cali next, and one man in the Junior dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
Market12 Oct 2026
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Junior know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad21 Sep 2026
A falling-out at Junior
Luis Muriel and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match19 Sep 2026
0‑1 to Union Magdalena, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Boardroom21 Sep 2026
Nobody left the Junior 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.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Fabian Torres after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
The dugout21 Sep 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.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
Shots: 4. Goals: none. The chances were there and they were good ones, and they went into the stand, the goalkeeper's arms and the side netting in roughly that order.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Yohandry Orozco is on it.
Looking ahead21 Sep 2026
Atletico Nacional next, and one man in the Junior dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
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
Steady
Squad31 Aug 2026
3 kept out in the shoot-out, and a stadium that will still be describing them in twenty years. A goalkeeper only needs one of these to be remembered forever.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
At 35 every good afternoon gets called a throwback, and this one was: 7.85, and nobody on the pitch better.
Market31 Aug 2026
It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Jannenson Sarmiento wants continental football; whether Junior can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.
Match29 Aug 2026
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
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.
Boardroom31 Aug 2026
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.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
From twelve yards, and Teo Gutiérrez misses
A penalty is the one moment in football with nowhere to hide, and he did not score it. The walk back was long and the week will be longer.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Junior are still strangers to each other
10 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Squad24 Aug 2026
The knee: Yimmi Chará out for 20 days
20 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Junior lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Match19 Aug 2026
Cup ties wait for somebody to seize them, and Miller Bacca obliged against Leones. 4‑3 on the night, and the name in the next round’s hat is Junior.
Match22 Aug 2026
No mercy from Junior
Patriotas will want this one forgotten quickly: 3‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Junior were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Match19 Aug 2026
Miller Bacca wins it after the whistle should have gone
100 minutes played. Miller Bacca found the finish in time that only existed because of earlier delays, and Leones went from a point to nothing inside one movement.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.91, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 7 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Teo Gutiérrez, 41, rolls back the years — 8.18
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.18 at 41, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 24. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Market24 Aug 2026
The general version of this complaint is that a player wants more. The specific version names the thing: he wants to walk out under floodlights against clubs from other countries, and he has stopped pretending otherwise.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Squad3 Aug 2026
The knee: Yimmi Chará out for 50 days
50 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Junior lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Player ratings3 Aug 2026
At 41 every good afternoon gets called a throwback, and this one was: 7.99, and nobody on the pitch better.
Market3 Aug 2026
The general version of this complaint is that a player wants more. The specific version names the thing: he wants to walk out under floodlights against clubs from other countries, and he has stopped pretending otherwise.
Squad3 Aug 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Luis Muriel and Junior agree another 2 years.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Tempers go at Junior
Luis Muriel 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 ratings3 Aug 2026
One scored and one made, which is a different afternoon from scoring twice and an easier one to overlook. Marked 7.97, and involved in 2 of his side's goals.
Match1 Aug 2026
Three points for Junior, 3‑2 the final word against Once Caldas in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Market3 Aug 2026
24 months to run and not a word offered. A club that lets the calendar negotiate for it usually ends up losing to the calendar.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Junior are still strangers to each other
10 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.