From our football correspondent
Steady
Market3 Jan 2028
Nicolás Mosca 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 Atlanta can pretend not to have heard.
The terraces3 Jan 2028
Atlanta sell a favourite for $5.6M
The accountants will call it good business and they will be right, which is not the point anybody outside the boardroom is making. Alejo Dramisino was one of the reasons people came, and $5.6M does not replace that by itself.
Squad3 Jan 2028
The season belongs to Lucas Ríos
An individual honour is a strange thing in a team game, and the best of them are never argued with. He has had the sort of year that ends with his name being read out, and Atlanta have had the benefit of it.
Transfer targets3 Jan 2028
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Atlanta have done the hard part with Boca Juniors, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Squad3 Jan 2028
Leonel Galeano 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.
Squad3 Jan 2028
Lucas Martinez 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 dugout3 Jan 2028
“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.
Squad3 Jan 2028
No place for Lucas Martinez in the new shape
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation Atlanta are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market27 Dec 2027
“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.
Market27 Dec 2027
Atlanta say no — this time
The offer from Gimnasia La Plata for Nicolás Mosca was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Transfer targets27 Dec 2027
The deal with Independiente died in the treatment room. Nobody will say what was found and everybody in the game will find out by Friday.
Transfer targets27 Dec 2027
The deal with Independiente is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
Transfer targets27 Dec 2027
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at River Plate is saying, and nobody at Atlanta is enjoying the guessing.
Market27 Dec 2027
Vito Esmay has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Atlanta they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad27 Dec 2027
Words exchanged at Atlanta
Leonel Galeano 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.
Market27 Dec 2027
Both sides expect a conversation in the coming days. Atlanta will name a price, and everything after that is arithmetic.
Squad27 Dec 2027
Words at Atlanta training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Tomás Rojas 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad20 Dec 2027
Lucas Ríos is named among the best
There are footballers who have a good season and footballers a season is remembered for, and the second kind get their names read out in a hall in the summer. Atlanta will be quietly delighted and privately nervous.
Market20 Dec 2027
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Gerónimo Cardozo will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Atlanta the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Transfer targets20 Dec 2027
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Atlanta have done the hard part with Independiente, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Squad20 Dec 2027
A falling-out at Atlanta
Leonel Galeano and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad20 Dec 2027
A row about effort at Atlanta
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Tomás Rojas was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout20 Dec 2027
A promise honoured for Lucas Ríos
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Atlanta told Lucas Ríos something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
The dugout20 Dec 2027
Tomás Rojas 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.
Transfer targets20 Dec 2027
A loan move for Saúl Durán is in the works
Atlanta have made the call to River Plate. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
The dugout20 Dec 2027
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 Federico Álvarez is on it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
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 Atlanta people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Market13 Dec 2027
“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.
Market13 Dec 2027
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Atlanta is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad13 Dec 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Atlanta this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout13 Dec 2027
Tomás Rojas 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.
The dugout13 Dec 2027
Nahuel Urtasún 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 dugout13 Dec 2027
Nicolás Mosca has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Atlanta 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.
Market13 Dec 2027
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Atlanta know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Squad13 Dec 2027
Tomás Rojas has seen what the next man earns
Numbers do not stay secret in a dressing room and never have. He is not asking for more than he is worth; he is asking why somebody beside him is worth more, and at Atlanta that is a harder question to answer.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market6 Dec 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Atlanta can pretend not to have heard.
Market6 Dec 2027
Only the photograph left for Rodrigo Sosa
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Rodrigo Sosa will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Atlanta the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Transfer targets6 Dec 2027
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Atlanta have done the hard part with All Boys, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Boardroom6 Dec 2027
He will play here until the summer and then walk out of the door for free, having already signed elsewhere. Supporters will manage the first part of that sentence; it is the second they will struggle with.
Squad6 Dec 2027
Leonel Galeano 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.
Squad6 Dec 2027
Words at Atlanta training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Tomás Rojas 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 dugout6 Dec 2027
Nobody at Atlanta 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.
Boardroom6 Dec 2027
Atlanta counting the cost
The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Atlanta now.
The dugout6 Dec 2027
Tomás Rojas 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 Atlanta, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market29 Nov 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 Atlanta, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market29 Nov 2027
Vito Esmay has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Atlanta they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad29 Nov 2027
Words exchanged at Atlanta
Leonel Galeano 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.
Market29 Nov 2027
It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Nicolás Mosca wants continental football; whether Atlanta can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.
Squad29 Nov 2027
Words at Atlanta training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Tomás Rojas 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.
Boardroom29 Nov 2027
108% of the income goes out in wages at Atlanta
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.
The dugout29 Nov 2027
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
The dugout29 Nov 2027
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.
Market29 Nov 2027
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Tomás Castro Ponce’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market22 Nov 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 Atlanta, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market22 Nov 2027
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Atlanta is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad22 Nov 2027
A falling-out at Atlanta
Leonel Galeano and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout22 Nov 2027
Tomás Rojas is still paying for one afternoon at Atlanta
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
The dugout22 Nov 2027
Lucas Ríos 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.
The dugout22 Nov 2027
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.
Market22 Nov 2027
Lucas Ríos linked with a move away
The name of Lucas Ríos keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Atlanta say nothing, which says plenty.
Squad22 Nov 2027
Rodrigo Sosa has seen what the next man earns
Numbers do not stay secret in a dressing room and never have. He is not asking for more than he is worth; he is asking why somebody beside him is worth more, and at Atlanta that is a harder question to answer.
The dugout22 Nov 2027
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
Market15 Nov 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 Atlanta, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market15 Nov 2027
Frank Bogado has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Atlanta they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad15 Nov 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Atlanta this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad15 Nov 2027
Words at Atlanta training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Tomás Rojas 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 dugout15 Nov 2027
Lucas Ríos 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 Atlanta, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The dugout15 Nov 2027
The manager has not finished forgetting Nahuel Urtasún's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
The dugout15 Nov 2027
Nicolás Mosca has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Atlanta 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.
Market15 Nov 2027
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Atlanta know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
The dugout15 Nov 2027
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Atlanta. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad8 Nov 2027
15 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Atlanta lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Market8 Nov 2027
“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.
Market8 Nov 2027
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Atlanta is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad8 Nov 2027
Leonel Galeano 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.
Squad8 Nov 2027
Words at Atlanta training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Tomás Rojas 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 dugout8 Nov 2027
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.
Market8 Nov 2027
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Lucas Ríos may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
Market8 Nov 2027
“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.
The dugout8 Nov 2027
“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
Steady
Squad1 Nov 2027
Braian Rivero damages knee ligaments — 23 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 23 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Market1 Nov 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 Atlanta, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad1 Nov 2027
A muscle injury sidelines Lucas Ríos for 17 days
Nobody makes a documentary about a hamstring and everybody in the game fears one. Atlanta will be careful with the return date, because the second one is always worse than the first.
Boardroom1 Nov 2027
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Tiago Romero 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.
Market1 Nov 2027
Only the photograph left for Vito Esmay
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Vito Esmay will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Atlanta the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad1 Nov 2027
Words exchanged at Atlanta
Leonel Galeano 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.
Boardroom1 Nov 2027
98% of the income goes out in wages at Atlanta
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.
Squad1 Nov 2027
The medical room confirms 16 days on the sidelines for Frank Bogado, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
The dugout1 Nov 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Federico Castro, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad25 Oct 2027
30 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Atlanta lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Market25 Oct 2027
“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.
Market25 Oct 2027
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Atlanta they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Boardroom25 Oct 2027
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Vito Esmay has agreed terms with Aldosivi for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
Squad25 Oct 2027
A falling-out at Atlanta
Leonel Galeano and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad25 Oct 2027
Tomás Rojas 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 dugout25 Oct 2027
The manager has not finished forgetting Tomás Rojas's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
The dugout25 Oct 2027
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 dugout25 Oct 2027
Tomás Rojas 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
Steady
Squad18 Oct 2027
Braian Rivero damages knee ligaments — 37 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 37 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Market18 Oct 2027
“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.
Boardroom18 Oct 2027
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Frank Bogado 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.
Market18 Oct 2027
Frank Bogado has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Atlanta they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad18 Oct 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Atlanta this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad18 Oct 2027
A row about effort at Atlanta
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Tomás Rojas was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout18 Oct 2027
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
The dugout18 Oct 2027
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 dugout18 Oct 2027
Tomás Rojas 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 Tomás Rojas trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad11 Oct 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Braian Rivero
45 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Atlanta lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market11 Oct 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 Atlanta, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad11 Oct 2027
Leonel Galeano 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.
The dugout11 Oct 2027
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.
Market11 Oct 2027
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Atlanta know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
The dugout11 Oct 2027
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Atlanta, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The terraces11 Oct 2027
Supporters make their feelings known about Martín García
The speculation has reached the stands, and the stands have answered. Atlanta would like this settled before it becomes the only thing anybody asks about.
Market11 Oct 2027
The clock does Rodrigo Sosa’s negotiating for him
3 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee Atlanta could ask drops and the wages Rodrigo Sosa can ask rise.
Market11 Oct 2027
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Rodrigo Moreira may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad4 Oct 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Braian Rivero
52 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Atlanta lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market4 Oct 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 Atlanta, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad4 Oct 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Alejandro Quintana and Atlanta agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad4 Oct 2027
Words exchanged at Atlanta
Leonel Galeano 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.
Squad4 Oct 2027
A row about effort at Atlanta
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Tomás Rojas was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Boardroom4 Oct 2027
Wages swallow 110% of the Atlanta 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.
Boardroom4 Oct 2027
Atlanta counting the cost
The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Atlanta now.
The dugout4 Oct 2027
Lucas Ríos 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.
The dugout4 Oct 2027
The manager makes an example of Federico Castro
“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
Squad27 Sep 2027
Braian Rivero damages knee ligaments — 59 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 59 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Squad27 Sep 2027
30 goals and a season average of 7.54. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.
Match27 Sep 2027
The season ends: position 7 for Atlanta
The last league game has been played and the table has stopped moving: 56 points. The summer begins on Monday, and so does the argument about what it all meant.
Squad27 Sep 2027
There were 8 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Player ratings27 Sep 2027
A brace, and Lautaro Fedele takes the afternoon — 8.78
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Lautaro Fedele provided it, and the 8.78 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Player ratings27 Sep 2027
Lucas Ríos beats them one at a time
Successful dribbles: 27. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Market27 Sep 2027
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Atlanta they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad27 Sep 2027
A falling-out at Atlanta
Leonel Galeano and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match25 Sep 2027
Atlanta hit back inside 4 minutes
Deportivo Riestra held the lead for 4 minutes, which is not long enough to enjoy it. Atlanta answered before the celebration had properly finished, and the shape of the afternoon changed with it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad20 Sep 2027
Braian Rivero damages knee ligaments — 67 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 67 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Squad20 Sep 2027
A season average of 7.51 with 28 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.
Match18 Sep 2027
Nowhere to hide for Atlanta
1‑4 against Tristán Suárez, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Market20 Sep 2027
Kevin Benítez 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 Atlanta can pretend not to have heard.
Squad20 Sep 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Atlanta this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom20 Sep 2027
Doors closed at Atlanta
The music was off and the showers ran late. What was said in that dressing room stays there, but Saturday will publish the minutes.
The dugout20 Sep 2027
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 1‑4 Sebastián Núñez left the room before anybody could ask which.
The dugout20 Sep 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.
Squad20 Sep 2027
3 saves does not settle the argument about whose fault it was, and the argument will run all week. Goalkeepers carry these scorelines whoever caused them.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad13 Sep 2027
Braian Rivero damages knee ligaments — 76 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 76 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Squad13 Sep 2027
27 goals and a season average of 7.50. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.
Player ratings13 Sep 2027
A brace, and Lautaro Fedele takes the afternoon — 9.08
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Lautaro Fedele provided it, and the 9.08 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Market13 Sep 2027
“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.
Match11 Sep 2027
Atlanta cannot stop winning
3 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
Squad13 Sep 2027
Leonel Galeano 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.
Match11 Sep 2027
Alvarado made Atlanta work for it, but the scoreboard read 2‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Squad13 Sep 2027
A row about effort at Atlanta
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Tomás Rojas was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout13 Sep 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.” Sebastián Núñez, on a 2‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad6 Sep 2027
83 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Atlanta lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad6 Sep 2027
A season average of 7.46 with 25 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.
Market6 Sep 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 Atlanta, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad6 Sep 2027
Words exchanged at Atlanta
Leonel Galeano 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.
Match4 Sep 2027
Madryn made Atlanta work for it, but the scoreboard read 1‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Squad6 Sep 2027
Tomás Rojas 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 ratings6 Sep 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.
Player ratings6 Sep 2027
Lucas Ríos 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.
Boardroom6 Sep 2027
92% of the income goes out in wages at Atlanta
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.
In brief
-
The dugout
The manager’s verdict
-
The dugout
The manager makes an example of Rodrigo Sosa
-
The dugout
The manager has not finished forgetting Kevin Benítez's mistake
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad30 Aug 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Braian Rivero
90 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Atlanta lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market30 Aug 2027
“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.
Market30 Aug 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 Atlanta, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad30 Aug 2027
24 goals and a season average of 7.45. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.
Market30 Aug 2027
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Atlanta they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad30 Aug 2027
A falling-out at Atlanta
Leonel Galeano and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match28 Aug 2027
It finished 1‑0, and it was Lautaro Fedele’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Atlanta.
Player ratings30 Aug 2027
A mark of 7.57, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.
The dugout30 Aug 2027
He found out with everybody else, an hour before kick-off, from a sheet of paper on a wall. Nobody at Atlanta pretended it was anything other than a decision about him.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad23 Aug 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Braian Rivero
97 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Atlanta lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market23 Aug 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 Atlanta, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market23 Aug 2027
Add another name to the list: Dinamo Minsk have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Lucas Ríos. The answer from Atlanta has not changed — yet.
Squad23 Aug 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Atlanta this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings23 Aug 2027
Successful dribbles: 22. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad23 Aug 2027
Tomás Rojas 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 ratings23 Aug 2027
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.10, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Match21 Aug 2027
A goal on 93 minutes turned three points into one and a good afternoon into an argument about game management that will run until Saturday.
The dugout23 Aug 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad16 Aug 2027
The knee: Braian Rivero out for 105 days
105 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Atlanta lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad16 Aug 2027
23 goals and a season average of 7.46. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.
The dugout16 Aug 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.
Market16 Aug 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Atlanta can pretend not to have heard.
Squad16 Aug 2027
Leonel Galeano 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.
Squad16 Aug 2027
Tomás Rojas 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 ratings16 Aug 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.
Match14 Aug 2027
Late, late show earns Atlanta a point
Minute 89, against Los Andes, 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 dugout16 Aug 2027
Tomás Rojas 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
Squad9 Aug 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Braian Rivero
112 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Atlanta lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market9 Aug 2027
“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.
Squad9 Aug 2027
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Leonel Galeano commits to Atlanta for another 2 years.
Squad9 Aug 2027
Words exchanged at Atlanta
Leonel Galeano 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.
Match7 Aug 2027
Beaten 1‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout9 Aug 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.
Player ratings9 Aug 2027
Successful dribbles: 17. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Market9 Aug 2027
“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.
The dugout9 Aug 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 Sebastián Núñez to a room that had heard them before.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad2 Aug 2027
The knee: Braian Rivero out for 119 days
119 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Atlanta lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Match31 Jul 2027
4‑0, and the margin flattered nobody — it could have carried another goal or two without complaint. Afternoons like this are why people keep coming.
Market2 Aug 2027
“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.
Player ratings2 Aug 2027
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.74, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Squad2 Aug 2027
22 goals and a season average of 7.45. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.
Player ratings2 Aug 2027
A defender's goal wins it for Atlanta — 7.69
1 for Nicolás Previtali, marked 7.69, 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.
Market2 Aug 2027
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Gerónimo Cardozo will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Atlanta the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad2 Aug 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Leonel Galeano and Atlanta agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad2 Aug 2027
A falling-out at Atlanta
Leonel Galeano and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad26 Jul 2027
The knee: Braian Rivero out for 126 days
126 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Atlanta lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Market26 Jul 2027
“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.
Squad26 Jul 2027
20 goals and a season average of 7.41. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.
Boardroom26 Jul 2027
Window shuts: 0 in, 2 out at Atlanta
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 0 arrived, 2 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
Market26 Jul 2027
Lucas Ríos has his eye on Europe
It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether Atlanta can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.
Market26 Jul 2027
The deal that would have taken Federico Castro to San Miguel has collapsed at the last stage, and he reports back to Atlanta with a summer to forget and a season still to play. Nobody is saying which side walked away.
Match24 Jul 2027
The wait goes on for Atlanta
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.
Player ratings26 Jul 2027
Nobody could get near Lucas Ríos
Successful dribbles: 23. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad26 Jul 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Atlanta this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad19 Jul 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Braian Rivero
133 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Atlanta lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market19 Jul 2027
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Atlanta have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Player ratings19 Jul 2027
Nobody could get near Lucas Ríos
Successful dribbles: 29. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Market19 Jul 2027
“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 targets19 Jul 2027
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Colón keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Squad19 Jul 2027
Leonel Galeano 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.
Transfer targets19 Jul 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.
Market19 Jul 2027
Tigre paid $77.0K and Atlanta took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
Player ratings19 Jul 2027
7.73, and no serious argument from anybody who was there. Atlanta had eleven men on the pitch and one of them decided how it went.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad12 Jul 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Braian Rivero
140 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Atlanta lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market12 Jul 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 Atlanta, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad12 Jul 2027
Defences have started doubling up on Lautaro Fedele
19 goals and a season average of 7.43 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.
Squad12 Jul 2027
Words exchanged at Atlanta
Leonel Galeano 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.
Market12 Jul 2027
Huracán pay $340.0K, and the deal is done. The number reads well on a balance sheet; whether it reads well on the pitch is next season's question.
Player ratings12 Jul 2027
Lucas Ríos runs at them all day
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.
Match10 Jul 2027
Lautaro Fedele scored, and precious little else went right: 1‑2 to Maipú, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.
Squad12 Jul 2027
Tomás Rojas 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
Upbeat
Squad5 Jul 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Braian Rivero
148 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Atlanta lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market5 Jul 2027
Only the photograph left for Leonel Galeano
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Leonel Galeano will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Atlanta the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Market5 Jul 2027
“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.
Market5 Jul 2027
Braian Rivero 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 Atlanta can pretend not to have heard.
Market5 Jul 2027
Kokand 1912 come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Atlanta did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Player ratings5 Jul 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.
Squad5 Jul 2027
A falling-out at Atlanta
Leonel Galeano and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout5 Jul 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.
In brief
-
Squad
A row about effort at Atlanta
-
Player ratings
Alejo Dramisino in the eights
-
The dugout
The manager’s verdict
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market28 Jun 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Atlanta can pretend not to have heard.
Market28 Jun 2027
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Atlanta people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Match28 Jun 2027
Atlanta are in among the leaders
Position 3 and 39 points on the board. Nobody at the ground will say the word out loud yet, and everybody at the ground is thinking it.
Match26 Jun 2027
Atlanta make it 3 in a row
Momentum is a hard thing to buy and an easy thing to lose, and right now Atlanta have 3 straight wins of it.
Squad28 Jun 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Atlanta this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad28 Jun 2027
A season average of 7.23 with 14 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.
The dugout28 Jun 2027
The manager makes an example of Lucas Ríos
“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.
Market28 Jun 2027
The interest is real enough to have reached print. Atlanta have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
Match26 Jun 2027
It finished 1‑0, and it was Tomás Castro Ponce’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Atlanta.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market21 Jun 2027
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Atlanta have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Match19 Jun 2027
4‑1, and Lautaro Fedele took the headlines on an afternoon when everything Atlanta tried came off. Days like this are retold all winter.
Player ratings21 Jun 2027
A brace, and Lautaro Fedele takes the afternoon — 9.46
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Lautaro Fedele provided it, and the 9.46 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Squad21 Jun 2027
Defences have started doubling up on Lautaro Fedele
18 goals and a season average of 7.46 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.
Player ratings21 Jun 2027
At 35 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.26 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Market21 Jun 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Atlanta can pretend not to have heard.
Squad21 Jun 2027
Leonel Galeano 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.
Market21 Jun 2027
The name of Nicolás Mosca has come up in conversations Atlanta were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Match19 Jun 2027
Atlanta make home a hard place to visit
8 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings14 Jun 2027
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 9.06, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Market14 Jun 2027
The bid was some way short and Atlanta did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Market14 Jun 2027
Kevin Benítez 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 Atlanta can pretend not to have heard.
Squad14 Jun 2027
Defences have started doubling up on Lautaro Fedele
16 goals and a season average of 7.39 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.
Squad14 Jun 2027
Words exchanged at Atlanta
Leonel Galeano 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.
Match12 Jun 2027
Almagro made Atlanta work for it, but the scoreboard read 2‑1 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Squad14 Jun 2027
A row about effort at Atlanta
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Tomás Rojas was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Market14 Jun 2027
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.
Market14 Jun 2027
Rodrigo Sosa is free to find somewhere else
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Atlanta has been clear about where Rodrigo Sosa stands, which is more than many ever get.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market7 Jun 2027
Atlanta say no — this time
The offer from San Lorenzo for Leonel Galeano was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Market7 Jun 2027
“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.
Boardroom7 Jun 2027
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Leonel Galeano has agreed terms with San Lorenzo for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
Squad7 Jun 2027
Defences have started doubling up on Lautaro Fedele
14 goals and a season average of 7.32 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.
Squad7 Jun 2027
A falling-out at Atlanta
Leonel Galeano 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
100 times in these colours, in all weathers and under four or five different managers. That kind of service is quietly disappearing from the game.
Player ratings7 Jun 2027
A mark of 7.78, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.
Market7 Jun 2027
Braian Rivero is free to find somewhere else
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Atlanta has been clear about where Braian Rivero stands, which is more than many ever get.
Squad7 Jun 2027
Four or five weekends of consistency, measured against everybody else in the division. A quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings31 May 2027
Two goals and a mark of 9.25 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Player ratings31 May 2027
A defender's goal wins it for Atlanta — 7.98
1 for Tomás Castro Ponce, marked 7.98, 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.
Squad31 May 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Atlanta this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match29 May 2027
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between Atlanta and Deportivo Riestra, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Squad31 May 2027
13 goals and a season average of 7.31. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.
Player ratings31 May 2027
Successful dribbles: 21. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
The terraces31 May 2027
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Nicolás Mosca has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Player ratings31 May 2027
Ninety minutes of Lucas Ríos at his very best
Marked 8.65. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Atlanta.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match22 May 2027
2‑5 to Tristán Suárez, 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.
Player ratings24 May 2027
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.36 at 35, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Squad24 May 2027
Leonel Galeano 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.
Match22 May 2027
Lucas Ríos among the goals in a wild afternoon
7 goals in one match, Lucas Ríos on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Atlanta and Tristán Suárez.
Market24 May 2027
Atlanta may not be able to give Lucas Ríos what he wants
It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Lucas Ríos wants continental football; whether Atlanta can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.
Squad24 May 2027
Defences have started doubling up on Alejandro Quintana
13 goals and a season average of 7.22 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
A row about effort at Atlanta
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Tomás Rojas was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Player ratings24 May 2027
Lucas Ríos runs at them all day
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 May 2027
The manager makes an example of Federico Bisanz
“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
-
Boardroom
Wages swallow 111% of the Atlanta income
-
Boardroom
Nobody left the Atlanta dressing room in a hurry
-
The dugout
The view from the dugout
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match17 May 2027
Atlanta up to position 2
26 points on the board and a place in the leading group. Nobody at the ground is saying the word out loud yet.
Squad17 May 2027
A day Lucas Ríos 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.
The dugout17 May 2027
Rocco Pasquale: 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.” Atlanta have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Market17 May 2027
“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.
Squad17 May 2027
Words exchanged at Atlanta
Leonel Galeano 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 ratings17 May 2027
One of those days for Lucas Ríos
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 9.64, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Match15 May 2027
It finished 3‑1, and it was Lucas Ríos’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Atlanta.
Squad17 May 2027
Defences have started doubling up on Lautaro Fedele
11 goals and a season average of 7.23 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.
The dugout17 May 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match8 May 2027
2 goals to the good, and then a slow surrender of everything that had been earned. Tomás Castro Ponce will not be the one blamed for it, but nobody at Atlanta escapes the conversation that follows a collapse like this.
Squad10 May 2027
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 8 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Player ratings10 May 2027
A brace, and Tomás Castro Ponce takes the afternoon — 8.02
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Tomás Castro Ponce provided it, and the 8.02 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Player ratings10 May 2027
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 7.84 at 35, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Market10 May 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 Atlanta, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad10 May 2027
A falling-out at Atlanta
Leonel Galeano and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Player ratings10 May 2027
Successful dribbles: 20. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
The dugout10 May 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.
Squad10 May 2027
Tomás Rojas 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
Upbeat
Squad3 May 2027
The match ball belongs to Alejandro Quintana, whose 4 goals turned a difficult afternoon into a procession.
Match1 May 2027
Rarely has this fixture seen a display like it: 4‑1 against San Martín, and it could have been more.
Market3 May 2027
“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.
Player ratings3 May 2027
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 9.93 at 35, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Player ratings3 May 2027
Successful dribbles: 26. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad3 May 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Atlanta this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad3 May 2027
A row about effort at Atlanta
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Tomás Rojas was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout3 May 2027
The manager makes an example of Braian Rivero
“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.
Squad3 May 2027
Four or five weekends of consistency, measured against everybody else in the division. A quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match21 Apr 2027
The cup run ends for Atlanta
0‑3 against Unión de Santa Fe, and the road stops here. Cup exits are quick deaths — no second leg, no next week, just the league from now until May.
The terraces26 Apr 2027
0-3, 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.
Player ratings26 Apr 2027
Successful dribbles: 23. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad26 Apr 2027
Leonel Galeano 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.
Match24 Apr 2027
Atlanta are shipping goals every week
Two or more conceded in each of the last 4 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
Match24 Apr 2027
A point taken on 94 minutes is worth exactly one point and considerably more than that to a dressing room. This side does not stop, which is a reputation worth more than the result.
The dugout26 Apr 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Federico Bisanz, and the manager let it.
Boardroom26 Apr 2027
Doors closed at Atlanta
The music was off and the showers ran late. What was said in that dressing room stays there, but Saturday will publish the minutes.
Boardroom26 Apr 2027
97% of the income goes out in wages at Atlanta
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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings19 Apr 2027
A brace, and Alejandro Quintana takes the afternoon — 9.30
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Alejandro Quintana provided it, and the 9.30 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Player ratings19 Apr 2027
A defender's goal wins it for Atlanta — 7.32
1 for Nicolás Previtali, marked 7.32, 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.
Market19 Apr 2027
Vito Esmay 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 Atlanta can pretend not to have heard.
Match17 Apr 2027
Nobody wants to play Atlanta 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.
Match17 Apr 2027
It finished 5‑3, and it was Alejandro Quintana’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Atlanta.
Squad19 Apr 2027
Leonel Galeano 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.
Match17 Apr 2027
8 goals in one match, Alejandro Quintana on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Atlanta and Los Andes.
The terraces19 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.
Squad19 Apr 2027
A season average of 7.23 with 11 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings12 Apr 2027
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 9.26, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Squad12 Apr 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Atlanta this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match10 Apr 2027
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Lautaro Fedele. 3‑2 against Ferro Carril Oeste, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
The dugout12 Apr 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Leonel Galeano, and the manager let it.
Player ratings12 Apr 2027
Nicolás Previtali was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.01. 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.
Squad12 Apr 2027
Words at Atlanta training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Rodrigo Moreira 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 ratings12 Apr 2027
Successful dribbles: 15. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
The dugout12 Apr 2027
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 3‑2, Sebastián Núñez could afford to be generous.
Market12 Apr 2027
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Kevin Benítez has his answer from Atlanta; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match3 Apr 2027
Rarely has this fixture seen a display like it: 4‑1 against Colegiales, and it could have been more.
Player ratings5 Apr 2027
Two goals and a mark of 9.21 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Squad5 Apr 2027
8 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.
Player ratings5 Apr 2027
A brace, and Lautaro Fedele takes the afternoon — 8.75
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Lautaro Fedele provided it, and the 8.75 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Market5 Apr 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Atlanta can pretend not to have heard.
Squad5 Apr 2027
A falling-out at Atlanta
Leonel Galeano and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Player ratings5 Apr 2027
Successful dribbles: 18. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Market5 Apr 2027
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.
The dugout5 Apr 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Rodrigo Moreira, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad29 Mar 2027
Words exchanged at Atlanta
Leonel Galeano 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 ratings29 Mar 2027
Lucas Ríos runs at them all day
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.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Words at Atlanta training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Tomás Rojas 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 dugout29 Mar 2027
A promise honoured for Tomás Rojas
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Atlanta told Tomás Rojas something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
Match27 Mar 2027
It needed Alejandro Quintana to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Patronato, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
The dugout29 Mar 2027
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 dugout29 Mar 2027
The view from the dugout
“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Sebastián Núñez chose the glass-half-full version of 1‑1; the supporters left with the other one.
The dugout29 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.
Market29 Mar 2027
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Alejo Dramisino signs something — a contract at Atlanta or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market22 Mar 2027
Vito Esmay 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 Atlanta can pretend not to have heard.
Squad22 Mar 2027
Leonel Galeano 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 ratings22 Mar 2027
Successful dribbles: 22. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Market22 Mar 2027
Atlanta may not be able to give Lucas Ríos what he wants
It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Lucas Ríos wants continental football; whether Atlanta can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.
Match20 Mar 2027
Racing left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad22 Mar 2027
A row about effort at Atlanta
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Tomás Rojas was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Boardroom22 Mar 2027
Wages swallow 101% of the Atlanta 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 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 dugout22 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad15 Mar 2027
Christian Bernardi damages knee ligaments — 15 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 15 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Squad15 Mar 2027
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.
The dugout15 Mar 2027
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Atlanta have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Player ratings15 Mar 2027
Lucas Ríos runs at them all day
Successful dribbles: 24. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad15 Mar 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Atlanta this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match13 Mar 2027
Atlanta get the job done against Maipú
A 3‑2 win over Maipú, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Player ratings15 Mar 2027
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 9.49, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
The terraces15 Mar 2027
He is 23 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad8 Mar 2027
22 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Atlanta lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad8 Mar 2027
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 9 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
The dugout8 Mar 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Atlanta may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Player ratings8 Mar 2027
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.13 at 35, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Market8 Mar 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Atlanta can pretend not to have heard.
Squad8 Mar 2027
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Alejandro Quintana commits to Atlanta for another 2 years.
Squad8 Mar 2027
A falling-out at Atlanta
Leonel Galeano and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Player ratings8 Mar 2027
Lucas Ríos 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.
Player ratings8 Mar 2027
Ninety minutes of Lautaro Fedele at his very best
Marked 8.34. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Atlanta.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad1 Mar 2027
29 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Atlanta lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad1 Mar 2027
Words exchanged at Atlanta
Leonel Galeano 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.
Match27 Feb 2027
Arsenal left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad1 Mar 2027
Tomás Rojas 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 dugout1 Mar 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 0‑1 defeat, delivered by Sebastián Núñez to a room that had heard them before.
Player ratings1 Mar 2027
Lucas Ríos beats them one at a time
Successful dribbles: 15. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
The dugout1 Mar 2027
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 Juan Francisco Rago is on it.
Squad1 Mar 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.
The dugout1 Mar 2027
The manager makes an example of Gustavo Mendoza
“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
Upbeat
Squad22 Feb 2027
The knee: Luis Lucero out for 21 days
21 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Atlanta lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Player ratings22 Feb 2027
Lucas Ríos runs at them all day
Successful dribbles: 33. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Player ratings22 Feb 2027
A brace, and Lautaro Fedele takes the afternoon — 8.87
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Lautaro Fedele provided it, and the 8.87 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Market22 Feb 2027
“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.
Squad22 Feb 2027
Leonel Galeano 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.
Match20 Feb 2027
All Boys made Atlanta work for it, but the scoreboard read 3‑2 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Match20 Feb 2027
Atlanta keep winning on the road
3 away wins in a row. Travelling support is the truest kind, and this season it is being repaid in the only currency that counts.
Player ratings22 Feb 2027
Marked 8.02 — 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.
The dugout22 Feb 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.
In brief
-
Boardroom
90% of the income goes out in wages at Atlanta
-
The dugout
The view from the dugout
-
The dugout
Leonel Galeano knocks on the manager's door
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad15 Feb 2027
43 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Atlanta lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Market15 Feb 2027
“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.
Squad15 Feb 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Atlanta this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings15 Feb 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.
The dugout15 Feb 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.
Squad15 Feb 2027
Tomás Rojas 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 dugout15 Feb 2027
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 1‑2 Sebastián Núñez left the room before anybody could ask which.
The dugout15 Feb 2027
Leonel Galeano 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
Steady
Squad8 Feb 2027
50 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Atlanta lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Market8 Feb 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Atlanta can pretend not to have heard.
Boardroom8 Feb 2027
The instruction came from the boardroom and the dugout did not agree with it. Somebody will go, the fee will be called good business, and the manager will spend the season rebuilding around the space.
Squad8 Feb 2027
A falling-out at Atlanta
Leonel Galeano and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Player ratings8 Feb 2027
Nobody could get near Lucas Ríos
Successful dribbles: 21. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Boardroom8 Feb 2027
1 academy players handed senior numbers at Atlanta
The morning the pathway stops being a brochure and becomes a team sheet. Most of them will not be here in three years; all of them have already done the hard part, which was getting to today.
The dugout8 Feb 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.
Market8 Feb 2027
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Miguel Marino 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.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Tomás Rojas 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.
In brief
-
Boardroom
Atlanta board go back on their word
-
The dugout
Sebastián Núñez: “We have to be better”
-
Boardroom
Atlanta turn down the training-ground plan
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad1 Feb 2027
57 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Atlanta lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Words exchanged at Atlanta
Leonel Galeano 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.
Market1 Feb 2027
“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.
Market1 Feb 2027
“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Federico Castro has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at Atlanta.
The dugout1 Feb 2027
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 Juan Francisco Rago is on it.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Words at Atlanta training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nicolás Medina 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 dugout1 Feb 2027
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Alejandro Quintana trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The dugout1 Feb 2027
The manager makes an example of Mateo Ferrari
“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.
Market1 Feb 2027
The name of Martín García keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Atlanta say nothing, which says plenty.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad25 Jan 2027
64 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Atlanta lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market25 Jan 2027
“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.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Leonel Galeano 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.
Market25 Jan 2027
Atlanta may not be able to give Lucas Ríos what he wants
It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Lucas Ríos wants continental football; whether Atlanta can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.
Squad25 Jan 2027
A row about effort at Atlanta
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Tomás Rojas was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout25 Jan 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Tomás Rojas, and the manager let it.
Boardroom25 Jan 2027
91% of the income goes out in wages at Atlanta
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.
The dugout25 Jan 2027
“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.
The dugout25 Jan 2027
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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad18 Jan 2027
71 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Atlanta lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad18 Jan 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Atlanta this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Tomás Rojas 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 dugout18 Jan 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.
Market18 Jan 2027
Both sides expect a conversation in the coming days. Atlanta will name a price, and everything after that is arithmetic.
The dugout18 Jan 2027
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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad11 Jan 2027
Christian Bernardi damages knee ligaments — 78 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 78 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Market11 Jan 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Atlanta can pretend not to have heard.
Market11 Jan 2027
Ayacucho come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Atlanta did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Squad11 Jan 2027
A falling-out at Atlanta
Leonel Galeano and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Nicolás Medina 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 dugout11 Jan 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Braian Rivero, and the manager let it.
The dugout11 Jan 2027
Nicolás Mosca 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 Nicolás Mosca is on it.
The dugout11 Jan 2027
Lucas Ríos 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 Ríos trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Leonel Galeano wants to know why he earns less
Numbers do not stay secret in a dressing room. He is not asking for more than he is worth; he is asking why somebody beside him is worth more, and Atlanta have no good answer.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad4 Jan 2027
85 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Atlanta lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market4 Jan 2027
“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.
The dugout4 Jan 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.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Words exchanged at Atlanta
Leonel Galeano 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.
Market4 Jan 2027
The phone has started ringing about Nicolás Medina again, and this time the name on the line is Ayacucho. Atlanta are listening politely and promising nothing.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Tomás Rojas 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.
Squad4 Jan 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Nicolás Mosca and Atlanta agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
The dugout4 Jan 2027
Rodrigo Sosa 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.
The dugout4 Jan 2027
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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad28 Dec 2026
92 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Atlanta lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market28 Dec 2026
Martín García 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 Atlanta can pretend not to have heard.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Leonel Galeano 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.
Boardroom28 Dec 2026
Wages eat 144% of everything Atlanta 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.
The dugout28 Dec 2026
The manager makes an example of Martín 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.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Words at Atlanta training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Rodrigo Moreira 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 dugout28 Dec 2026
Leonel Galeano 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 Leonel Galeano trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The dugout28 Dec 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 Federico Castro is on it.
Market28 Dec 2026
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Martín García signs something — a contract at Atlanta or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad21 Dec 2026
Christian Bernardi damages knee ligaments — 99 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 99 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
The dugout21 Dec 2026
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Atlanta may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad21 Dec 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Atlanta this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Nicolás Mosca 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 dugout21 Dec 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Tomás Rojas, and the manager let it.
The dugout21 Dec 2026
“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
Steady
Squad14 Dec 2026
106 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Atlanta lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
The dugout14 Dec 2026
“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.
Market14 Dec 2026
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Atlanta people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Squad14 Dec 2026
A falling-out at Atlanta
Leonel Galeano and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Words at Atlanta training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Patricio Ostachuk 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 dugout14 Dec 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Agustín Morales, and the manager let it.
The dugout14 Dec 2026
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Alejandro Quintana trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The dugout14 Dec 2026
Nicolás Mosca has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Atlanta 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.
Market14 Dec 2026
No place for Alan Lemcke in the plan
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Alan Lemcke has his answer from Atlanta; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad7 Dec 2026
Christian Bernardi damages knee ligaments — 113 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 113 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
The dugout7 Dec 2026
“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.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Words exchanged at Atlanta
Leonel Galeano 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.
Market7 Dec 2026
Add another name to the list: Atletico Venezuela have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Nicolás Mosca. The answer from Atlanta has not changed — yet.
The dugout7 Dec 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Leonel Galeano, and the manager let it.
Market7 Dec 2026
Martín García is free to find somewhere else
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Atlanta has been clear about where Martín García stands, which is more than many ever get.
Squad7 Dec 2026
A row about effort at Atlanta
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Rodrigo Moreira was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad7 Dec 2026
The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Ignacio Rodríguez 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.
The dugout7 Dec 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 Juan Francisco Rago is on it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad30 Nov 2026
120 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Atlanta lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
Pichi: 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.” Atlanta have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Leonel Galeano 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.
Boardroom30 Nov 2026
Wages eat 148% of everything Atlanta 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.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Alejo Dramisino, and the manager let it.
Squad30 Nov 2026
A row about effort at Atlanta
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Nicolás Mosca was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad23 Nov 2026
127 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Atlanta lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market23 Nov 2026
Leonel Galeano has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Atlanta they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad23 Nov 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Atlanta this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Words at Atlanta training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Rodrigo Moreira 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 dugout23 Nov 2026
Agustín Morales has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Atlanta 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.
Market23 Nov 2026
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Atlanta know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad16 Nov 2026
134 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Atlanta lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad16 Nov 2026
A falling-out at Atlanta
Leonel Galeano and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout16 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.
Squad16 Nov 2026
A row about effort at Atlanta
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Patricio Ostachuk was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
Nicolás Mosca has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Atlanta 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.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Christian Bernardi trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad9 Nov 2026
141 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Atlanta lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
“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.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Words exchanged at Atlanta
Leonel Galeano 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 dugout9 Nov 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Leonel Galeano, and the manager let it.
Market9 Nov 2026
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Facundo Gutiérrez is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Words at Atlanta training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nicolás Mosca 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
The dugout2 Nov 2026
“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.
Boardroom2 Nov 2026
The Atlanta board want somebody sold
The instruction has come from upstairs rather than from the dugout, which is the version of this conversation no manager enjoys. Somebody in that squad is now available whether the man who picks the team thinks so or not.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Leonel Galeano 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.
Boardroom2 Nov 2026
Wages eat 148% of everything Atlanta 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.
Squad2 Nov 2026
The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Christian Bernardi is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
Market2 Nov 2026
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Words at Atlanta training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Agustín Morales 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 dugout2 Nov 2026
The manager makes an example of Agustín Morales
“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.
Market2 Nov 2026
“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Mateo Ferrari has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at Atlanta.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market26 Oct 2026
Leonel Galeano has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Atlanta they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad26 Oct 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Atlanta this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Patricio Ostachuk 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 dugout26 Oct 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Ignacio Rodríguez, and the manager let it.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Atlanta, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
Agustín Morales has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Atlanta 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
Steady
Market19 Oct 2026
“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 Atlanta, and it is not being withdrawn.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Atlanta may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad19 Oct 2026
A falling-out at Atlanta
Leonel Galeano and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Lautaro Fedele, and the manager let it.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Words at Atlanta training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nicolás Mosca 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 dugout19 Oct 2026
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Atlanta, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad12 Oct 2026
Words exchanged at Atlanta
Leonel Galeano 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.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Too much change too quickly at Atlanta
25 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
The manager makes an example of Rodrigo Moreira
“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 dugout12 Oct 2026
Nobody at Atlanta 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.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
Lautaro Fedele 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 Lautaro Fedele trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Mauro Medina 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
Steady
Squad5 Oct 2026
Leonel Galeano 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.
Boardroom5 Oct 2026
Wages eat 181% of everything Atlanta 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.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Patricio Ostachuk 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 dugout5 Oct 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Federico Bisanz, and the manager let it.
The dugout5 Oct 2026
Pichi 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 Pichi trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The dugout5 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 Federico Castro is on it.
Market5 Oct 2026
3 months left and the two sides are nowhere near each other. Every week this drags on takes money off what Atlanta could get for him.
The dugout5 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.
Squad5 Oct 2026
“I will know when it is time. I am not there yet.” Federico Castro is 34, with 298 appearances behind him, and Atlanta will have to plan for whichever answer comes.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market28 Sep 2026
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Atlanta is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
A defender on the scoresheet, which happens rarely enough that everybody in the ground remembers who took the corner. 1 for him, and a mark of 7.68 for the rest of it.
Squad28 Sep 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Atlanta this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout28 Sep 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.
Match26 Sep 2026
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Tomás Castro Ponce. 1‑0 against Patronato, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Squad28 Sep 2026
A row about effort at Atlanta
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Rodrigo Moreira was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout28 Sep 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.” Sebastián Núñez kept it short after the 1‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
Squad28 Sep 2026
The first one is the one every signing is asked about until it arrives. It has arrived, and he can stop being asked.
The dugout28 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 Agustín Morales is on it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match19 Sep 2026
Nowhere to hide for Atlanta
0‑4 against Racing, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Market21 Sep 2026
“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.
Squad21 Sep 2026
A falling-out at Atlanta
Leonel Galeano and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout21 Sep 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.
Boardroom21 Sep 2026
Nobody left the Atlanta 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
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑4 Sebastián Núñez left the room before anybody could ask which.
Squad21 Sep 2026
“I did not sign to watch. Nobody does.” The oldest complaint in the game, and Atlanta will have to answer it with minutes or with a move.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
Leonel Galeano 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.
Squad21 Sep 2026
A row about effort at Atlanta
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Lautaro López was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match9 Sep 2026
The small margins put Atlanta out
Out, 0‑2 to Estudiantes, and the long argument about which of the small moments decided it. The league is all there is now, and everybody knows it.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
Up for the corner, and Nicolás Previtali delivers — 7.87
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Nicolás Previtali scored, was marked 7.87, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
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.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Words exchanged at Atlanta
Leonel Galeano 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 dugout14 Sep 2026
The manager makes an example of Alejo Dramisino
“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.
Market14 Sep 2026
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Fernando Gómez 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.
Match12 Sep 2026
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Nicolás Previtali. 1‑0 against Maipú, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Squad14 Sep 2026
A row about effort at Atlanta
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Patricio Ostachuk was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad14 Sep 2026
25 new faces, and Atlanta 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad7 Sep 2026
A shoot-out is remembered by its ending, and this one ends with Juan Francisco Rago: 3 kept out, and a set of supporters who will describe every one of them for the next twenty years.
Player ratings7 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 40. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Match2 Sep 2026
Atlanta march on in the cup
Racing Club are out and Atlanta go through, 0‑0 the final word. The bracket opens up a little, and everyone allows themselves a look at it.
Market7 Sep 2026
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Leonel Galeano 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 Sep 2026
A bad afternoon for Atlanta against Güemes
1‑3 to Güemes, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The dugout7 Sep 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.
Market7 Sep 2026
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.
Player ratings7 Sep 2026
It was his to settle and he did not settle it. A long walk back to the halfway line, and a considerably longer week.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match26 Aug 2026
Cup progress for Atlanta
A 3‑1 win over Talleres, a place in the next round, and the quiet arithmetic every supporter does on the walk home: how many more until a final?
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 9.05, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
A brace, and Gerónimo Cardozo takes the afternoon — 8.80
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Gerónimo Cardozo provided it, and the 8.80 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Market31 Aug 2026
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Atlanta is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad31 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 ratings31 Aug 2026
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.19 at 34, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Boardroom31 Aug 2026
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Leonel Galeano 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.
Squad31 Aug 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Atlanta this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match29 Aug 2026
San Martín left with the points after a 3‑4 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 39. 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.
Match19 Aug 2026
Atlanta through in the cup
A 2‑1 win over Aldosivi, and the draw for the next round can be watched with some interest for once.
Match19 Aug 2026
Atlanta win it in stoppage time
The board had gone up, the arguing had started, and then the ball was in the net in the 111th minute. Aldosivi will replay every second of the added time for a week.
Squad24 Aug 2026
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.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Federico Castro, 34, rolls back the years — 7.96
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 7.96 at 34, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Squad24 Aug 2026
A falling-out at Atlanta
Leonel Galeano and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The terraces24 Aug 2026
At 22 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.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Patricio Ostachuk 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 Aug 2026
A performance of 8.23 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match15 Aug 2026
5‑2, and Lautaro Fedele took the headlines on an afternoon when everything Atlanta tried came off. Days like this are retold all winter.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
A brace, and Alejandro Quintana takes the afternoon — 9.19
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Alejandro Quintana provided it, and the 9.19 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Squad17 Aug 2026
3 goals in one afternoon from one man. The other players were also present, a witness confirmed.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Words exchanged at Atlanta
Leonel Galeano 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.
Match15 Aug 2026
7 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Atlanta and Los Andes in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 9.71, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
The terraces17 Aug 2026
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Nicolás Mosca has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Squad17 Aug 2026
A row about effort at Atlanta
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Rodrigo Moreira was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout17 Aug 2026
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.” Sebastián Núñez, on a 5‑2 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market10 Aug 2026
“I listened, I thought about it, and I am staying. That is the whole story.” The clubs had agreed a fee. Nicolás Medina had not agreed to go, which turned out to be the part that mattered.
Squad10 Aug 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Atlanta this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market10 Aug 2026
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Gael Rodríguez is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Market10 Aug 2026
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Joaquín Varela is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Market10 Aug 2026
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Carlos Muñoz 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.
The dugout10 Aug 2026
The manager makes an example of Rodrigo Moreira
“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.
Match8 Aug 2026
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 dugout10 Aug 2026
Leonel Galeano 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 Atlanta, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Rodrigo Sosa 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
Triumph
Market3 Aug 2026
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Squad3 Aug 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Alejandro Quintana and Atlanta agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Leonel Galeano 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.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Words at Atlanta training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Christian Bernardi 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.
Market3 Aug 2026
Add another name to the list: Persebaya have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Nicolás Medina. The answer from Atlanta has not changed — yet.
Market3 Aug 2026
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.
Market3 Aug 2026
36 months left and silence from upstairs — no offer, no talks, nothing for his people to answer. Clubs that let a calendar do their negotiating usually end up negotiating with the calendar.
Player ratings3 Aug 2026
Some games turn on a moment; this one turned on a man. 7.94 on the card, and the Atlanta support went home talking about one name.