It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Barakaldo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Gustavo Corti and Barakaldo agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Words at Barakaldo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Beñat De Jesús 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.
Nelson Seguel is 35 and has run out of things to prove. What he has left is where to stand, when to slow it down and what to say at half-time, and none of that is on a fitness chart.
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Julen Huidobro’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Barakaldo needing him to play as if none of it matters.
Javi Moreno and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Words at Barakaldo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Martiniano Compagnucci 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.
It happens to all of them and it is still the hardest paragraph a local paper has to write. 36 years old, 3 points down on where he was, and a body that has started charging interest on a career.
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.
Squad5 Oct 2026
15 new faces, and Barakaldo are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
The dugout5 Oct 2026
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.” Miguel Herrero chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.
The team sheet says it in public every week until it changes. The only version of being dropped a footballer cannot argue with, and the one he takes hardest.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 7 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Braian Cuello 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.
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.
Some games turn on a moment; this one turned on a man. 7.89 on the card, and the Barakaldo support went home talking about one name.
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.” Miguel Herrero kept it short after the 3‑1 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Ekaitz Molina 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
The dugoutBraian Cuello knocks on the manager's door
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 7 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Braian Cuello 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.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Miguel Herrero after 1‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
“I have done everything asked of me in training and it has not changed a thing on a Saturday.” The most familiar complaint in football, and one Barakaldo will have to answer with minutes or with a transfer.
Successful dribbles: 14. 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.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Words at Barakaldo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Marc Torrá 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Barakaldo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
A deal that was a phone call from completion at lunchtime was dead by midnight. Barakaldo will try again when the window opens; Ibiza may not be selling by then.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Martiniano Compagnucci was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout14 Sep 2026
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 Miguel Herrero to a room that had heard them before.
Ibiza have accepted the money. What Barakaldo do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
Barakaldo close the window on a squad of their own making
25 in and 0 out, and no more changes for months. The manager has what he has, the supporters have their opinion of it, and the table will have the last word.
He is doing things on a Saturday afternoon that nobody around him can answer, which is flattering for about one season and a problem after that. Barakaldo will not keep him by pretending otherwise.
The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Sabin Merino is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
Squad7 Sep 2026
13 new faces, and Barakaldo 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.
A season-long look at somebody else’s player: Gastón Verón arrives from Argentinos Juniors with something to prove and a return ticket in the drawer. Good loans make everybody richer; this one starts Saturday.
A season-long look at somebody else’s player: Martiniano Compagnucci arrives from Argentino de Quilmes with something to prove and a return ticket in the drawer. Good loans make everybody richer; this one starts Saturday.
Barakaldo opened the door and nobody walked through it. So Julen Huidobro stays — listed, trained, and available — while both sides mark the days to January on the same calendar.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Barakaldo can pretend not to have heard.
Everything was agreed with Sevilla and then the doctor spoke. Barakaldo have walked away from a signing on the advice of somebody who never saw him play, which is how it is supposed to work.
Sabin Merino 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Alavés have kept their man, and Barakaldo go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Barakaldo have made the call to Argentino de Quilmes. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation Barakaldo are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
In brief
SquadWords at Barakaldo training over how hard people work
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Barakaldo have done the hard part with Sportivo Italiano, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Duván Riascos 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.
Barakaldo asked and Málaga said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
In brief
SquadEkaitz Molina falls out with a teammate over standards
Barakaldo had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Castellón, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Barakaldo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Barakaldo asked and Utrecht said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
The system has changed and his position has not. A footballer can improve his form; he cannot improve the manager’s formation, and that is the whole of the problem.
Barakaldo have made the call to Sportivo Italiano. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Ekaitz Molina 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
BoardroomBarakaldo say no to the training-ground money
Sabin Merino 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.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Jorge Fuentes 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 academy exists for exactly this morning. Marcos Vargas has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Izei Vázquez has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Álvaro Sanz has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
The system has changed and his position has not. A footballer can improve his form; he cannot improve the manager’s formation, and that is the whole of the problem.
Squad10 Aug 2026
7 new faces, and Barakaldo 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.
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation Barakaldo are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Barakaldo, another week without a signature from Álvaro Peña.
Barakaldo have made the call to Antequera. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.