From our football correspondent
Triumph
Match19 Aug 2026
Enzo Taborda wins it after the whistle should have gone
90 minutes played. Enzo Taborda found the finish in time that only existed because of earlier delays, and Defensores went from a point to nothing inside one movement.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Two goals and a mark of 9.09 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
A brace, and Enzo Taborda takes the afternoon — 8.13
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Enzo Taborda provided it, and the 8.13 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 23. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Juan Espínola and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match22 Aug 2026
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Lucas Gamba. 3‑2 against Argentinos Juniors, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Nicolás Demartini was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout24 Aug 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Gastón Campi, and the manager let it.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad17 Aug 2026
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.
Market17 Aug 2026
Add another name to the list: Osasuna have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Nicolás Orsini. The answer from Barracas Central has not changed — yet.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Juan Espínola 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 Aug 2026
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 9.66, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Kevin Jappert 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 terraces17 Aug 2026
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 dugout17 Aug 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Nicolás Demartini, and the manager let it.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
Ninety minutes of Gonzalo Morales at his very best
Marked 8.30. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Barracas Central.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad10 Aug 2026
There were 7 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.
Market10 Aug 2026
The offer from MFK Skalica for Rodrigo Bogarín 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.
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 Barracas Central this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market10 Aug 2026
NK Osijek pay $620.0K, 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.
Market10 Aug 2026
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Noah Cabrera 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.
Market10 Aug 2026
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Benicio Molina is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Squad10 Aug 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Nicolás Capraro and Barracas Central agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Match8 Aug 2026
A goal on 94 minutes turned three points into one and a good afternoon into an argument about game management that will run until Saturday.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Words at Barracas Central training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dardo Miloc 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
Triumph
Player ratings3 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 32. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
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
Iván Tapia: 11 seasons and counting
240 appearances across 11 seasons in one shirt. Careers like that are not built on purpose any more, and Barracas Central know exactly what they have.
Squad3 Aug 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Lucas Gamba and Barracas Central agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Gastón Campi 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
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jhonatan Candia was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match1 Aug 2026
A 3‑1 win over Banfield, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Player ratings3 Aug 2026
A performance of 8.49 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
In brief
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Player ratings
Ninety minutes of Jhonatan Candia at his very best
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Market
36 months and counting on Esteban Rolón
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The dugout
The manager’s verdict