19 Nov 2026
Thursday
Process
16 Edition

The Belgrano Gazette

16 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

Francisco González Metilli is on his way

The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Belgrano is pretending he will be back in the shirt.

Squad

A falling-out at Belgrano

Lucas Zelarayán and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

Words at Belgrano training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Santiago Longo 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 dugout

No hiding place for Franco Vázquez

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Franco Vázquez, and the manager let it.

Squad

Belgrano count the cost of losing Joaquín Flandes

31 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.

The dugout

Nicolás Fernández 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 Belgrano, and both men came out saying it was fine.

Market

The Nicolás Fernández question follows Belgrano around

Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Nicolás Fernández’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.

The dugout

The manager makes Joaquín Mattalia a promise

Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Belgrano. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.

Squad

Word from the training ground: Juan Velázquez

The sharpest man in every session this week, by all accounts. Lines like this run the week before somebody’s run in the side begins.

In brief

Back issues
15 Edition

The Belgrano Gazette

9 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

The dugout

Alcides Benítez says Belgrano went back on their word

“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.

Squad

Words exchanged at Belgrano

Lucas Zelarayán 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.

Squad

Words at Belgrano training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Franco Vázquez 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.

Squad

Fernando Magaldi signs on for more

“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Fernando Magaldi and Belgrano agree another 2 years.

The dugout

Lucas Passerini 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 Passerini trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.

The dugout

No hiding place for Álvaro Ocampo

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Álvaro Ocampo, and the manager let it.

Market

Still no ink between Belgrano and Federico Ricca

“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Belgrano, another week without a signature from Federico Ricca.

The dugout

A door opens for Joaquín Mattalia

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.

Market

The Adrián Sánchez talk will not go away

Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Belgrano know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.

In brief

14 Edition

The Belgrano Gazette

2 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

Federico Ricca is on his way

The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Belgrano is pretending he will be back in the shirt.

Squad

Tempers go at Belgrano

Lucas Zelarayán 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.

Squad

A row about effort at Belgrano

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Leonardo Morales was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Squad

Pablo Cabral stays put

“The easiest signature of my career.” Pablo Cabral and Belgrano agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.

The dugout

Alcides Benítez 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.

Market

Belgrano and Francisco González Metilli are talking past each other

“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.

Squad

Emiliano Rigoni loses the armband

The captaincy has been taken off Emiliano Rigoni. Belgrano will call it a decision about the team; a dressing room reads it as a verdict on a man.

Market

The Alexis Maldonado story refuses to die

It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Alexis Maldonado signs something — a contract at Belgrano or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.

The dugout

The manager makes Lucas Passerini a promise

Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Belgrano. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.

In brief

13 Edition

The Belgrano Gazette

26 Oct 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

Only the photograph left for Álvaro Ocampo

Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Álvaro Ocampo will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Belgrano the goodbyes have quietly begun.

Squad

Lucas Zelarayán in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Belgrano this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Words at Belgrano training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Santiago Longo 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 dugout

The manager makes an example of Santiago Longo

“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 dugout

A promise honoured for Lucas Zelarayán

It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Belgrano told Lucas Zelarayán something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.

Squad

10 new faces, and Belgrano 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.

Market

The Santiago Longo talk will not go away

Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Belgrano know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.

The dugout

A door opens for Lucas Passerini

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.

Market

Still no signature from Francisco González Metilli

2 months left and the two sides are nowhere near each other. Every week this drags on takes money off what Belgrano could get for him.

In brief

12 Edition

The Belgrano Gazette

19 Oct 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Player ratings

Juan Velázquez runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 34. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Market

Only the photograph left for Francisco González Metilli

Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Francisco González Metilli will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Belgrano the goodbyes have quietly begun.

Player ratings

Ramiro Tulián, 18, plays like he has been here for years — 7.68

A mark of 7.68 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 18-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.

Squad

A falling-out at Belgrano

Lucas Zelarayán and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

Agustín Méndez is a better footballer than he was

Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 20 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.

Squad

Franco Vázquez 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 dugout

Franco Vázquez 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.

Squad

Ramiro Tulián stays put

“The easiest signature of my career.” Ramiro Tulián and Belgrano agree another 5 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.

Match

Belgrano share the spoils with Argentinos Juniors

A 1‑1 draw with Argentinos Juniors leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.

In brief

11 Edition

The Belgrano Gazette

12 Oct 2026
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Match

Belgrano tear Huracán apart

Rarely has this fixture seen a display like it: 4‑1 against Huracán, and it could have been more.

Player ratings

Nicolás Fernández scores twice — 9.61

Two goals and a mark of 9.61 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.

Player ratings

Age has not caught Emiliano Rigoni yet — 8.28

At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.28 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.

Squad

Words exchanged at Belgrano

Lucas Zelarayán 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.

Squad

Defences have started doubling up on Nicolás Fernández

12 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.

The dugout

No hiding place for Lucas Passerini

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Lucas Passerini, and the manager let it.

Match

Huracán blown away early

There is a particular helplessness in conceding 2 times before the twentieth minute. Huracán tried to reorganise, Belgrano did not allow it, and the result was written long before it was confirmed.

Squad

A row about effort at Belgrano

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Joaquín Mattalia was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Player ratings

Juan Velázquez beats them one at a time

Successful dribbles: 18. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.

In brief

10 Edition

The Belgrano Gazette

5 Oct 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Match

Belgrano taken apart

1‑4 to River Plate, 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.

Market

Only the photograph left for Federico Ricca

Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Federico Ricca will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Belgrano the goodbyes have quietly begun.

Squad

Tempers go at Belgrano

Lucas Zelarayán 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.

Squad

Santiago Longo 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.

Boardroom

Belgrano beat the market to Emanuel Sittaro from Instituto

Instituto will keep picking him until June and will get nothing for him after it. Emanuel Sittaro has pre-agreed a move to Belgrano, and the only people who lose in that arrangement are the ones who let the contract run down.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Lisandro López

“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.

Squad

Nicolás Fernández is carrying Belgrano

10 goals and a season average of 7.29. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.

Player ratings

Ramiro Tulián 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.

Boardroom

Nobody left the Belgrano 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.

In brief

9 Edition

The Belgrano Gazette

28 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Player ratings

Santiago Longo goes up and wins it — 7.81

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 7.81 for the rest of it.

Market

Álvaro Ocampo is on his way

The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Belgrano is pretending he will be back in the shirt.

Squad

Lucas Zelarayán in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Belgrano this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Player ratings

One of those days for Nicolás Fernández

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.89, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

Match

Belgrano get the job done against Atlético Tucumán

A 2‑0 win over Atlético Tucumán, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.

Squad

A row about effort at Belgrano

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Franco Vázquez was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Squad

Nicolás Fernández is in the form of his life

A season average of 7.26 with 9 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.

The dugout

Juan Pablo Lombardi: “That is the standard”

“That is what I want every week. Not the result, the way they went about it.” The manager, after 2‑0, already talking about the next one.

The dugout

Lucas Passerini 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 Passerini trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.

In brief

8 Edition

The Belgrano Gazette

21 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

Only the photograph left for Francisco González Metilli

Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Francisco González Metilli will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Belgrano the goodbyes have quietly begun.

Player ratings

Age has not caught Emiliano Rigoni yet — 8.33

At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.33 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Juan Velázquez

Successful dribbles: 24. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Boardroom

Francisco González Metilli signs for Estudiantes while still at Belgrano

The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Francisco González Metilli has agreed terms with Estudiantes for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.

Squad

A falling-out at Belgrano

Lucas Zelarayán and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Boardroom

Belgrano agree a free transfer for Santiago Torres

Nothing happens for months and then he simply arrives, at no cost, having signed a pre-contract while still turning out for somebody else. It is the least dramatic way to sign a footballer and frequently the shrewdest.

Squad

Joaquín Mattalia 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.

Match

Barracas Central snatch it back from Belgrano

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 dugout

Alexis Maldonado 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.

In brief

7 Edition

The Belgrano Gazette

14 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Player ratings

No sign of nerves from Juan Velázquez at 21 — 8.24

The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Juan Velázquez did not need any: 8.24, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.

Player ratings

Age has not caught Lucas Zelarayán yet — 7.84

At 34 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 7.84 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.

Squad

Words exchanged at Belgrano

Lucas Zelarayán 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.

Squad

Words at Belgrano training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Santiago Longo 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 dugout

No hiding place for Thiago Cardozo

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Thiago Cardozo, and the manager let it.

The terraces

Belgrano supporters have found a favourite in Juan Velázquez

There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Juan Velázquez 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.

Match

Juan Velázquez sends Belgrano past Estudiantes

It finished 2‑0, and it was Juan Velázquez’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Belgrano.

Player ratings

Ninety minutes of Nicolás Fernández at his very best

Marked 8.19. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Belgrano.

Squad

Belgrano are still strangers to each other

10 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.

In brief

6 Edition

The Belgrano Gazette

7 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

3 goals for Nicolás Fernández

The match ball belongs to Nicolás Fernández, whose 3 goals turned a difficult afternoon into a procession.

Market

Federico Ricca has one foot out of the door

Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Belgrano they have already started talking about him in the past tense.

Market

Belgrano turn down Girona for Ramiro Hernandes

The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.

Squad

Nicolás Fernández in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Belgrano this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Player ratings

Nicolás Fernández in the eights

A performance of 9.85 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

Squad

Emiliano Rigoni stays put

“The easiest signature of my career.” Emiliano Rigoni and Belgrano agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Lucas Zelarayán

“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.

Squad

Words at Belgrano training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Franco Vázquez 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 ratings

The pass was always on for Emiliano Rigoni

Chances created: 13. Somebody has to open a door before anybody can walk through it, and he spent the afternoon opening doors.

In brief

5 Edition

The Belgrano Gazette

31 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Manuel Vicentini stands alone

7 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.

Market

Álvaro Ocampo has one foot out of the door

Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Belgrano they have already started talking about him in the past tense.

Market

Belgrano turn down Tobol for Matías Daniele

The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.

Squad

Lucas Zelarayán in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Belgrano this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Player ratings

Juan Velázquez runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 21. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

The dugout

No hiding place for Franco Vázquez

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Franco Vázquez, and the manager let it.

Match

Belgrano end the wait against Banfield

It had gone 5 games. The players did not celebrate like men who had won a match; they celebrated like men who had been let out of something.

Match

Belgrano see off Banfield

Three points for Belgrano, 1‑0 the final word against Banfield in a contest settled by the finer margins.

Squad

Joaquín Mattalia 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

4 Edition

The Belgrano Gazette

24 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Ignacio Manzanares

Successful dribbles: 64. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Match

Belgrano bow out of the cup

Talleres go through and Belgrano go home, 0‑1 the scoreline that did it. The dressing room will call the league the priority now, because that is what dressing rooms say.

Match

No end in sight to Belgrano's wait for a win

5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Belgrano has to find a result from somewhere.

Market

Belgrano turn down Ghazl El Mahalla for Leandro Monzón

The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.

Squad

A falling-out at Belgrano

Lucas Zelarayán and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

A row about effort at Belgrano

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Franco Vázquez was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Match

3 matches without a goal for Belgrano

The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 3 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.

Match

Belgrano come up short against Gimnasia La Plata

Gimnasia La Plata left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Francisco González Metilli

“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

3 Edition

The Belgrano Gazette

17 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

Belgrano taken apart

0‑3 to Racing Club, 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.

Market

Udinese come back empty-handed

The bid was some way short and Belgrano did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.

Squad

Words exchanged at Belgrano

Lucas Zelarayán 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.

Squad

A row about effort at Belgrano

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Franco Vázquez was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

The dugout

No hiding place for Adrián Sánchez

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Adrián Sánchez, and the manager let it.

Market

Belgrano promote Ezequiel Godoy from within

The academy exists for exactly this morning. Ezequiel Godoy 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.

Market

Hernán Castillo steps up from the Belgrano academy

There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Hernán Castillo 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.

Market

Matías Vázquez steps up from the Belgrano academy

There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Matías Vázquez 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.

Boardroom

Nobody left the Belgrano 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.

In brief

2 Edition

The Belgrano Gazette

10 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Player ratings

Both of them Nicolás Fernández's — 9.09

2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 9.09, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.

Squad

Randall Rodríguez arrives at the club he grew up with

Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Randall Rodríguez has, at Belgrano, and the first month will show what that does to a man.

Market

Belgrano say no — this time

The offer from Cultural Leonesa for Emiliano Rigoni 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.

Market

Only the photograph left for Federico Ricca

Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Federico Ricca will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Belgrano the goodbyes have quietly begun.

Boardroom

Federico Ricca signs for Estudiantes while still at Belgrano

The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Federico Ricca has agreed terms with Estudiantes for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.

Squad

Lucas Passerini stays put

“The easiest signature of my career.” Lucas Passerini and Belgrano agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.

Squad

Lucas Zelarayán in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Belgrano this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Match

A bad afternoon for Belgrano against Rosario Central

2‑3 to Rosario Central, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.

Squad

Words at Belgrano training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nicolás Fernández is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.

In brief

1 Edition

The Belgrano Gazette

3 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Market

Belgrano turn down Leganés for Nicolás Fernández

The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.

Squad

6 saves: Thiago Cardozo was the team

Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 6 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.

Player ratings

Juan Velázquez, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 7.78

A mark of 7.78 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.

Market

Álvaro Ocampo is on his way

The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Belgrano is pretending he will be back in the shirt.

Squad

Franco Vázquez signs a new deal

“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Franco Vázquez commits to Belgrano for another 2 years.

Squad

Tempers go at Belgrano

Lucas Zelarayán 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.

Squad

Franco Vázquez 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 ratings

One of those days for Nicolás Fernández

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.16, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

Player ratings

Ignacio Manzanares was unplayable

Successful dribbles: 15. 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.

In brief