From our football correspondent
Triumph
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 37. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
$6.3M on the table at Santa Clara. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
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.
Market17 Aug 2026
Leiria get their man
The chase for João Teixeira ended with $690.0K changing hands and Chaves out of reasons to say no. The supporters will judge the fee the only way that matters: on Saturdays.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Juan Muñoz 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 Leiria this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad17 Aug 2026
A row about effort at Leiria
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jair Silva was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match15 Aug 2026
Three points for Leiria, 2‑0 the final word against Feirense in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
Some games turn on a moment; this one turned on a man. 7.91 on the card, and the Leiria support went home talking about one name.
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
Leiria have made the call to Olympiacos. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
The clubs have shaken hands with Chaves; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
Leiria have gone to Académico de Viseu with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Words exchanged at Leiria
Juan Muñoz 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.
Squad10 Aug 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Benjamín Ubierna and Leiria agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Market10 Aug 2026
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Henrique Machado 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.
Market10 Aug 2026
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Hugo Correia 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.
Market10 Aug 2026
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Pedro Pacheco 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.
Market10 Aug 2026
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Bernardo Mendes 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.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Marc Baró 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
Squad3 Aug 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Juan Muñoz and Leiria agree another 3 years.
Squad3 Aug 2026
A falling-out at Leiria
Juan Muñoz and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Words at Leiria training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Pablo 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.
Transfer targets3 Aug 2026
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.
Market3 Aug 2026
Nobody at Leiria has picked up the phone to Juan Muñoz
36 months to run and not a word offered. A club that lets the calendar negotiate for it usually ends up losing to the calendar.
Squad3 Aug 2026
9 new faces, and Leiria 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.