From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom5 Nov 2029
Victor Gonzalez has until the next board meeting
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Leones can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
Market5 Nov 2029
“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 The request is on a desk at Leones, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad5 Nov 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Leones this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad5 Nov 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Juan Camilo Renteria, and the manager let it.
Market5 Nov 2029
“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.
Market5 Nov 2029
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Juan Cruz Crisafulli signs something — a contract at Leones or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market29 Oct 2029
Duván Córdoba has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Leones they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad29 Oct 2029
Tempers go at Leones
Germán Meneses 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.
Squad29 Oct 2029
The manager makes an example of Johan Muñoz
“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
Crisis
Boardroom22 Oct 2029
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Leones
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
Market22 Oct 2029
“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 The request is on a desk at Leones, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad22 Oct 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Leones this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom22 Oct 2029
The numbers do not look good at Leones
Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.
Boardroom22 Oct 2029
Wages eat 97% of everything Leones 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.
Squad22 Oct 2029
“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
Market15 Oct 2029
“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 Oct 2029
Tempers go at Leones
Germán Meneses 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.
Squad15 Oct 2029
52 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market8 Oct 2029
Jhonny Urrea 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 Leones can pretend not to have heard.
Squad8 Oct 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Leones this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad8 Oct 2029
“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.
Market8 Oct 2029
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Juan Cruz Crisafulli signs something — a contract at Leones or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Squad8 Oct 2029
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Leones, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market8 Oct 2029
Leones have made Duván Córdoba available for transfer. A career at this club is over in all but paperwork.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market1 Oct 2029
“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 Leones, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market1 Oct 2029
Only the photograph left for Duván Córdoba
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Duván Córdoba will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Leones the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad1 Oct 2029
Tempers go at Leones
Germán Meneses 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.
Squad1 Oct 2029
“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.
Squad1 Oct 2029
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Leones, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market1 Oct 2029
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Leones, another week without a signature from Benjamín Martínez.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom24 Sep 2029
Pressure builds in the Leones boardroom
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
Market24 Sep 2029
Samuel Guzmán 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 Leones can pretend not to have heard.
Squad24 Sep 2029
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Leones have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Boardroom24 Sep 2029
The numbers do not look good at Leones
Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.
Squad24 Sep 2029
Óscar Segura 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 Leones this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom24 Sep 2029
110% of the income goes out in wages at Leones
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
Crisis
Squad17 Sep 2029
Tempers go at Leones
Germán Meneses 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.
Squad17 Sep 2029
“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.
Squad17 Sep 2029
Santiago Montoya 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.
In brief
-
Squad
A wage question at Leones
-
Boardroom
The Leones production line keeps running
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad10 Sep 2029
“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.
Market10 Sep 2029
“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 Leones, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad10 Sep 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Leones this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Loan watch10 Sep 2029
“I did not go to Sharjah to sit and watch. I want to come back to Leones and fight for my place.” 0 appearances in 33 matches say the rest.
Squad10 Sep 2029
Cristian Lora 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 Leones, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market10 Sep 2029
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Leones, another week without a signature from Johan Muñoz.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad3 Sep 2029
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Leones may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Market3 Sep 2029
“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 Leones, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market3 Sep 2029
Only the photograph left for Duván Córdoba
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Duván Córdoba will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Leones the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad3 Sep 2029
Tempers go at Leones
Germán Meneses 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.
Market3 Sep 2029
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Leones, another week without a signature from Cristian Lora.
Squad3 Sep 2029
“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
Boardroom27 Aug 2029
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Leones
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
Market27 Aug 2029
Samuel Guzmán 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 Leones can pretend not to have heard.
Squad27 Aug 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Leones this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom27 Aug 2029
The numbers do not look good at Leones
Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.
Squad27 Aug 2029
“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.
Boardroom27 Aug 2029
Wages eat 111% of everything Leones 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad20 Aug 2029
Samuel Guzmán: 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.” Leones have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad20 Aug 2029
Tempers go at Leones
Germán Meneses 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.
Squad20 Aug 2029
“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
Crisis
Market13 Aug 2029
“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 Leones, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad13 Aug 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Leones this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad13 Aug 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Santiago Montoya, and the manager let it.
Loan watch13 Aug 2029
“I did not go to Sharjah to sit and watch. I want to come back to Leones and fight for my place.” 3 appearances in 29 matches say the rest.
Market13 Aug 2029
“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.
Squad13 Aug 2029
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Leones, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom6 Aug 2029
The board have said in public what they had been saying in private. Results between now and the next meeting decide it, and everybody in the building knows the arithmetic.
Market6 Aug 2029
“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 Leones, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market6 Aug 2029
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Leones is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad6 Aug 2029
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Sebastián González and Leones agree another 2 years.
Squad6 Aug 2029
Tempers go at Leones
Germán Meneses 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 Aug 2029
“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
Uneasy
Boardroom30 Jul 2029
Pressure builds in the Leones boardroom
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
Market30 Jul 2029
Samuel Guzmán 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 Leones can pretend not to have heard.
Squad30 Jul 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Leones this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom30 Jul 2029
The numbers do not look good at Leones
Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.
Boardroom30 Jul 2029
142% of the income goes out in wages at Leones
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.
Squad30 Jul 2029
Santiago Montoya 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
Uneasy
Market23 Jul 2029
“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 Leones, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad23 Jul 2029
Tempers go at Leones
Germán Meneses 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.
Squad23 Jul 2029
“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.
Market23 Jul 2029
The Duván Córdoba conversation is coming
Everyone has stopped pretending: Bogota will make the call about Duván Córdoba this week. Leones have a number in mind, and the number is not shy.
Squad23 Jul 2029
Andrés Monsalve 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.
Market23 Jul 2029
Leones opened the door and nobody walked through it. So Nicolas Restrepo stays — listed, trained, and available — while both sides mark the days to January on the same calendar.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad16 Jul 2029
Nicolas Restrepo: 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.” Leones have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Market16 Jul 2029
“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 Leones, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market16 Jul 2029
Only the photograph left for Johan Muñoz
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Johan Muñoz will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Leones the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad16 Jul 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Leones this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market16 Jul 2029
Add another name to the list: Depor have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Duván Córdoba. The answer from Leones has not changed — yet.
Loan watch16 Jul 2029
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Leones, and 3 appearances in 25 say he has earned the hearing.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market9 Jul 2029
“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 Leones, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad9 Jul 2029
Tempers go at Leones
Germán Meneses 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.
Squad9 Jul 2029
“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.
Market9 Jul 2029
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Leones, another week without a signature from Jerónimo Arbeláez.
Squad9 Jul 2029
The competition arrived without a word said to him about it. Santiago Montoya keeps the shirt for now, at Leones's convenience rather than his own.
Squad9 Jul 2029
Samuel Guzmán 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 Samuel Guzmán trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market2 Jul 2029
“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.
Boardroom2 Jul 2029
Pressure builds in the Leones boardroom
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
Squad2 Jul 2029
Tempers go at Leones
Felipe Gómez 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 Jul 2029
The numbers do not look good at Leones
Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.
Boardroom2 Jul 2029
Wages eat 135% of everything Leones 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 Jul 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Juan Camilo Renteria, and the manager let it.
Market2 Jul 2029
He is 18, and the scouting reports agree on the only line that matters: the ceiling. Signings like this are lottery tickets written by professionals.
Squad2 Jul 2029
Germán Meneses 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 Leones, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market25 Jun 2029
“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 Leones, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad25 Jun 2029
Felipe Gómez 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 Leones this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad25 Jun 2029
“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
Uneasy
Market18 Jun 2029
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Leones is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad18 Jun 2029
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Leones may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Market18 Jun 2029
Tigres come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Leones did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Squad18 Jun 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Leones this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match16 Jun 2029
It finished 3‑1, and it was Felipe Gómez’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Leones.
Player ratings18 Jun 2029
A performance of 9.06 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings18 Jun 2029
Marked 8.61 — 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 ratings18 Jun 2029
Marked 8.28 — 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.
Squad18 Jun 2029
The manager makes an example of Cristian Lora
“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
Uneasy
Match9 Jun 2029
The wait goes on for Leones
5 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.
Squad11 Jun 2029
Hugo Travassos: 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.” Leones have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad11 Jun 2029
Tempers go at Leones
Juan Sebastián Herrera 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.
Squad11 Jun 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Nicolas Restrepo, and the manager let it.
Player ratings11 Jun 2029
Marked 8.25 — 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 ratings11 Jun 2029
Successful dribbles: 18. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Market11 Jun 2029
Both sides expect a conversation in the coming days. Leones will name a price, and everything after that is arithmetic.
Market11 Jun 2029
Leones have let the market know Nicolas Restrepo can be had. No price in the advert, but everyone in the trade knows roughly what it says.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market4 Jun 2029
“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.
Boardroom4 Jun 2029
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Leones
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
Match2 Jun 2029
4 matches without a win for Leones
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Leones are no longer polite ones.
Squad4 Jun 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Leones this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom4 Jun 2029
The numbers do not look good at Leones
Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.
Player ratings4 Jun 2029
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.
Squad4 Jun 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Miguel Ángel Arboleda, and the manager let it.
Market4 Jun 2029
The phone has started ringing about Duván Córdoba again, and this time the name on the line is Nea Salamis. Leones are listening politely and promising nothing.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Player ratings28 May 2029
Successful dribbles: 37. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad28 May 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Leones this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad28 May 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Santiago Montoya, and the manager let it.
Player ratings28 May 2029
A mark of 7.58, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.
Match26 May 2029
The crowd waited for a goal that never came. Depor defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.
Player ratings28 May 2029
Shots: 8, not one of them in. A centre forward is paid for one thing, and on this evidence he has forgotten which thing it is.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market21 May 2029
Johan Muñoz has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Leones they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad21 May 2029
Tempers go at Leones
Juan Sebastián Herrera 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 ratings21 May 2029
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.
Squad21 May 2029
“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.
Loan watch21 May 2029
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Leones, and 3 appearances in 17 say he has earned the hearing.
Squad21 May 2029
No place for Óscar Segura on the big day
He found out with everybody else, an hour before kick-off, from a sheet of paper on a wall. Nobody at Leones pretended it was anything other than a decision about him.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad14 May 2029
There were 6 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.
Market14 May 2029
Only the photograph left for Leandro Mora
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Leandro Mora will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Leones the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad14 May 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Leones this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings14 May 2029
Successful dribbles: 21. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match12 May 2029
Patriotas left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad14 May 2029
A player who expected to start watched it instead. The manager will call it a decision for the team; Sebastián González will call it something else in private.
Squad14 May 2029
“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 ratings14 May 2029
A mark of 5.78 tells the story without any need for embellishment. He will want the tape of this one quietly lost.
Market14 May 2029
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Leones, another week without a signature from Leandro Mora.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market7 May 2029
“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.
Squad7 May 2029
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.
Boardroom7 May 2029
Pressure builds in the Leones boardroom
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
Player ratings7 May 2029
Successful dribbles: 25. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad7 May 2029
Tempers go at Leones
Juan Sebastián Herrera 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.
Boardroom7 May 2029
Leones counting the cost
The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Leones now.
Match5 May 2029
Real Santander made Leones work for it, but the scoreboard read 1‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Squad7 May 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Óscar Segura, and the manager let it.
Boardroom7 May 2029
Wages eat 100% of everything Leones 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad30 Apr 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Leones this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings30 Apr 2029
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.
Squad30 Apr 2029
The manager makes an example of Germán Meneses
“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
Squad23 Apr 2029
There were 9 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.
Market23 Apr 2029
Only the photograph left for Johan Muñoz
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Johan Muñoz will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Leones the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Player ratings23 Apr 2029
Successful dribbles: 23. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad23 Apr 2029
Tempers go at Leones
Juan Sebastián Herrera 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.
Squad23 Apr 2029
“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.
Match21 Apr 2029
A bad afternoon for Leones against Bogota
0‑1 to Bogota, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Loan watch23 Apr 2029
“I watch every Leones game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Sharjah runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Squad23 Apr 2029
Germán Meneses 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.
Player ratings23 Apr 2029
Shots: 10, not one of them in. A centre forward is paid for one thing, and on this evidence he has forgotten which thing it is.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad16 Apr 2029
There were 6 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.
Market16 Apr 2029
Only the photograph left for Leandro Mora
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Leandro Mora will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Leones the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad16 Apr 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Leones this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings16 Apr 2029
Marked 9.09 — 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 ratings16 Apr 2029
Marked 8.98 — 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.
Squad16 Apr 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Benjamín Martínez, and the manager let it.
Squad16 Apr 2029
Duván Córdoba 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 Leones, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Player ratings16 Apr 2029
Shots: 7, not one of them in. A centre forward is paid for one thing, and on this evidence he has forgotten which thing it is.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market9 Apr 2029
“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 Leones, and it is not being withdrawn.
Match9 Apr 2029
Every point is an argument now for Leones
Position 10 and 12 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
Squad9 Apr 2029
Tempers go at Leones
Juan Sebastián Herrera 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.
Boardroom9 Apr 2029
Leones counting the cost
The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Leones now.
Squad9 Apr 2029
“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.
Match7 Apr 2029
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Player ratings9 Apr 2029
Successful dribbles: 16. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad9 Apr 2029
Duván Córdoba 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 Duván Córdoba trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Player ratings9 Apr 2029
A mark of 5.55 tells the story without any need for embellishment. He will want the tape of this one quietly lost.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad2 Apr 2029
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 ratings2 Apr 2029
Defensive actions: 24. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Squad2 Apr 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Leones this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match31 Mar 2029
A 2‑0 win over Valledupar, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Player ratings2 Apr 2029
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.69, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings2 Apr 2029
Successful dribbles: 18. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad2 Apr 2029
“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 ratings2 Apr 2029
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 16 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Squad2 Apr 2029
Leones will explain it as a decision about the team, and it may well be one. A dressing room has never once read it that way.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market26 Mar 2029
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Leones is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad26 Mar 2029
Tempers go at Leones
Juan Sebastián Herrera 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 ratings26 Mar 2029
Successful dribbles: 22. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad26 Mar 2029
Óscar Segura 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.
Loan watch26 Mar 2029
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Leones, and 3 appearances in 9 say he has earned the hearing.
Match24 Mar 2029
1‑1, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market19 Mar 2029
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Leones is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad19 Mar 2029
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.
Squad19 Mar 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Leones this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match17 Mar 2029
Three points for Leones, 2‑0 the final word against Union Magdalena in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Player ratings19 Mar 2029
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.65, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad19 Mar 2029
“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 ratings19 Mar 2029
Defensive actions: 18. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Squad19 Mar 2029
Felipe Gómez finally opens his account
He wheeled away like a man who had been carrying it for months, because he had. Leones have their signing off the mark and one press-conference question retired.
Player ratings19 Mar 2029
Successful dribbles: 10. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market12 Mar 2029
Mateo Ramírez 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 Leones can pretend not to have heard.
Match10 Mar 2029
No end in sight to Leones's wait for a win
5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Leones has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad12 Mar 2029
Tempers go at Leones
Juan Sebastián Herrera 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.
Boardroom12 Mar 2029
Leones counting the cost
The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Leones now.
Squad12 Mar 2029
“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.
Match10 Mar 2029
A bad afternoon for Leones against Depor
0‑1 to Depor, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Player ratings12 Mar 2029
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.
Squad12 Mar 2029
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Leones, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Squad12 Mar 2029
A wage question at Leones
Juan Sebastián Herrera has done the arithmetic and does not like the answer. Nothing corrodes a squad faster, and no club has ever solved it by explaining the wage structure to a footballer.
In brief
-
Market
Still no signature from Leandro Mora
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Boardroom
The Leones production line keeps running
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market5 Mar 2029
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Leones can pretend not to have heard.
Match5 Mar 2029
Every point is an argument now for Leones
Position 11 and 5 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
Player ratings5 Mar 2029
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.
Match3 Mar 2029
4 matches without a win for Leones
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Leones are no longer polite ones.
Squad5 Mar 2029
“The easiest signature of my career.” Miguel Ángel Arboleda and Leones agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad5 Mar 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Leones this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad5 Mar 2029
“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.
Match3 Mar 2029
Tigres left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad5 Mar 2029
The captaincy has been taken off Germán Meneses. Leones will call it a decision about the team; a dressing room reads it as a verdict on a man.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match21 Feb 2029
Leones bow out of the cup
La Equidad go through and Leones 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.
The terraces26 Feb 2029
The ground has had enough
“We travel everywhere and we get this.” 6 of the 30 senior players heard it walking off, and the ones who did not hear it were not playing.
Market26 Feb 2029
Only the photograph left for Johan Muñoz
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Johan Muñoz will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Leones the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad26 Feb 2029
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Leones may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad26 Feb 2029
Tempers go at Leones
Juan Sebastián Herrera 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.
Squad26 Feb 2029
“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.
Match24 Feb 2029
0‑1 to Patriotas, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Player ratings26 Feb 2029
Successful dribbles: 18. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Player ratings26 Feb 2029
Ten men and a goalkeeper behind him, and it still finished in the net. He knew before anybody told him, and nobody at Leones needed to.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market19 Feb 2029
Only the photograph left for Leandro Mora
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Leandro Mora will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Leones the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad19 Feb 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Leones this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad19 Feb 2029
The manager makes an example of Felipe Gómez
“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 ratings19 Feb 2029
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.27, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Match17 Feb 2029
1‑1, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
Player ratings19 Feb 2029
Successful dribbles: 13. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad12 Feb 2029
There were 6 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.
Squad12 Feb 2029
Tempers go at Leones
Juan Sebastián Herrera 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.
Boardroom12 Feb 2029
Leones counting the cost
The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Leones now.
Player ratings12 Feb 2029
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 9.29, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings12 Feb 2029
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 21 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Squad12 Feb 2029
“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.
Player ratings12 Feb 2029
Successful dribbles: 18. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Player ratings12 Feb 2029
Defensive actions: 18, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match3 Feb 2029
No end in sight to Leones's wait for a win
7 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Leones has to find a result from somewhere.
Player ratings5 Feb 2029
Successful dribbles: 25. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad5 Feb 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Leones this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match3 Feb 2029
Bogota left with the points after a 1‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Player ratings5 Feb 2029
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.28, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad5 Feb 2029
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Juan Sebastián Herrera trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Squad5 Feb 2029
The manager makes an example of Andrés Monsalve
“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 ratings5 Feb 2029
Marked 5.77, and generously at that. Nothing came off, and by the end the crowd had stopped expecting it to.
Market5 Feb 2029
Leones have let the market know Alejandro Cardona can be had. No price in the advert, but everyone in the trade knows roughly what it says.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match27 Jan 2029
No end in sight to Leones's wait for a win
6 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Leones has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad29 Jan 2029
Tempers go at Leones
Juan Sebastián Herrera 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 ratings29 Jan 2029
Successful dribbles: 20. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad29 Jan 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Miguel Ángel Arboleda, and the manager let it.
Match27 Jan 2029
Universitario Popayan left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad29 Jan 2029
Cristian Lora lets one through his hands
A defender's mistake gets tidied up by somebody else; a goalkeeper's ends up in the net. He knew before the ball crossed the line, and so did everybody in the ground.
Market29 Jan 2029
He is 20, and nobody at Leones signed him for this season. Deals like this are judged in four years, by people who may not still be in the building.
Player ratings29 Jan 2029
Shots: 11, not one of them in. A centre forward is paid for one thing, and on this evidence he has forgotten which thing it is.
Squad29 Jan 2029
Mateo Ramírez 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 Mateo Ramírez trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match20 Jan 2029
5 matches without a win for Leones
The run now stands at 5, and the questions being asked around Leones are no longer polite ones.
Market22 Jan 2029
Leandro Mora has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Leones they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad22 Jan 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Leones this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market22 Jan 2029
As if he never left: Daniel Vargas returns
Some transfers need a press campaign. This one needed a shirt with the old number on it. Daniel Vargas is a Leones player again, and the town has its story of the summer.
Market22 Jan 2029
The shirt still fits. Hector Palacios is back at Leones, and half the ground remembers him in these colours already. Some signings need selling to the town; this one sold itself.
Market22 Jan 2029
He left as a boy and has come back still knowing where the away end is. Most signings have to be explained to a town; this one needed a photograph and nothing else.
Player ratings22 Jan 2029
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.
Boardroom22 Jan 2029
A promise the Leones board did not keep
There was a commitment, there was a date, and the date went past. Trust at a football club takes years to build and one afternoon to spend.
Squad22 Jan 2029
“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
Squad15 Jan 2029
Tempers go at Leones
Juan Sebastián Herrera 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.
Boardroom15 Jan 2029
Leones counting the cost
The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Leones now.
Market15 Jan 2029
The phone has started ringing about Jeycob Zabaleta again, and this time the name on the line is Apollon. Leones are listening politely and promising nothing.
Squad15 Jan 2029
“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.
Squad15 Jan 2029
Nicolás Churín 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 Leones, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market15 Jan 2029
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Leones, another week without a signature from Andrés Monsalve.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market8 Jan 2029
“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 Leones, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad8 Jan 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Leones this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad8 Jan 2029
The manager makes an example of David 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.
Squad8 Jan 2029
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Santiago Montoya trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Market8 Jan 2029
“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.
Squad8 Jan 2029
A new face in his position, and Germán Meneses suddenly has to win back what he thought he owned. Leones have promised nothing — clubs rarely do at this stage.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad1 Jan 2029
Tempers go at Leones
Juan Sebastián Herrera 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.
Squad1 Jan 2029
The manager makes an example of Nicolás Churín
“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.
Squad1 Jan 2029
38 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom25 Dec 2028
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Leones
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
Squad25 Dec 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Leones this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad25 Dec 2028
36 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad18 Dec 2028
Tempers go at Leones
Juan Sebastián Herrera 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.
Boardroom18 Dec 2028
Leones counting the cost
The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Leones now.
Squad18 Dec 2028
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Óscar Segura and Leones agree another 3 years.
Squad18 Dec 2028
The manager makes an example of Juan David Ruiz
“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.
Squad18 Dec 2028
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Juan Sebastián Herrera trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market11 Dec 2028
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Leones can pretend not to have heard.
Squad11 Dec 2028
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Leones may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad11 Dec 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Leones this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad11 Dec 2028
“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.
Loan watch11 Dec 2028
“I watch every Leones game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Tigres runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market4 Dec 2028
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Squad4 Dec 2028
Tempers go at Leones
Juan Sebastián Herrera 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.
Market4 Dec 2028
Santa Fe are about to pick up the phone
A conversation is coming this week. Leones will put a number on him, and from there it stops being football and becomes arithmetic.
Squad4 Dec 2028
The manager makes an example of Leyner Palacios
“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.
Squad4 Dec 2028
The medical room confirms 69 days on the sidelines for James Ospina, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Loan watch4 Dec 2028
“I watch every Leones game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Fortaleza CEIF runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom27 Nov 2028
Pressure builds in the Leones boardroom
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
Squad27 Nov 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Leones this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad27 Nov 2028
65 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad20 Nov 2028
Tempers go at Leones
Juan Sebastián Herrera 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.
Boardroom20 Nov 2028
Leones counting the cost
The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Leones now.
Squad20 Nov 2028
Johan Muñoz 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
Uneasy
Squad13 Nov 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Leones this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Loan watch13 Nov 2028
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Leones, and 0 appearances in 22 say he has earned the hearing.
Squad13 Nov 2028
“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
Boardroom6 Nov 2028
Victor Gonzalez has until the next board meeting
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Leones can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
Market6 Nov 2028
“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.
Squad6 Nov 2028
Tempers go at Leones
Stiven Palomeque 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 Nov 2028
The medical room confirms 98 days on the sidelines for James Ospina, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Squad6 Nov 2028
“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.
Squad6 Nov 2028
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Leones, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market30 Oct 2028
“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 Leones, and it is not being withdrawn.
Boardroom30 Oct 2028
The scrutiny sharpens at Leones
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Leones is running low.
Squad30 Oct 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Leones this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad23 Oct 2028
Tempers go at Leones
Stiven Palomeque 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.
Boardroom23 Oct 2028
Leones counting the cost
The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Leones now.
Squad23 Oct 2028
14 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad16 Oct 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Leones this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad16 Oct 2028
“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.
Loan watch16 Oct 2028
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Leones, and 0 appearances in 18 say he has earned the hearing.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad9 Oct 2028
Tempers go at Leones
Stiven Palomeque 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.
Squad9 Oct 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.
Loan watch9 Oct 2028
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Leones, and 11 appearances in 13 say he has earned the hearing.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market2 Oct 2028
“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 Leones, and it is not being withdrawn.
Boardroom2 Oct 2028
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Leones
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
Squad2 Oct 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Leones this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad2 Oct 2028
The medical room confirms 127 days on the sidelines for Juan David Ruiz, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Squad2 Oct 2028
“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.
Loan watch2 Oct 2028
“I did not go to Atlanta United FC to sit and watch. I want to come back to Leones and fight for my place.” 4 appearances in 23 matches say the rest.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market25 Sep 2028
“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 Leones, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad25 Sep 2028
Tempers go at Leones
Juan Sebastián Herrera 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.
Boardroom25 Sep 2028
Leones counting the cost
The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Leones now.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad18 Sep 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Leones this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad18 Sep 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Juan Sebastián Herrera, and the manager let it.
Squad18 Sep 2028
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Leyner Palacios trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad11 Sep 2028
“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.
Squad11 Sep 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Leones this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Loan watch11 Sep 2028
“I watch every Leones game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Tigres runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market4 Sep 2028
“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.
Boardroom4 Sep 2028
Pressure builds in the Leones boardroom
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
Squad4 Sep 2028
Tempers go at Leones
Stiven Palomeque 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.
Squad4 Sep 2028
The manager makes an example of Leyner Palacios
“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.
Loan watch4 Sep 2028
“I watch every Leones game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Atlanta United FC runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Boardroom4 Sep 2028
87% of the income goes out in wages at Leones
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
Uneasy
Market28 Aug 2028
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Leones can pretend not to have heard.
Squad28 Aug 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Leones this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad28 Aug 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Juan Camilo Renteria, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad21 Aug 2028
Tempers go at Leones
Stiven Palomeque 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.
Squad21 Aug 2028
Nicolás Churín 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 Aug 2028
The manager makes an example of Jeycob Zabaleta
“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
Uneasy
Squad14 Aug 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Leones this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Loan watch14 Aug 2028
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Leones, and 0 appearances in 9 say he has earned the hearing.
Squad14 Aug 2028
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Juan Cruz Crisafulli trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom7 Aug 2028
Victor Gonzalez has until the next board meeting
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Leones can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
Boardroom7 Aug 2028
The scrutiny sharpens at Leones
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Leones is running low.
Squad7 Aug 2028
Tempers go at Leones
Juan Sebastián Herrera 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.
Squad7 Aug 2028
“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.
Loan watch7 Aug 2028
“I watch every Leones game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Atlanta United FC runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Squad7 Aug 2028
The captaincy has been taken off Felipe Gómez. Leones will call it a decision about the team; a dressing room reads it as a verdict on a man.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market31 Jul 2028
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Leones can pretend not to have heard.
Squad31 Jul 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Leones this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad31 Jul 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Alejandro Cardona, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad24 Jul 2028
Juan David Ruiz: 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.” Leones have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Market24 Jul 2028
Everything was agreed until it was not, and Wainer Marquez reports back to Leones with a summer to forget. Neither club is saying who walked away from the table.
Squad24 Jul 2028
Tempers go at Leones
Stiven Palomeque 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market17 Jul 2028
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Leones can pretend not to have heard.
Squad17 Jul 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Leones this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Loan watch17 Jul 2028
“I did not go to Tigres to sit and watch. I want to come back to Leones and fight for my place.” 0 appearances in 5 matches say the rest.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market10 Jul 2028
“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 Leones, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad10 Jul 2028
Óscar Segura: 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.” Leones have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad10 Jul 2028
Tempers go at Leones
Juan Sebastián Herrera 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.
Market10 Jul 2028
He left as a boy and has come back still knowing where the away end is. Most signings have to be explained to a town; this one needed a photograph and nothing else.
Squad10 Jul 2028
The enquiry everybody at Leones was hoping would not arrive has arrived. He has never pretended he did not want to go back, and now there is somewhere to go back to.
Squad10 Jul 2028
“The easiest signature of my career.” Jorge Aristizábal and Leones agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market3 Jul 2028
Once Caldas arrived with $1.5M and left with the best player in the building. The board will call it business; the queue at the ticket office will use other words.
Market3 Jul 2028
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Leones can pretend not to have heard.
Squad3 Jul 2028
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Felipe Gómez commits to Leones for another 4 years.
Squad3 Jul 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Leones this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad3 Jul 2028
“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
Market26 Jun 2028
The name of Juan Pablo Montoya has come up in conversations Leones were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Squad26 Jun 2028
Tempers go at Leones
Juan Sebastián Herrera 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.
Market26 Jun 2028
La Equidad pay $160.0K, 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.
Squad26 Jun 2028
“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.
Market26 Jun 2028
“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Wainer Marquez has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at Leones.
Market26 Jun 2028
Leones have let the market know Juan Sebastián Herrera can be had. No price in the advert, but everyone in the trade knows roughly what it says.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad19 Jun 2028
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Leones may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Market19 Jun 2028
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Market19 Jun 2028
The name of Juan Sebastián Peña has come up in conversations Leones were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Match17 Jun 2028
The wait goes on for Leones
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.
Squad19 Jun 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Leones this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market19 Jun 2028
Cortulua pay $59.0K, 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 ratings19 Jun 2028
A performance of 9.09 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad19 Jun 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Miguel Ángel Arboleda, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market12 Jun 2028
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Market12 Jun 2028
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Leones can pretend not to have heard.
Squad12 Jun 2028
Samuel Guzmán: 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.” Leones have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Market12 Jun 2028
Millonarios pay $1.0M, 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.
Squad12 Jun 2028
Tempers go at Leones
Stiven Palomeque 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.
Squad12 Jun 2028
“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.
Player ratings12 Jun 2028
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.
Match10 Jun 2028
A bad afternoon for Leones against Envigado
0‑1 to Envigado, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Boardroom12 Jun 2028
99% of the income goes out in wages at Leones
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
Uneasy
Market5 Jun 2028
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Leones can pretend not to have heard.
Squad5 Jun 2028
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.
Match3 Jun 2028
Whatever happens, Leones do not lose
8 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.
Market5 Jun 2028
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Jerónimo Arbeláez will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Leones the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad5 Jun 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Leones this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market5 Jun 2028
The Kevin Tamayo conversation is coming
Everyone has stopped pretending: Millonarios will make the call about Kevin Tamayo this week. Leones have a number in mind, and the number is not shy.
Boardroom5 Jun 2028
The numbers do not look good at Leones
Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.
Market5 Jun 2028
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Leones has been clear about where Juan Sebastián Herrera stands, which is more than many ever get.
Player ratings5 Jun 2028
A performance of 8.82 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Player ratings29 May 2028
Defensive actions: 30. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Match27 May 2028
Whatever happens, Leones do not lose
7 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.
Squad29 May 2028
Tempers go at Leones
Stiven Palomeque 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.
Squad29 May 2028
“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.
Player ratings29 May 2028
Defensive actions: 19, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
Player ratings29 May 2028
Successful dribbles: 17. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Player ratings29 May 2028
Marked 7.66 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, Leones had the best player on the pitch.
Match27 May 2028
Ninety minutes, two goalkeepers with clean gloves, and not one finish worth keeping. Depor will be the happier side with the point.
Squad29 May 2028
Germán Meneses 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
Upbeat
Squad22 May 2028
There were 6 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.
Squad22 May 2028
Wainer Marquez: 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.” Leones have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Player ratings22 May 2028
Defensive actions: 26, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
Match20 May 2028
Leones make it 3 in a row
Momentum is a hard thing to buy and an easy thing to lose, and right now Leones have 3 straight wins of it.
Player ratings22 May 2028
Defensive actions: 24. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Squad22 May 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Leones this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings22 May 2028
Successful dribbles: 22. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Player ratings22 May 2028
Marked 8.85 — 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.
Match20 May 2028
A 1‑0 win over Barranquilla, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad15 May 2028
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.
Squad15 May 2028
Tempers go at Leones
Juan Sebastián Herrera 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 ratings15 May 2028
Marked 9.36 — 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.
Match13 May 2028
It finished 3‑1, and it was Benjamín Alegre’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Leones.
Player ratings15 May 2028
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.54, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad15 May 2028
The team sheet said everything about Leyner Palacios
Warm-up bib, ninety minutes of watching, and a handshake at the end that fooled nobody. Big matches tell you who a manager trusts; this one told Leyner Palacios.
Boardroom15 May 2028
99% of the income goes out in wages at Leones
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.
Squad15 May 2028
A season average of 7.31 with 4 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.
Player ratings15 May 2028
Successful dribbles: 12. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad8 May 2028
3 kept out in the shoot-out, and a stadium that will still be describing them in twenty years. A goalkeeper only needs one of these to be remembered forever.
Match3 May 2028
Leones out of the cup
Atletico Nacional ended it 1‑1. The season narrows to the league now, and everyone in the ground knew it before the final whistle.
Player ratings8 May 2028
Defensive actions: 31, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
Player ratings8 May 2028
Successful dribbles: 30. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Market8 May 2028
Roinner Fruto 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 Leones can pretend not to have heard.
Market8 May 2028
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Jerónimo Arbeláez will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Leones the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad8 May 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Leones this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom8 May 2028
The numbers do not look good at Leones
Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.
Player ratings8 May 2028
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 9.09, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad1 May 2028
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.
Squad1 May 2028
Tempers go at Leones
Juan Sebastián Herrera 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.
Squad1 May 2028
“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.
Match29 Apr 2028
1‑1, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
Squad1 May 2028
Kevin Tamayo 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 Kevin Tamayo trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Player ratings1 May 2028
Successful dribbles: 13. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market24 Apr 2028
“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 Leones, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad24 Apr 2028
There were 6 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.
Squad24 Apr 2028
“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.
Player ratings24 Apr 2028
Defensive actions: 24. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Squad24 Apr 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Leones this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings24 Apr 2028
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 22 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Player ratings24 Apr 2028
Successful dribbles: 21. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Player ratings24 Apr 2028
Marked 9.38 — 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.
Match22 Apr 2028
Bogota made Leones work for it, but the scoreboard read 1‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match15 Apr 2028
The wait goes on for Leones
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.
Squad17 Apr 2028
Tempers go at Leones
Juan Sebastián Herrera 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 ratings17 Apr 2028
Successful dribbles: 20. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad17 Apr 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.
Match15 Apr 2028
A bad afternoon for Leones against Tigres
0‑1 to Tigres, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Market17 Apr 2028
A conversation is coming this week. Leones will put a number on him, and from there it stops being football and becomes arithmetic.
Boardroom17 Apr 2028
91% of the income goes out in wages at Leones
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.
Squad17 Apr 2028
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Juan Sebastián Herrera trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Market17 Apr 2028
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Leones, another week without a signature from Santiago Montoya.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market10 Apr 2028
“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 ratings10 Apr 2028
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 24 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Market10 Apr 2028
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Leones is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Player ratings10 Apr 2028
Defensive actions: 23. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Squad10 Apr 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Leones this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad10 Apr 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Germán Meneses, and the manager let it.
Player ratings10 Apr 2028
Successful dribbles: 15. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Boardroom10 Apr 2028
The numbers do not look good at Leones
Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.
Squad10 Apr 2028
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Juan Sebastián Herrera trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match3 Apr 2028
Leones are in real trouble now
Position 10, 11 points, and a fixture list with fewer games left in it than excuses. The arithmetic is not cruel yet, but it has stopped being kind.
Squad3 Apr 2028
“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.
Squad3 Apr 2028
Tempers go at Leones
Juan Sebastián Herrera 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 ratings3 Apr 2028
Successful dribbles: 22. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad3 Apr 2028
The manager makes an example of Óscar Segura
“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.
Match1 Apr 2028
A 1‑1 draw with Real Santander leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match25 Mar 2028
0‑5 to Envigado, 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.
Market27 Mar 2028
“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 terraces27 Mar 2028
The ground has had enough
“We travel everywhere and we get this.” 9 of the 30 senior players heard it walking off, and the ones who did not hear it were not playing.
Squad27 Mar 2028
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.
Squad27 Mar 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Leones this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad27 Mar 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Stiven Palomeque, and the manager let it.
Boardroom27 Mar 2028
The manager kept them in and said what needed saying. A response is expected on Saturday, and if it does not come the questions move upstairs.
Player ratings27 Mar 2028
Successful dribbles: 16. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad27 Mar 2028
Nicolás Churín 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
Squad20 Mar 2028
Tempers go at Leones
Juan Sebastián Herrera 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.
Match18 Mar 2028
Union Magdalena made Leones work for it, but the scoreboard read 2‑1 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Squad20 Mar 2028
The manager makes an example of Leyner Palacios
“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 ratings20 Mar 2028
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.67, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Boardroom20 Mar 2028
119% of the income goes out in wages at Leones
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.
Player ratings20 Mar 2028
Successful dribbles: 16. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Player ratings13 Mar 2028
Successful dribbles: 28. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Market13 Mar 2028
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Leones they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad13 Mar 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Leones this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad13 Mar 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Kevin Tamayo, and the manager let it.
Match11 Mar 2028
It needed Benjamín Alegre to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Depor, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
Boardroom13 Mar 2028
The numbers do not look good at Leones
Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Player ratings6 Mar 2028
Successful dribbles: 24. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad6 Mar 2028
Tempers go at Leones
Juan Sebastián Herrera 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 Mar 2028
“The easiest signature of my career.” Cristian Rodríguez and Leones agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Player ratings6 Mar 2028
Marked 8.75 — 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.
Squad6 Mar 2028
“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.
Match4 Mar 2028
1‑1, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad28 Feb 2028
2 kept out in the shoot-out, and a stadium that will still be describing them in twenty years. A goalkeeper only needs one of these to be remembered forever.
Match23 Feb 2028
Leones march on in the cup
La Equidad are out and Leones go through, 0‑0 the final word. The bracket opens up a little, and everyone allows themselves a look at it.
Squad28 Feb 2028
“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.
Player ratings28 Feb 2028
Successful dribbles: 23. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad28 Feb 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Leones this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings28 Feb 2028
A performance of 8.94 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Match26 Feb 2028
A 2‑0 win over Valledupar, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Player ratings28 Feb 2028
Defensive actions: 20. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Squad28 Feb 2028
“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
Match19 Feb 2028
6 matches without a win for Leones
The run now stands at 6, and the questions being asked around Leones are no longer polite ones.
Squad21 Feb 2028
Tempers go at Leones
Juan Sebastián Herrera 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 ratings21 Feb 2028
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.
Squad21 Feb 2028
“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.
Match19 Feb 2028
A bad afternoon for Leones against Llaneros
0‑1 to Llaneros, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Boardroom21 Feb 2028
Wages eat 120% of everything Leones 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Player ratings14 Feb 2028
Defensive actions: 33. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Match12 Feb 2028
The wait goes on for Leones
5 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 ratings14 Feb 2028
Successful dribbles: 23. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad14 Feb 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Leones this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings14 Feb 2028
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 22 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Squad14 Feb 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Juan Camilo Renteria, and the manager let it.
Player ratings14 Feb 2028
Defensive actions: 17. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Squad14 Feb 2028
“I want to play”: Felipe Gómez speaks
“I respect the manager and I am not going to sit here and pretend I am happy.” It is the most common sentence in football and it has never once been the end of a story.
Boardroom14 Feb 2028
The numbers do not look good at Leones
Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad7 Feb 2028
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.
Match5 Feb 2028
No end in sight to Leones's wait for a win
4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Leones has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad7 Feb 2028
Tempers go at Leones
Juan Sebastián Herrera 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 ratings7 Feb 2028
Defensive actions: 20. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Squad7 Feb 2028
28 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Squad7 Feb 2028
The manager makes an example of Nicolás Churín
“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
Crisis
Market31 Jan 2028
“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.
Squad31 Jan 2028
“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.
Squad31 Jan 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Leones this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad31 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.
Match29 Jan 2028
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Player ratings31 Jan 2028
Successful dribbles: 16. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Player ratings31 Jan 2028
5.00 on the card. Some afternoons a footballer looks like a man who has only just been introduced to the game, and this was one of them.
Player ratings31 Jan 2028
5.62 on the card. Some afternoons a footballer looks like a man who has only just been introduced to the game, and this was one of them.
Squad31 Jan 2028
“I respect the manager and I am not going to sit here and pretend I am happy.” It is the most common sentence in football and it has never once been the end of a story.
In brief
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Player ratings
Benjamín Alegre spends the afternoon fouling
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Boardroom
The Leones production line keeps running
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad24 Jan 2028
Tempers go at Leones
Juan Sebastián Herrera 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.
Market24 Jan 2028
He left as a boy and has come back still knowing where the away end is. Most signings have to be explained to a town; this one needed a photograph and nothing else.
Market24 Jan 2028
He left as a boy and has come back still knowing where the away end is. Most signings have to be explained to a town; this one needed a photograph and nothing else.
Market24 Jan 2028
The shirt still fits. Johan Vargas is back at Leones, and half the ground remembers him in these colours already. Some signings need selling to the town; this one sold itself.
Market24 Jan 2028
He left as a boy and has come back still knowing where the away end is. Most signings have to be explained to a town; this one needed a photograph and nothing else.
Player ratings24 Jan 2028
Marked 9.08 — 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.
Squad24 Jan 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Juan Sebastián Herrera, and the manager let it.
Player ratings24 Jan 2028
Successful dribbles: 18. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad17 Jan 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Leones this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad17 Jan 2028
14 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Boardroom17 Jan 2028
The numbers do not look good at Leones
Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad10 Jan 2028
Tempers go at Leones
Juan Sebastián Herrera 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.
Squad10 Jan 2028
“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 Jan 2028
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Leones, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad3 Jan 2028
Tempers go at Leones
Juan Sebastián Herrera 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
The medical room confirms 36 days on the sidelines for Santiago Montoya, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Squad3 Jan 2028
The medical room confirms 16 days on the sidelines for Óscar Segura, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Squad3 Jan 2028
“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.
Market3 Jan 2028
A season-long audition: Colón still own him, but the shirt and the minutes are Leones's to give. A loan is a bet both clubs believe they are winning.
Market3 Jan 2028
The window shut and Roinner Fruto is still in the building
Leones spent a month trying to move him and nobody rang back. He trains with a squad that has told him where he stands, and both sides start counting down to the next one.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market27 Dec 2027
Kevin Tamayo 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 Leones can pretend not to have heard.
Boardroom27 Dec 2027
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Leones
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
Market27 Dec 2027
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Leones is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad27 Dec 2027
Óscar Segura 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 Leones this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad27 Dec 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.
Boardroom27 Dec 2027
96% of the income goes out in wages at Leones
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
Uneasy
Squad20 Dec 2027
Nahuel Ciro 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. Leones will be quietly delighted and privately nervous.
Squad20 Dec 2027
Tempers go at Leones
Stiven Palomeque 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.
Squad20 Dec 2027
The manager makes an example of Germán Meneses
“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.
Market20 Dec 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.
Boardroom20 Dec 2027
Leones counting the cost
The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Leones now.
Squad20 Dec 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 Leones, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad13 Dec 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Leones may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad13 Dec 2027
Kevin Tamayo 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 Leones this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market13 Dec 2027
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Kevin Tamayo may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
Squad13 Dec 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Johan Muñoz, and the manager let it.
Loan watch13 Dec 2027
27 appearances at Real Cartagena and the goals keep coming. Leones are watching this more closely than the borrowing club would like.
Squad13 Dec 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 Leones, and both men came out saying it was fine.