From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad28 Sep 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Lokomotiv Sofia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
Adil Taoui runs at them all day
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.
Squad28 Sep 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Martin Velichkov, and the manager let it.
Match26 Sep 2026
0‑1 to Cherno More, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
Marked 5.76, and generously at that. Nothing came off, and by the end the crowd had stopped expecting it to.
Squad28 Sep 2026
At 26 he is in the side on merit and somebody else is watching from the bench. Places at Lokomotiv Sofia are won quietly and lost loudly.
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From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
Nobody could get near Adil Taoui
Successful dribbles: 28. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad21 Sep 2026
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.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Dominik Yankov 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 Sep 2026
A performance of 8.90 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad21 Sep 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Donaldo Açka, and the manager let it.
Match19 Sep 2026
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
Squad14 Sep 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Lokomotiv Sofia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
A performance of 9.26 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
Marked 9.18 — 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.
Match12 Sep 2026
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Alberto Salido. 2‑0 against Dobrudzha, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
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 ratings14 Sep 2026
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.02, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad14 Sep 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Lautaro Agüero, and the manager let it.
Squad14 Sep 2026
The first one is the one every signing is asked about until it arrives. It has arrived, and he can stop being asked.
Squad14 Sep 2026
He trains hard, says the right things and goes home to an empty flat. Nobody at Lokomotiv Sofia has done anything wrong, which is exactly what makes it so difficult to fix.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match5 Sep 2026
The run now stands at 7, and the questions being asked around Lokomotiv Sofia are no longer polite ones.
Market7 Sep 2026
“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 Lokomotiv Sofia, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Dragan Grivić 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 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 21. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
153% of the income goes out in wages at Lokomotiv Sofia
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 ratings7 Sep 2026
A performance of 8.88 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad7 Sep 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Ante Aralica, and the manager let it.
Player ratings7 Sep 2026
Marked 8.50 — 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.
Match5 Sep 2026
2‑2, 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
Crisis
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
Adil Taoui runs at them all day
Successful dribbles: 29. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Market31 Aug 2026
Erol Dost 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 Lokomotiv Sofia can pretend not to have heard.
Match29 Aug 2026
6 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.
Squad31 Aug 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Lokomotiv Sofia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market31 Aug 2026
The name of Mitko Mitkov has come up in conversations Lokomotiv Sofia were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Match29 Aug 2026
1‑3 to CSKA 1948, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Market31 Aug 2026
Slavia Sofia pay $80.0K, 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.
Squad31 Aug 2026
The manager makes an example of Spas Delev
“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 ratings31 Aug 2026
The one thing Ante Aralica could not do
Shots: 5, enough of them from close enough that a striker in form scores two. He is not a striker in form.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad24 Aug 2026
A shoot-out is remembered by its ending, and this one ends with Martin Velichkov: 3 kept out, and a set of supporters who will describe every one of them for the next twenty years.
Match19 Aug 2026
A 0‑0 win over Slavia Sofia, a place in the next round, and the quiet arithmetic every supporter does on the walk home: how many more until a final?
Market24 Aug 2026
“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 ratings24 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 26. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Match22 Aug 2026
No end in sight to Lokomotiv Sofia's wait for a win
5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Lokomotiv Sofia has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Dominik Yankov 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 ratings24 Aug 2026
A performance of 9.38 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad24 Aug 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Martin Velichkov, and the manager let it.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Dzhuneyt Ali misses from twelve yards
It was his to settle and he did not settle it. A long walk back to the halfway line, and a considerably longer week.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
Nobody could get near Adil Taoui
Successful dribbles: 26. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Market17 Aug 2026
The offer from Montana for Mitko Mitkov was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Market17 Aug 2026
The paperwork is done: Dragan Grivić joins from CSKA 1948 in a deal worth $1.1M. Now comes the harder part.
Squad17 Aug 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Lokomotiv Sofia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match15 Aug 2026
Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad17 Aug 2026
The manager makes an example of Donaldo Açka
“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.
Market17 Aug 2026
Experience through the door at Lokomotiv Sofia
Michal Jeřábek arrives at 33 with nothing left to prove and plenty left to pass on. Legs are a young man's currency; knowing where to stand never ages.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Dragan Grivić has outgrown this division
There is a level at which a footballer stops being tested and starts being contained, and he reached it some time ago. Lokomotiv Sofia know it, and so does everybody who watches him.
Market17 Aug 2026
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Donaldo Açka may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Player ratings10 Aug 2026
Adil Taoui runs at them all day
Successful dribbles: 26. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad10 Aug 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Lokomotiv Sofia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market10 Aug 2026
The name of Cauê Caruzo has come up in conversations Lokomotiv Sofia were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Squad10 Aug 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Adil Taoui commits to Lokomotiv Sofia for another 4 years.
Match8 Aug 2026
Septemvri left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad10 Aug 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Ante Aralica, and the manager let it.
Market10 Aug 2026
Still no offer on the table, and Angel Lyaskov’s deal keeps shrinking. In boardroom language, silence this long stops being an oversight and starts being an answer.
Market10 Aug 2026
Erol Dost told to find a new club
“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Erol Dost has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at Lokomotiv Sofia.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Adil Taoui 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
Squad3 Aug 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Spas Delev commits to Lokomotiv Sofia for another 2 years.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Dominik Yankov 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 Aug 2026
Adil Taoui runs at them all day
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.
Market3 Aug 2026
Add another name to the list: Montana have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Mitko Mitkov. The answer from Lokomotiv Sofia has not changed — yet.
Squad3 Aug 2026
“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 ratings3 Aug 2026
A performance of 8.13 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Market3 Aug 2026
The clock runs on Ante Aralica's contract
36 months left and silence from upstairs — no offer, no talks, nothing for his people to answer. Clubs that let a calendar do their negotiating usually end up negotiating with the calendar.
Player ratings3 Aug 2026
There was no pressure on him and nowhere he had to be. Lokomotiv Sofia lost a goal to a decision that took half a second and will be discussed all week.
Market3 Aug 2026
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Simeon Slavchev has his answer from Lokomotiv Sofia; what he does with it is the next window’s story.