From our football correspondent
Steady
Match19 Aug 2026
A 2‑0 win over Juventud, a place in the next round, and the quiet arithmetic every supporter does on the walk home: how many more until a final?
Squad24 Aug 2026
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 7 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
No sign of nerves from Rodrigo Hernández at 21 — 8.49
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Rodrigo Hernández did not need any: 8.49, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Squad24 Aug 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Santiago Mier commits to River Plate for another 3 years.
Squad24 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 River Plate this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 20. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
The terraces24 Aug 2026
At 23 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
The dugout24 Aug 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Santiago Mier, and the manager let it.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Pablo Olivera falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match15 Aug 2026
Chastening afternoon for River Plate
A 0‑4 beating by Danubio was the sort of result that empties a stadium long before the final whistle.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
A brace, and Tomás Benardoni takes the afternoon — 8.49
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Tomás Benardoni provided it, and the 8.49 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Carlos Rodríguez 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 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 21. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
The terraces17 Aug 2026
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 20-year-old it feels ownership of. Tomás Benardoni has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Pablo Olivera was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout17 Aug 2026
No hiding place for Vitinho
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Vitinho, and the manager let it.
Boardroom17 Aug 2026
Nobody left the River Plate dressing room in a hurry
The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad10 Aug 2026
Carlos Rodríguez and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout10 Aug 2026
“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.
Market10 Aug 2026
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Jorge Rodriguez is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Market10 Aug 2026
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Manuel Rodriguez has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
Market10 Aug 2026
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Emiliano Nunez has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
Market10 Aug 2026
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Pablo Pereira is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Match8 Aug 2026
0‑1 to Liverpool Montevideo, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad10 Aug 2026
River Plate are still strangers to each other
13 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
The dugout10 Aug 2026
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Jonathan Perez after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match1 Aug 2026
Beaten 1‑6 by Penarol, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.
Squad3 Aug 2026
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.
Market3 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 ratings3 Aug 2026
Marked 7.65 at 20, in a side that makes no allowances for age. He did not need any, and he looked the least nervous man on the pitch.
Squad3 Aug 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Carlos Rodríguez and River Plate agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Carlos Rodríguez and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Match1 Aug 2026
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 7 goals between River Plate and Penarol, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Pablo Olivera was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout3 Aug 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Felipe Chiappini, and the manager let it.