From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings15 Feb 2027
Successful dribbles: 27. 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.
Market15 Feb 2027
“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 Feb 2027
Manuel Daffara 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.
Transfer targets15 Feb 2027
Virtus Verona asked and Colón said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad15 Feb 2027
100 games in these colours. Service of that kind gets rarer every season, and the crowd knows it.
The dugout15 Feb 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.
Squad15 Feb 2027
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Hachim Mastour was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Player ratings15 Feb 2027
Some games turn on a moment; this one turned on a man. 7.36 on the card, and the Virtus Verona support went home talking about one name.
The dugout15 Feb 2027
Sheikh Sibi gets picked when it counts
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Sheikh Sibi is on it.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad8 Feb 2027
Ezequiel Bustamante and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Nicola Patanè was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets8 Feb 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Agropecuario Argentino have kept their man, and Virtus Verona go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The dugout8 Feb 2027
Rodrigo Pepe 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.
Player ratings8 Feb 2027
Successful dribbles: 18. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad8 Feb 2027
44 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Player ratings8 Feb 2027
A mark of 7.64, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.
The dugout8 Feb 2027
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Samuele Bonetti was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the Virtus Verona dressing room was either.
The dugout8 Feb 2027
“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
Market1 Feb 2027
“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 Virtus Verona, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market1 Feb 2027
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Boardroom1 Feb 2027
Virtus Verona close the window on a squad of their own making
1 in and 0 out, and no more changes for months. The manager has what he has, the supporters have their opinion of it, and the table will have the last word.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Ezequiel Bustamante 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.
Transfer targets1 Feb 2027
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Words at Virtus Verona training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Hachim Mastour is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Transfer targets1 Feb 2027
Virtus Verona have made the call to Agropecuario Argentino. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Transfer targets1 Feb 2027
Colón have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
The dugout1 Feb 2027
The manager makes an example of Samuele Lerco
“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
Upbeat
Market25 Jan 2027
“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 Virtus Verona, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Ezequiel Bustamante 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.
Transfer targets25 Jan 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Torino have kept their man, and Virtus Verona go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The terraces25 Jan 2027
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 19-year-old it feels ownership of. Rafael Melo 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.
Match23 Jan 2027
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Michael Fabbro. 1‑0 against Novara, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Player ratings25 Jan 2027
Marked 7.81 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, Virtus Verona had the best player on the pitch.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Hachim Mastour 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.
Transfer targets25 Jan 2027
A loan move for Ulises Vera is in the works
Virtus Verona have made the call to Quilmes. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Transfer targets25 Jan 2027
A loan move for Gian Piaggio is in the works
Virtus Verona have made the call to Colón. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market18 Jan 2027
“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 Virtus Verona, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad18 Jan 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Virtus Verona this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom18 Jan 2027
Nothing happens for months and then he simply arrives, at no cost, having signed a pre-contract while still turning out for somebody else. It is the least dramatic way to sign a footballer and frequently the shrewdest.
Transfer targets18 Jan 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Spezia have kept their man, and Virtus Verona go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Match16 Jan 2027
0‑1 to Cittadella, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The dugout18 Jan 2027
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑1 Samuele Bonetti left the room before anybody could ask which.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Hachim Mastour was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Market18 Jan 2027
Francesco Scapoli is 18, and Virtus Verona have signed him for the player he will be rather than the one he is. The first team can wait; the point of a deal like this is the years it buys.
Transfer targets18 Jan 2027
Virtus Verona have made the call to Almirante Brown. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad11 Jan 2027
Manuel Daffara 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.
Transfer targets11 Jan 2027
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
The terraces11 Jan 2027
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Nicola Patanè 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.
The dugout11 Jan 2027
Rodrigo Pepe 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.
Match11 Jan 2027
Position 9, 24 points, and every result so far reduced to one line. The second half of the season starts with the same squad and a different set of expectations.
Player ratings11 Jan 2027
Some games turn on a moment; this one turned on a man. 7.94 on the card, and the Virtus Verona support went home talking about one name.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Words at Virtus Verona training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Hachim Mastour is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Transfer targets11 Jan 2027
A loan enquiry to Lecce: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad4 Jan 2027
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Virtus Verona are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Squad4 Jan 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Virtus Verona this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom4 Jan 2027
Nothing happens for months and then he simply arrives, at no cost, having signed a pre-contract while still turning out for somebody else. It is the least dramatic way to sign a footballer and frequently the shrewdest.
Match2 Jan 2027
Pro Vercelli left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Player ratings4 Jan 2027
Successful dribbles: 19. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
The dugout4 Jan 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.
The dugout4 Jan 2027
Something was said to Iacopo Cernigoi and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
The dugout4 Jan 2027
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Samuele Bonetti after 0‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Transfer targets4 Jan 2027
Torino have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match26 Dec 2026
1‑4 to Trento, 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.
The dugout28 Dec 2026
“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 Dec 2026
Rafael Melo, 19, steals the show — 7.67
Marked 7.67 at 19, in a side that makes no allowances for age. He did not need any, and he looked the least nervous man on the pitch.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Manuel Daffara and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Nicola Patanè falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The dugout28 Dec 2026
The manager makes an example of Manuel Daffara
“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.
Boardroom28 Dec 2026
Nobody left the Virtus Verona 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.
The dugout28 Dec 2026
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Samuele Bonetti after 1‑4, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Boardroom28 Dec 2026
Wages eat 87% of everything Virtus Verona 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
Steady
Player ratings21 Dec 2026
At 36 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 7.81 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Squad21 Dec 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 Virtus Verona this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match19 Dec 2026
A 1‑0 win over Giana Erminio, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
The dugout21 Dec 2026
The manager makes an example of Marco Amadio
“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 ratings21 Dec 2026
Successful dribbles: 15. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Market21 Dec 2026
He is 20, and nobody at Virtus Verona signed him for this season. Deals like this are judged in four years, by people who may not still be in the building.
Squad21 Dec 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Diego Tampieri and Virtus Verona agree another 4 years.
The dugout21 Dec 2026
The manager’s verdict
“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” Samuele Bonetti kept it short after the 1‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
The dugout21 Dec 2026
When it matters, Sheikh Sibi plays
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad14 Dec 2026
A fracture rules Rodrigo Pepe out for 18 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Virtus Verona will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The dugout14 Dec 2026
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Virtus Verona may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Match12 Dec 2026
8 without a win is the sort of run that changes how a town talks about its club, and Alcione Milano were the afternoon it stopped. Nothing is fixed by one result and everything feels different by one.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Ezequiel Bustamante and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The terraces14 Dec 2026
He is 19 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
Match12 Dec 2026
It finished 1‑0, and it was Iacopo Cernigoi’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Virtus Verona.
Player ratings14 Dec 2026
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 ratings14 Dec 2026
A mark of 7.61, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.
The dugout14 Dec 2026
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Samuele Bonetti on a 1‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad7 Dec 2026
27 days out for Rodrigo Pepe after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Virtus Verona will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Match5 Dec 2026
No end in sight to Virtus Verona's wait for a win
8 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Virtus Verona has to find a result from somewhere.
Match5 Dec 2026
6 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Ezequiel Bustamante 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.
Squad7 Dec 2026
A muscle injury and 16 days out for Hachim Mastour
The most common injury in the game and the most rushed back from. Virtus Verona will quote 16 days and will be careful with it, because the second one is always worse than the first.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Words at Virtus Verona training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nicola Patanè is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Player ratings7 Dec 2026
7.32, and no serious argument from anybody who was there. Virtus Verona had eleven men on the pitch and one of them decided how it went.
The dugout7 Dec 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.
The dugout7 Dec 2026
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Samuele Bonetti after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad30 Nov 2026
A fracture rules Rodrigo Pepe out for 34 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Virtus Verona will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Match28 Nov 2026
0‑4 against Union Brescia, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Match28 Nov 2026
No end in sight to Virtus Verona's wait for a win
7 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Virtus Verona has to find a result from somewhere.
Match28 Nov 2026
5 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Ezequiel Bustamante 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.
The dugout30 Nov 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.
Boardroom30 Nov 2026
The music was off and the showers ran late. What was said in that dressing room stays there, but Saturday will publish the minutes.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 0‑4, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
The manager has not finished forgetting Francesco Toffanin's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad23 Nov 2026
Rodrigo Pepe breaks a bone — 42 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 42 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Match21 Nov 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.
Match21 Nov 2026
4 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Virtus Verona can tell you which week it ends in.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Manuel Daffara 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.
Player ratings23 Nov 2026
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.
Match21 Nov 2026
Lumezzane left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout23 Nov 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.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑1, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
Sheikh Sibi gets picked when it counts
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Sheikh Sibi is on it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad16 Nov 2026
Rodrigo Pepe breaks a bone — 49 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 49 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Match14 Nov 2026
A 0‑3 beating by Vicenza was the sort of result that empties a stadium long before the final whistle.
Squad16 Nov 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.
Match14 Nov 2026
No end in sight to Virtus Verona's wait for a win
5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Virtus Verona has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Manuel Daffara 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.
Match14 Nov 2026
3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Virtus Verona can tell you which week it ends in.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Nicola Patanè 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.
Boardroom16 Nov 2026
The music was off and the showers ran late. What was said in that dressing room stays there, but Saturday will publish the minutes.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Samuele Bonetti after 0‑3, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad9 Nov 2026
Rodrigo Pepe breaks a bone — 56 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 56 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Match7 Nov 2026
4 matches without a win for Virtus Verona
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Virtus Verona are no longer polite ones.
Squad9 Nov 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 Virtus Verona this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings9 Nov 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.
Match7 Nov 2026
Lecco left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Market9 Nov 2026
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Giovanni Colombo 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.
Market9 Nov 2026
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Giulio Serra is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Words at Virtus Verona training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Hachim Mastour is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑2 Samuele Bonetti left the room before anybody could ask which.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad2 Nov 2026
A fracture rules Rodrigo Pepe out for 64 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Virtus Verona will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Ezequiel Bustamante 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 ratings2 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 17. 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.
Squad2 Nov 2026
A place in the month's best eleven for Rafael Melo
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Rafael Melo has come out of that comparison in the side, and Virtus Verona have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
Boardroom2 Nov 2026
85% of the income goes out in wages at Virtus Verona
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.
The dugout2 Nov 2026
Edoardo Cuel 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.
Squad2 Nov 2026
It will be explained as a change for the team and it may even be one. Nobody who has worn one believes that, and neither does the man who has just had it taken away.
The dugout2 Nov 2026
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 0‑0, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
The dugout2 Nov 2026
“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
Squad26 Oct 2026
A fracture rules Rodrigo Pepe out for 72 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Virtus Verona will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
No sign of nerves from Rafael Melo at 19 — 7.93
The hardest thing about being 19 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Rafael Melo did not need any: 7.93, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Squad26 Oct 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Iacopo Cernigoi commits to Virtus Verona for another 3 years.
Squad26 Oct 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 Virtus Verona this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The terraces26 Oct 2026
The crowd has taken to Rafael Melo
At 19 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.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Nicola Patanè falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
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.
Match24 Oct 2026
It needed Rafael Melo to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Triestina, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
Sheikh Sibi gets picked when it counts
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Sheikh Sibi is on it.
In brief
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The dugout
Samuele Lerco gets it from the manager
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The dugout
The manager’s verdict
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The dugout
The plan did not have a place for Hachim Mastour
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad19 Oct 2026
Rodrigo Pepe breaks a bone — 79 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 79 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Ezequiel Bustamante and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Nicola Patanè was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
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.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
The view from the dugout
“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Samuele Bonetti chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
The manager makes an example of Enrico Alfonso
“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.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Rafael Melo is the weekend's best young player
At 19 he is being measured against the rest of the division's kids and coming out in front. The senior version of this award is where the club would like this to lead.
Match17 Oct 2026
Ninety minutes, two goalkeepers with clean gloves, and not one finish worth keeping. Renate will be the happier side with the point.
Looking ahead19 Oct 2026
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Triestina in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad12 Oct 2026
87 days out for Rodrigo Pepe after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Virtus Verona will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Player ratings12 Oct 2026
A brace, and Rafael Melo takes the afternoon — 8.83
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Rafael Melo provided it, and the 8.83 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Ezequiel Bustamante 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.
Match10 Oct 2026
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Rafael Melo. 2‑0 against AlbinoLeffe, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Market12 Oct 2026
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Gianmarco Sartori 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.
Market12 Oct 2026
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Romano Rizzi 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.
Player ratings12 Oct 2026
16 defensive actions and a clean sheet at the end of them. A defender's afternoon can only be told by what did not happen, which is why nobody makes a highlights package out of one and every manager in the division would take it.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 2‑0, Samuele Bonetti could afford to be generous.
The dugout12 Oct 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad5 Oct 2026
95 days out for Rodrigo Pepe after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Virtus Verona will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Player ratings5 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 25. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Manuel Daffara and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match3 Oct 2026
Pergolettese left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Nicola Patanè was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout5 Oct 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.
Boardroom5 Oct 2026
107% of the income goes out in wages at Virtus Verona
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.
The dugout5 Oct 2026
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 0‑1, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Young player of the week: Rafael Melo
At 19 he was the best of everybody his age in the division for one weekend. Nobody should build a career on it and everybody quietly does.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad28 Sep 2026
Rodrigo Pepe breaks a bone — 102 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 102 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Match23 Sep 2026
Südtirol go through and Virtus Verona go home, 1‑2 the scoreline that did it. The dressing room will call the league the priority now, because that is what dressing rooms say.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 8 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Manuel Daffara 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.
The terraces28 Sep 2026
The crowd has taken to Rafael Melo
At 19 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.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 17. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
The dugout28 Sep 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 ratings28 Sep 2026
A mark of 7.59, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.
In brief
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Squad
Virtus Verona are still strangers to each other
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The dugout
The manager’s verdict
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The dugout
Sheikh Sibi gets picked when it counts
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad21 Sep 2026
A fracture rules Rodrigo Pepe out for 109 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Virtus Verona will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Manuel Daffara 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.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad14 Sep 2026
A fracture rules Rodrigo Pepe out for 116 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Virtus Verona will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Ezequiel Bustamante 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.
Market14 Sep 2026
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Filippo Paganelli 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.
Market14 Sep 2026
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Flavio Ferri 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.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Nicola Patanè falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The dugout14 Sep 2026
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Samuele Bonetti after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
Squad14 Sep 2026
The system has changed and his position has not. A footballer can improve his form; he cannot improve the manager’s formation, and that is the whole of the problem.
Match12 Sep 2026
The crowd waited for a goal that never came. Novara defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.
The dugout14 Sep 2026
Ninety specific minutes wanted a different sort of player, and the manager picked one. He is not out of form and he is not in the side, and both are true.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad7 Sep 2026
123 days out for Rodrigo Pepe after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Virtus Verona will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
Virtus Verona close the window on a squad of their own making
16 in and 0 out, and no more changes for months. The manager has what he has, the supporters have their opinion of it, and the table will have the last word.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Ezequiel Bustamante 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.
Transfer targets7 Sep 2026
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Colón have kept their man, and Virtus Verona go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Words at Virtus Verona training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Hachim Mastour is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Match5 Sep 2026
Behind, and beaten by any honest reading, until minute 94. Cittadella had the points in their pocket and a corner of the ground still believed, which is generally when it happens.
Squad7 Sep 2026
The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Nicola Patanè has come out of it lower. He will be told it is temporary, and the players who have heard that before will avoid his eye.
Match5 Sep 2026
It finished 1‑1, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.
The dugout7 Sep 2026
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Samuele Bonetti after the 1‑1 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Squad31 Aug 2026
131 days out for Rodrigo Pepe after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Virtus Verona will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Transfer targets31 Aug 2026
Virtus Verona offered $1.2M; Virtus Entella said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
Transfer targets31 Aug 2026
Everything agreed with Torino, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
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 Virtus Verona this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
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.
Squad31 Aug 2026
This league is too small for Iván Nadal
He is doing things on a Saturday afternoon that nobody around him can answer, which is flattering for about one season and a problem after that. Virtus Verona will not keep him by pretending otherwise.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
Marked 7.68 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, Virtus Verona had the best player on the pitch.
Squad31 Aug 2026
5 new faces, and Virtus Verona are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
In brief
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The dugout
The view from the dugout
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Looking ahead
A test against the best for Virtus Verona
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Market
Virtus Verona bring in an old head
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad24 Aug 2026
Rodrigo Pepe breaks a bone — 139 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 139 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Transfer targets24 Aug 2026
Arezzo wanted more than $3.4M and the board would not go there. Walked away, for now, which in a transfer window means until somebody blinks.
Transfer targets24 Aug 2026
Fee agreed, terms agreed, and a scan that said otherwise. He goes back to Salernitana; Virtus Verona go back to the market; and both will insist there is no story here.
Transfer targets24 Aug 2026
Virtus Verona have gone to Virtus Entella with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
Transfer targets24 Aug 2026
Everything agreed with Torino, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Ezequiel Bustamante and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Francesco Toffanin 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.
Squad24 Aug 2026
He is doing things on a Saturday afternoon that nobody around him can answer, which is flattering for about one season and a problem after that. Virtus Verona will not keep him by pretending otherwise.
Boardroom24 Aug 2026
Virtus Verona say no to the training-ground money
The plan went upstairs and came back down. Nothing about that will make a headline anywhere else, and everybody who works at the training ground will remember it for years.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad17 Aug 2026
146 days out for Rodrigo Pepe after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Virtus Verona will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
Virtus Verona have gone to Arezzo with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Ascoli have kept their man, and Virtus Verona go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
$77.0K on the table at Salernitana. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
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 Virtus Verona this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad17 Aug 2026
This league is too small for Rodrigo Pepe
He is doing things on a Saturday afternoon that nobody around him can answer, which is flattering for about one season and a problem after that. Virtus Verona will not keep him by pretending otherwise.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad10 Aug 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Francesco Toffanin and Virtus Verona agree another 4 years.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Nicola Patanè 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.
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
Salernitana wanted more than $82.0K and the board would not go there. Walked away, for now, which in a transfer window means until somebody blinks.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Words at Virtus Verona training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Manuel Daffara is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Market10 Aug 2026
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Riccardo Serra 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
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Gianluca Marini 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad3 Aug 2026
Sheikh Sibi has been here 10 seasons
175 appearances across 10 seasons in one shirt. Nobody builds a career like that on purpose any more; it happens to a certain kind of footballer at a certain kind of club.
Squad3 Aug 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Manuel Daffara and Virtus Verona agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Manuel Daffara and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Francesco Toffanin 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.
Market3 Aug 2026
“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.
Market3 Aug 2026
49 months and counting on Sheikh Sibi
Still no offer on the table, and Sheikh Sibi’s deal keeps shrinking. In boardroom language, silence this long stops being an oversight and starts being an answer.