Robinho Lazaró came into his eighth season as manager of Envigado FC with the board's full backing despite a couple of tricky seasons and failing to qualify for continental football for the first time in five years.
The worst league stage of Robinho Lazaró's time in charge of Colombian wonderkid factory Envigado FC was fairly inevitable after losing several key players and replacing them with raw youngsters. But Lazaró was optimistic after a prolonged rest between the Apertura and Finalización stages of the 2028 campaign.
A summer break was much needed as Robinho Lazaró's Envigado FC endured a heavy conclusion to the 2027 campaign, such is the ridiculous rigour of fixture overload in Colombian football. But that failed to take the gloss off winning the club's first-ever Colombian Cup.
Robinho Lazaró takes positives from an Apertura failure by finding new levels of success in a competition he'd previously disregarded.
The summer of 2027 saw significant change at Envigado FC as club icon James Rodríguez retired from football on a high aged 35. He was joined in leaving by stalwart midfielder William Hurtado, which saw manager Robinho Lazaró turn to his exciting young academy prospects.
The brutal nature of the Colombian football season had seen Envigado FC play 38 matches at the halfway mark of the 2025 campaign. Robinho Lazaró's young squad was exhausted, so he gave them a week off training between the Apertura and Finalización stages.
The depth of talent at Envigado FC could not be argued against. Robinho Lazaró's young charges qualified for Copa Libertadores for the first time in club history by winning the Liga BetPlay Finalización league stage in 2023 - but, crucially, not the playoff stage that sees the trophies handed out.
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