Arturo Vidal is now leading from the back as Colo-Colo close in on Tano Ortiz’s first title as a manager
When Arturo Vidal returned to Chilean giants Colo-Colo in 2024, he arrived like a king returning from a long campaign abroad.
The Chilean returned to his youth club by helicopter, landing in front of 35,000 supporters at Estadio Monumental in Santiago after nearly two decades away from Chilean football. Vidal had spent those years becoming one of the greatest midfielders of his generation, moving from Colo-Colo to some of the biggest clubs in Europe: Bayer Leverkusen, Juventus, Bayern Munich, FC Barcelona and Inter Milan before a later stint in Brazil.
He won a trophy case full of league titles across Europe. He won two Copa América titles with Chile, leading a “golden generation” alongside Alexis Sanchez and Claudio Bravo. He notched more than 140 appearances for his country and became known in Italy as “La Piranha,” a reflection of the aggression and fierceness that defined his game. Now, at 39, Arturo Vidal is still leading Colo-Colo. He is just doing it from the back.
Colo-Colo Was Champion in 2024, but Endured Disappointment in 2025
Arturo Vidal returned to Colo-Colo not simply to retire, he wanted to play a key role for the team. His first season back ended with another league title after he scored the winning goal. Vidal was named to the 2024 Primera División Team of the Season as a midfielder, adding another individual honor to a career that had already included three Copa América Team of the Tournament selections. But Colo-Colo’s 2025 campaign was a different story. They finished eighth in the league and endured a disastrous Copa Libertadores group stage, collecting only five points from six matches behind Racing Club, Fortaleza and Atlético Bucaramanga.
The club needed a reset. So did Vidal.
By the time Argentine, Fernando “Tano” Ortiz, arrived as manager in August 2025, the question was no longer whether Vidal could reproduce the player who had dominated midfield in Europe. It was whether the player who had returned home could find another way to lead despite the physical limits of age.
Ortiz understood that problem particularly well. The Argentine had spent his own playing career as a center-back before moving into management, eventually building a reputation in Mexico with Club América and Monterrey before a difficult spell at Santos Laguna. At both América and Monterrey he had been expected to win immediately in Liga MX with an expensive squad of veteran players; at Santos, he inherited a club operating with considerably fewer resources, his time in Mexico can’t be considered a success given the lack of trophies. Colo-Colo offered him another chance and the supporters of Chile’s largest club asked him to restore a giant that had lost its way.
Tano Ortiz and Vidal Had to Settle Their Differences
The relationship between Ortiz and the club captain Vidal was not immediately strong. The tension between the two became public during the preseason. RedGol and La Tercera reported how Ortiz’s relationship with his captain had become strained enough that a face-to-face meeting was needed.
Vidal later explained to TNT Sports Chile that difficult conversations had actually helped bring the entire team together.
“There were no problems, we did talk about it face to face,” Vidal said. The relationship improved, and eventually Ortiz encouraged Vidal to become the team’s starting center-back. That decision has helped transform both player and team. Ortiz told TNT Sports Chile a few months ago that he had a “private conversation” with Vidal that changed the course of their relationship.
The Key Midfielder Became the Man at the Back
Ortiz opted to play Vidal as a “libero” or sweeper CB. Speaking to the media after a 2-0 win, Ortiz said as reported by EMOL.
“not only does Vidal defend, but the whole team does it. He makes the difficult easy, in a position where he doesn’t hesitate to get a ball out of our area, and that is given to you by a player of that hierarchy and quality”.
It makes sense when looking at what made Vidal special in the first place. He was never simply a midfielder who wanted the ball at his feet. He read danger, attacked passing lanes, tackled aggressively and understood where the next phase of the game was going before it happened. He was never afraid to do the hard work defensively.
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At center-back, those qualities remain. The difference is that instead of starting 40 yards from his own goal and charging forward, Vidal can see the entire game in front of him. He can step into midfield when necessary, break up attacks and use his experience to organize the players around him. As the club captain, Vidal still has a license to roam forward.
The numbers make it clear Ortiz tactical experiment, playing three men at the back, with Vidal at CB, has worked.
Vidal has been one of Colo-Colo’s most active defenders this season, leading the club in tackles and interceptions per 90 minutes according to FotMob. The CIES Football Observatory also ranked him as the highest-rated center-back in South America in 2026.
Colo-Colo are winning the Liga de Primera Mercado Libre, and chasing the Copa Chile. After 23 matches, they have 54 points from a 17-3-3 record, 12 points clear of both Universidad Católica and Universidad de Chile. They have scored 48 goals, but it is their defense that has helped create such a commanding position, with only 22 goals conceded. There are just seven games remaining in Colo-Colo’s league season this year.
Argentine Javier Correa has supplied the most goals. Vidal has helped make sure they stay ahead and kept them disciplined. Tano Ortiz is now on the verge of his first title as a manager, and he’s done it while integrating more youth players into Colo-Colo’s first team, and encouraging the team to play with controlled tempo in a 3-4-2-1.
Ortiz said in that same interview with TNT Sports Chile: “What Arturo gives you at the national and I believe at the international level, very few players can give you… the experience he has and the maturity he can give to the young players”
Extra Time Notes
Tano Ortiz has helped renew the form of Colo-Colo’s leader. Ortiz was a center-back who became a manager. Vidal was a midfielder who became a center-back. Both spent their careers learning how to understand the game from different angles, and together they have helped Colo-Colo improve massively this season and place them on the verge of another title.
Arturo Vidal’s renaissance is more interesting than simply an aging star continuing to play for the club that will always embrace him. His international career is over, but his career at Colo-Colo has found a new purpose.
At 39, Arturo Vidal is still the most recognizable player in Chilean football and now the leader of a great defensive team.
Arturo Vidal’s contract expires in December, and if Colo-Colo finish their title charge, they will return to the Copa Libertadores in 2027. Whether Vidal will be there remains uncertain.
For now, though, the helicopter that brought him home in 2024 feels like the beginning of a different chapter rather than the final act of an extraordinary career.
Arturo Vidal spent his prime running through midfield. Now, at 39, he is bossing the game from the back. And Tano Ortiz has found a way to make sure the King keeps his crown.
Main Photo Credit: Imago Images/Photosport
