Los Blancos will be bidding to secure their third La Liga title
in a row next season and plan to prepare with a vigorous schedule
that will include a training camp and an array of high-profile
friendly matches, while the Spanish Super Cup will also be
contested in pre-season.
Eight Madrid players, including Iker Casillas and Sergio Ramos of
Spain will represent their nations at Euro 2008, while the majority
of their Madridista team-mates recently kicked off a hard-earned
holiday.
Training Camp
Players will be asked to report for pre-season on July 14, where
the squad will meet up for five days of team-building in Portugal's
Algarve. Then, for the fifth year in succession Madrid will return
to Irdning in Austria for the most strenuous part of their
pre-season campaign, which will see ten days (21-31 July) of a
strict training regime.
High-Profile Friendlies
Following their return from Austria, the team will fly straight to
London for the Emirates Cup event held by Arsenal at the Emirates
Stadium. This year's event is expected to excite due to
high-profile participants such Juventus and
Hamburg.
Los Merengues will then return to the Spanish capital before flying
to Colombia to play Independiente Santa Fe on
August 7 in Bogota. Following that clash the players return home
until 10 August, when they again leave Madrid for Germany.
Before the Spanish Super Cup, Madrid are scheduled to visit
Eintracht Frankfurt on August 12 at the
Commerzbank-Arena in what will be a rematch of the fifth European
Cup title won by the Madridistas in 1960. During the last two weeks
leading up to the start of La Liga, Real face Copa Del Rey winners
Valencia for the first title of the season in the
Supercopa.
The final test of the pre-season will be battled out for Santiago
Bernabéu Trophy played at the Bernabéu August 27. This year's
tribute to the great Real Madrid President will be played against
Sporting Lisbon, who celebrated their centenary
last season.