Real Madrid kicks off pre-season with six first team players

The Italian Carlo Ancelotti scheduled the start of the preseason for this Monday, July 15or, 30 days before the official start of the season with the European Super Cup against Atalanta, which will mark the start of the second half of August with five matches.

A start to the preseason for which the coach will only have six first team players: Thibaut Courtois, Fran Garcia, Lucas Vazquez, Jesus Vallejo, Dani Ceballos and Brahim Diaz.

Lack of players to be replaced in the first training sessions with the Real Madrid Castilla playersthe first Madrid reserve team, and this is due to the fact that the white team had 14 internationals playing in the Euro Cup and Copa América.

What’s more, two of them – not counting Nacho Fernández and Joselu Mato, who left the white discipline this summer heading to Saudi Arabia and Qatar, respectively – like Dai Carvajal and Nacho Fernández who will face each other this Sunday in the Euro Cup final between Spain and England.

International players will be incorporated progressivelybased on their physical condition and the length of their participation with their respective national teams.

Although there are also two special cases. That of Austrian David Alaba, who is following his deadlines to recover from injury of a cruciate ligament injury in his left knee that he suffered last December, and that of the Brazilian Reinier, who returns to Valdebebas awaiting a new destination for him, in the form of a loan or transfer.

Among those cited to take part in training in the coming weeks are those who are, for the moment, the only two new faces for Real Madrid this season: Kylian Mbappé and Endrick.

The Frenchman will be presented in style at the Santiago Bernabéu on Tuesday from 12:00 CEST (2 GMT), on a day for which tickets are sold out and for which a galactic presentation is being prepared to welcome the new star of Real Madrid.

For his part, Endrick is waiting for his moment to be 100% a Real Madrid player.. And that day will come when I come of age, next July 21st. And days later, pending official confirmation, his presentation as a Real Madrid player will take place.

New Tour in the United States with the challenge of the classic

Real Madrid will once again play its pre-season friendlies in the United States. This time, there will be three preparation matches on the East Coast, for which he will travel on July 28.

The first meeting will be at the Soldier Field in Chicago vs. Milanin the early hours of August 1 at 3:30 a.m. CEST (CEST, -2 GMT). The second, against the FC Barcelona at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey at 1:00; same time as the last one, at the Bank Of America in Charlotte against Chelsea.

And of the three, one challenge remains: the classic. And it is that those of Carlo Ancelotti They have not beaten the blue and red team in any of their matches in the United States. In 2017, 2-3 for Barcelona; in 2022, 0-1; and in 2023, 3-0. Full of victories for Barcelona.

Testing in the United States and final fine-tuning in Madrid

After the last friendly match, Real Madrid will return to the capital of Spain to finalize details facing what could be the first title of the season for Ancelotti’s team: lthe European Super Cup that takes place in Warsaw (Poland) against Atalanta on August 14.

Just four days before they begin to defend their status as league champions, on Sunday 18th with the visit to Mallorca. And a week later, the first match at the Santiago Bernabéu, in which they aim to be the official debut of Mbappé and Endrick as Real Madrid players, with the visit of Valladolid.

This will be the first of three matches that Real Madrid will play in a week. On Thursday 19 August, visiting UD Las Palmas and on 1 September, hosting Real Betis, in the last match before the international break.

A busy August schedule for the League and Champions League champions who will begin preparing on Monday at 9:00 a.m. at the Ciudad Deportiva de Valdebebas.

EFE