Atletico Madrid have announced their schedule for the upcoming pre-season.
Starting this Sunday on the 10th of July in Madrid, Diego Simeone will put the team through their paces for two weeks in their traditional Los Angeles de San Rafael in Segovia from the following day. Although they don’t do their pre-season there every season, it will mark the 50th year since they began the tradition of setting up base the Guadarrama Sierra.
Their first fixture will then take place against Numancia in Soria at 19:00 CEST, before travelling to Oslo. In Norway, Atleti will face Manchester United on the 30th of July at 13:45 CEST. Their final pre-season fixture is against Cadiz at the Nuevo Mirandilla at 21:00 CEST on the 4th of August. That gives them a full 11 days before their first league game on the 15th of August against Getafe.
The relatively few fixtures in the pre-season suggest that Simeone is keen to work on the training ground as opposed to prioritising match fitness ahead of their first league match. With the World Cup looming in November, reducing the travel and games may also benefit Atleti.