Celtic are making their way to Portugal for a week-long training camp in the Algarve, ramping up pre-season preparations after last week’s return to Lennoxtown.
The international stars at the Bhoys, who represented their countries in matches during June, were given extra time off this summer compared to the rest of the squad but they’ll again be a part of the contingent making the trip to southern Europe.
Celtic will be situated at ‘The Campus’ in Quinta do Lago which is described as a “state-of-the-art performance and innovation environment enjoyed by athletes, teams and sports enthusiasts of all ages and abilities” by its official website.
They continue: “With a stadium-quality pitch, high-performance gym, recovery pools, changing rooms, studios, bike shed, aquatic centre and tennis courts, The Campus is a private and secure facility in the resort’s natural setting, professional teams and athletes are able to train, work, rehabilitate and relax in a private and exclusive environment.”
The centre has been used by elite teams in different sports before, including Paris Saint-Germain, the Irish rugby team and the Bhoys themselves.
It’s here that Celtic will play two training ground friendlies against Portimonense. The first comes on Wednesday at 5pm, before a second game on Saturday morning at 11am.
Portimonense play in the Portuguese top flight after avoiding relegation last season, so it’ll be a good early test for the Bhoys to build fitness and match sharpness ahead of a big trip to Japan.
Neither match is expected to be shown live on any channel, even Celtic TV, similar to the winter training camp at the same venue under Ange Postecoglou late last year.
However, the club channel is sure to be providing fans with regular content and interviews from the camp, in line with pre-season trips over the last few years. We will hopefully be hearing from the Bhoys plenty.
The entire squad will then return to Glasgow before sharply flying off to Japan for the games against Yokohama F.Marinos and Gamba Osaka, beginning on Wednesday 19th July.
In other news, Joe Hart’s revealing first impressions of Brendan Rodgers; what was said inside Celtic this week.
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