Four months after becoming the 2022-23 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague champion, the Real Madrid players took part in their first day of training camp on Tuesday. Los Blancos have Edy Tavares (Cape Verde), Guerschon Yabusele (France) and Spanish duo Sergio Llull and Rudy Fernandez away at the 2023 FIBA World Cup, but the rest of the squad were put through their paces by head coach Chus Mateo.
Reigning EuroLeague champion Real Madrid returns for training camp
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It is going to be hard to match last season's accomplishment of becoming EuroLeague champion for the 11th time in its history, but that is the task facing Real heading into the new campaign. Luckily for Coach Mateo, he has one major reinforcement as Real looks to defend its EuroLeague crown: Facu Campazzo. The Argentine, who twice lifted the EuroLeague during his first spell with Los Blancos, has returned to the Spanish capital after spending the last three years in the NBA and with fellow EuroLeague side Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet Belgrade.
The Real squad did some running drills outside on the grass pitches at Valdebebas, before heading inside to do different activities in the gym. After that, the players got some shots up on the court and took part in several workouts with the coaches.
Real Madrid's preseason schedule
Real currently has five games that it is set to play in preseason, starting with a friendly against Bilbao Basket in Pamplona on September 2. One week later, Coach Mateo's squad heads down to the south of Spain to take part in the Torneo Costa del Sol, where it will come up against Pablo Laso's FC Bayern Munich on September 9. One day later, on September 10, Real takes on Unicaja Malaga in the same tournament.
The first trophy of the season is up for grabs on September 16 when Real faces FC Barcelona in the semifinals of the Spanish Super Cup in Murcia. Should the EuroLeague champion defeat its archrival, it will face either Murcia or Unicaja in the Spanish Super Cup final on September 17. Real begins its EuroLeague campaign on the road at Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz on October 6.