How A High LaLiga Crew Plans A Preseason Tour

The place the months of July and early August have been as soon as a time for native pleasant fixtures, it’s now widespread for soccer groups to jet set across the globe in the summertime months as European sides benefit from their schedule to go to the profitable Asian and American markets.

That change in method, with groups changing into more and more worldwide and looking for to benefit from their international markets within the preseason interval, has introduced with it each alternatives and prices.

There was no higher instance of that problem than the case of Atlético Madrid. The Spanish facet will compete within the UEFA
EFA
Champions League this season after ending third in LaLiga final season, lacking out on second place on the ultimate day, and have had a rigorous preseason marketing campaign.

After returning to coaching in early July on the workforce’s base in Majadahonda on the outskirts of Madrid, the workforce went on a conventional coaching camp in Los Ángeles de San Rafael in Spain. Following that, there was a journey to South Korea, the place the workforce performed two friendlies in Seoul, earlier than a change to Monterrey in Mexico after which San Francisco in america.

In complete, the journey took them 20,682 miles (33,285 kilometers) throughout the globe. It included three long-haul flights, from Spain to Korea, Korea to Mexico, and the US to Spain once more, in simply two weeks.

The membership’s imaginative and prescient

So far as the membership are involved, the tour has been successful. They’ve taken to social media to put up about “a visit world wide in 14 days”, whereas Okay-pop bands don the membership crest on their outfits at live shows and followers queue as much as welcome gamers in California.

“Once we think about the pre-season schedule, we all the time take into consideration putting a steadiness between three key elements: sporting preparation, monetary earnings and boosting our picture at worldwide stage,” president Miguel Ángel Gil Marín instructed the membership web site in an interview.

“The primary workforce must have two preliminary weeks of demanding sporting preparation between Madrid and Los Ángeles de San Rafael, complemented by one other two weeks wherein to mix coaching with 4 matches towards prime stage opposition.

“Together with this sporting planning, we even have to consider producing an financial earnings, which is important for our price range.

“And eventually, we search to strengthen our presence at worldwide stage, as soccer is the good international mass sport, and Atlético de Madrid can not resign this globality if we wish to proceed competing with the remainder of the essential golf equipment in world soccer.”

The political message was one which repeated an analogous message to 1 which appeared in Spanish media concerning the monetary significance of the journey. “15% of Atlético Madrid’s e-commerce is within the US. It is a brutal market that we won’t afford to not be in,” an Atleti government instructed Relevo anonymously.

“You must go the place your followers are. If you happen to add to the 130 million Mexicans the greater than 50 million who reside within the US, it is clear that we’ve to have a presence wherever we will,” the supply continued. “This isn’t a industrial tour, we’re very conscious of the sporting necessities, however we won’t afford to not be right here.”

A coach’s frustration

Nonetheless, it couldn’t have been a starker distinction to the phrases of the membership’s coach. Diego Simeone has been with the membership for over a decade and has seen the membership develop exponentially, establishing themselves as one among Spain’s greatest soccer forces.

With that has come drawbacks for the coach, who isn’t one to talk out towards his membership’s technique and sought to keep away from doing so once more on this case, whereas his phrases nonetheless despatched dwelling a transparent grievance.

“I do not suppose the preseason will finish at present,” Simeone defined when requested his views on the workforce’s tour after their last preseason pleasant towards Sevilla. “The league is beginning, however we have to preserve coaching. We skilled little or no, the truth is that, as a result of we did not even have time to coach as a result of there isn’t a option to get well the gamers with the flights.”

The coach underlined that “it is very important play” but in addition pointed to “numerous touring, numerous fatigue” earlier than finalizing by saying that “now we return to Madrid and relaxation a bit”.

Atlético get pleasure from being one of many final groups to kick off their 2023/24 marketing campaign, towards Granada on the Estadio Cívitas Metropolitano on Monday, August 14th. That further 72 hours of relaxation in comparison with a few of their rivals can be wanted after spending virtually two full days on planes main as much as the large occasion.