Real Madrid handed boost as 3 first-team stars set to return for pre-season Clasico against Barcelona - Reports
According to Jorge C. Picon, Real Madrid's Brazilian trio, Eder Militao, Vinicius Junior, and Rodrygo, are set to return to the team for the pre-season clash against Barcelona on August 3. Los Blancos are set to play three pre-season matches in the US: AC Milan (July 31), Barca (August 3), and Chelsea (August 6). Vinicius, Rodrygo, and Militao are set to join the team's training camp in Chicago soon.
All three players were part of the Brazil squad that was knocked out of the Copa America 2024 quarter-finals. While the trio will join the squad, the management will make a thorough assessment of their fitness. They could get some minutes against Barcelona in the pre-season El Clasico.
Players like Kylian Mbappe, Dani Carvajal, Aurelien Tchouameni, Eduardo Camavinga, and Fede Valverde, though, are not part of the pre-season squad. They reached the deep ends of the Euro 2024 and Copa America 2024 competitions.
All the aforementioned players will only join the club's training once Real Madrid return to Madrid following their friendly against Chelsea on August 6.
Barcelona striker Robert Lewandowski weighs in on Kylian Mbappe's Real Madrid transfer
Barcelona striker Robert Lewandowski weighed in on Kylian Mbappe's move to Real Madrid. Los Blancos won three trophies last season: La Liga, UEFA Champions League, and Supercopa de Espana, and they look to build on their success.
To that, they have added one of the best players in the world, Mbappe. Lewandowski, though, is only fuelling his motivation, as the Pole said (via Barca Universal on X):
"I'm not sure that Mbappe is a striker like me. He plays in a different position and has a different style of football. For us it is a new motivation, a new season."
Mbappe is not an out-and-out striker like Lewandowski. His goalscoring prowess, though, can't be underestimated. The Frenchman became PSG's all-time top scorer during his stint with the Parisian club.