The start of a new season: from Trigoria to Portugal, Mourinho wastes no time

Roma's preparation in Portugal begins today. Mourinho, after a week's retreat in Trigoria, was only able to train the second lines, as the national team players just rejoined the squad yesterday (there are, however, some exceptions, such as Spinazzola and Zalewski, who decided to cut their vacation short to train with the “Special One” earlier at the Fulvio Bernardini). The Giallorossi will train until the 23rd, the day of the last friendly test at the Estádio Municipal de Albufeira, a resort in the heart of the Algarve.

In the same stadium, on July 13, the second friendly of the season for Roma will take place (the first one was in Trastevere behind closed doors last Saturday, which ended 5-0 with goals from Smalling, Shomurodov, El Shaarawy and Volpato's brace), against Sunderland, a team from the English second division, at 11 a.m. (local time, in Italy it will be broadcast  at 12 p.m.). Three days later Abraham and his teammates will face Portimonense, a Portuguese first division club, again at the Estadio Municipal, but this time at 7 p.m. (8 p.m. Italian time). Roma's schedule, however, is tight, with no real rest days; Mourinho wants to train the team with a fast pace to match that of the upcoming season, which will very often see three close engagements played in seven days.

On July 19, Roma will face their third test against Sporting Clube de Portugal at the Estadio Algarve in Faro. The match, the toughest challenge so far, is scheduled for 8 p.m. (9 p.m. Italian time). Concluding the training camp in Portugal, there will be the July 23 match against Nice, a French first division team (and former Justin Kluivert's, if he is still part of the Giallorossi squad by that date). The match will again be played at the Estádio Municipal de Albufeira, at 7 p.m. (8 p.m. Italian time). They are scheduled to return to Italy on the 24th, where Mourinho will most likely give the players a couple of days off before they get back to work in Trigoria. However, at the Centro Sportivo Fulvio Bernardini, they will stay for only a few days because on the 29th they will fly to Israel to play against Tottenham at the Sammy Ofer Stadium for the I-Tech Cup the next day. As early as the 31st, however, Roma could return to Italy. It has not yet been decided whether there will be another friendly before the Serie A opener against Salernitana on August 14.