As Celtic’s Portuguese pre-season training camp draws to a close, manager Brendan Rodgers says that it has been a hugely positive week for the Bhoys. The Celts arrived in Portugal after winning the Cork Super Cup early last week, and have been put through their paces in the Lisbon heat at the Portuguese national team’s training centre. And speaking to Celtic TV, Brendan reflected on the positives of the team’s time in Portugal ahead of the Hoops’ match against Sporting CP in the Algarve tonight. “It’s been an excellent trip for us,” he said. “It seems like a long time ago since we were in Cork, but coming out to here, it’s been a pleasure to get a lot of good work in. “What’s very important is the camaraderie and the spirit that you create when you’re away on pre-season tours. ‘This has been everything that we’ve wanted, and we want to finish off with another really good game.’ “It’s always about timing. You’re pushing the players to their very maximum. “Physically the guys are improving. I think we still have a way to go, but there’s absolutely no doubt before that physical and mental sharpness is there within our game. “These early moments of pre-season, they’re all about the tests, physically and mentally and the guys are coping really well.”As well as training at the wonderful Cidade do Futebol, Celtic also had the chance to visit Benfica’s training campus, another state-of-the-art venue, when they faced Estrela da Amadora on Saturday. The Bhoys also visited the Estádio Nacional, the scene of Celtic’s historic European Cup win in 1967, and speaking about what will stick with him most from the Portuguese training camp, Brendan Rodgers explained the importance of the on-field and off-field work. He said: “The facilities have been excellent. We’ve shown the players that we want to bring them to top-quality facilities and that has been really good. “The game against Estrela the other day, of course we want to win every single game that we play but getting the players the minutes in their legs and getting young players game-time was important. ‘Then the connection with the Estádio Nacional on Monday. That was a really poignant moment, I felt, for us to take the players to the place where real history was created.’ “It’s a symbol for the guys of what they have to live up to and what they have to work towards every single day. “So I’m really pleased with the on-field application, and off the field, the bonding socially has been really good and people are connecting well.”Celtic kick-off against Portuguese champions, Sporting CP, at 19:30 this evening (Wednesday, July 16) and, ahead of that match, the Celtic manager spoke to Celtic TV about the benefits of playing against a team of Sporting’s quality. He added: “It’s what your pre-season is about. You build and construct your games so that the tests become even more difficult as you go through. “Sporting are an outstanding team but we’ll approach these games like we have over the last few seasons. “They’re like Champions League and European games for us so there’ll be little adaptations to our system, but also with the intent to be really proactive in the game. “The players are building their fitness so we want to see them take that in to the game. It’ll be a really good test for us.” You can watch Brendan Rodgers’ full interview on Celtic TV now SUBSCRIBE TO CELTIC TVFixturesSporting Clube de Portugal Vs. Celtic – Wed, Jul 16th 2025, 19:30
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