News
JUE 28.07.2016
This Thursday morning saw Melbourne Zoo play host to Atletico Madrid, as the Rojiblancos received a warm welcome on their first day in Australia. No sooner had they touched down at Melbourne airport than an Atletico expedition, led by Fernando Torres and Saul Ñiguez, were en route to the city's zoo.
The LaLiga World programme has a strong track record of wowing its participants, and on this particular occasion it was Torres and Saul who revelled in the new experiences being offered up by LaLiga's international initiative. This trip marks both players' first visit to the southern Australian city and the chance to see some of the region's most characteristic animals at close quarters represented an unmissable once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Led on a tour by the zoo's staff, the Atletico pair were able to get up close and personal and even feed the kangaroos and koalas, who appeared to relish all of the media attention.
Following on from the trip to the zoo, Diego Simeone's charges stopped off for lunch before heading out to train at AAMI Park, where scores of fans had flocked to catch a glimpse of the LaLiga stars in action. The Rojiblancos were greeted by cool temperatures as they took to the training field for a session in which stretching exercises and finishing and possession drills took centre stage.
Prior to the session, the Argentine coach and club captain, Gabi spoke to the media. The central midfielder previewed Friday's International Champions Cup fixture against Tottenham in the following terms: "It'll be a competitive game and will be a big test for us, as we look to continue our progress. We'll be going out there to defend our club's colours, just as we always do." Meanwhile, Simeone offered an assessment of where his side are currently at in their pre-season preparations: "We've got to work hard during pre-season, get all of the player arrivals and departures done and dusted and then start to look at exploiting our strengths." Atletico are scheduled to have one further training session prior to facing Tottenham at Melbourne's MCG Stadium.
No time to rest!
— LaLiga (@LaLigaEN) July 28, 2016
Atletico arrive in and put straight to work: https://t.co/lezxStjV5I #LaLigaWorld pic.twitter.com/xWn0NvDI5q
© LALIGA - 2016