Athletic Club is preparing for the season in Lezama

Athletic Club decided to carry out pre-season preparations in Lezama, which is a continuation of the strategy of the last three seasons when Ernesto Valverde was coach. Despite some doubts related to the arrival of new coach Edin Terzic, the club decided to stay in Lezama. New coaches often prefer to take the team to camps outside the city to help integrate the team. This is the strategy that Pellegrino Matarazzo intends to employ in his first phase of preparation with Real Sociedad after taking over midway through last season. However, the German coach chose a different option.  Long training camps used to be standard, but now they are shorter to avoid overloading players and staff. An example is Real Sociedad, which will spend time in camp only from July 24 to 29, playing two friendly matches. Lezama offers everything needed to conduct an effective training camp, which was visible in the 2023/24 and 2024/25 seasons when the team achieved good results. An additional advantage is the opportunity to be close to their families, which allows the players to be better mentally prepared before the season, which will start in mid-August.