​Celtic touched down in Portugal last Wednesday, July 8, for a warm-weather training camp as the Hoops intensify their preparations for the season ahead. With a friendly against Shelbourne already in the bank, Martin O’Neill’s side face a stern test against Sporting CP at the Estadio Algarve this Tuesday, July 14, kicking off at 5:30pm. The match follows an demanding training schedule for the Bhoys as they push toward peak fitness.
Pre-season is now fully underway for the champions, and CelticPlayer sat down with Assistant Manager Shaun Maloney at the team’s training base in Portugal to gain an inside look at how the camp is unfolding so far. Maloney said: “It’s been good. For the players, I imagine it’s been quite challenging. We’ve run a lot of sessions now.” He added that the squad is composed of several distinct groups, including a number of senior first-team players, many from the B-team, and several players returning from loan spells. “Some of the young players, it’s the first time they’ve spent extended periods with us, so it’s been good to see how they’ve settled in.”
“We’ve run a lot of double sessions, even before we came to Ireland. That’s fairly typical with pre-season,” Maloney explained. “But it’s tougher for the younger lads. They’ve only had one pre-season in their careers, which was last year when they were 16. So they’re facing a higher level of intensity and a greater demands in the tempo of play.”
Maloney’s full interview is available to CelticPlayer Premium members, offering an exclusive insight into the camp so far. The session covers how the younger players have handled training in Portugal, why Maloney chose coaching as a career, the various components of the football department, and the character the squad has shown in their bid to win silverware. Subscribe to CelticPlayer to watch the full piece, including discussions on pre-season progress, tactical development, and the mental and physical challenges of preparing to defend their Double triumph. Sporting CP versus Celtic is scheduled for Tuesday, July 14, 2026, at 17:30.