KOMPANY REVIEWS EUROPEAN PRE-SEASON TRIP

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Clarets boss discusses the past week and looks ahead to Betis friendly

2023-07-28T10:30:00.000Z

KOMPANY REVIEWS EUROPEAN PRE-SEASON TRIP

Clarets boss discusses the past week and looks ahead to Betis friendly

2023-07-28T10:30:00.000Z

Clarets boss discusses the past week and looks ahead to Betis friendly

Manager Vincent Kompany says the pre-season trip in Belgium, Portugal and Spain has been a useful marker to see where his side are at ahead of the Premier League opener against Manchester City in two weeks.

The Clarets faced Genk in Belgium last weekend, before beating Benfica in Portugal on Tuesday night with the final friendly of the trip taking place on Friday night against Real Betis in Huelva.

Before the season opener at Turf Moor, Kompany's side will have played a side from the top tiers of Belgium, Portugal, Spain and Germany after next weekend's friendly with Mainz and the Burnley chief believes his side can benefit from the games as well as gaining fitness levels.

The Burnley boss said: “When you play against teams from the top six in European leagues it gives you good reference points as to where you are. It’s not something that defines the season at all and It gives us a chance to measure ourselves.

“We lasted well against Genk who are at a good level and the same against Benfica, eventually you get into your season fitness and that’s what we’re still aiming for.

“I don’t think we’ll focus on too much other than fitness and making sure the new lads blend in and understand what we do and that’s still the priority.

“We know at the start to make sure these lads are fully prepared and that’s the biggest challenge we have.

"We need to make sure we don’t have any gaps in the team and that the team is one team all the time in every phase when we are out there.”

KOMPANY REVIEWS EUROPEAN PRE-SEASON TRIP - Image 1

The Clarets conclude their week-long trip on Friday evening in Spain taking on La Liga side Betis which will see Kompany reunite with his former Man City boss Manuel Pellegrini on the touchline.