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With the Ligue 1 fixtures to be announced on Friday, the shape of Les Aiglons’ summer is now known.  

After a first group of players return to training from 24 June, the rest of the squad will resume training on 1 July. 

Two trips will start and finish the six weeks of pre-season before the league campaign gets underway on the weekend of 9-11 August. The first will take place in Divonne-les-Bains (from 6 to 13 July) and the second in England (from 26 July to 3 August) at St George’s Park, the home of the England National side.

Seven friendlies are on the cards, with six of the opponents already known. 

Here is the schedule:

7 July: Nice – PSV Eindhoven (in Vevey) 

Like last year, Le Gym will begin their stay in L’Ain with a friendly. And the first outing for the squad will see them face one of Europe’s heavyweights: PSV Eindhoven, runners-up from last season’s Dutch league. The match, which forms part of the Alps Football Festival, will take place on Sunday 7 July at 5pm at the Stade Vevey.

13 July: Nice – FC Thoune (in Divonne)

To bring their first pre-season trip to a close, Les Azuréens will face FC Thoune at the Stade Municipal in Divonne on Saturday 13 July at 5pm. It’s worth noting that the Swiss side, who finished fourth in last year’s Super League and qualified for the Q3 of the Europa League, will start their competitive campaign the week before this encounter. 

21 July: Standard de Liège – Nice (in Liège)

One week after facing the Swiss, Le Gym will head to Belgium to take on Standard de Liège, Dante’s former club, and the side that finished in third in the Belgian league last season, with Europa League qualification already in the bag. Kick-off will take place at 3pm in a day dedicated to the fans of the club.

24 July (opposition still to be determined)

27 July: Cardiff – Nice (in Cardiff)

On Saturday 27 July, Les Azuréens will enter the second part of their pre-season preparation. Their trip to England will get underway at 3pm (local time) against Cardiff City, who were relegated from the Premier League into the Championship (English Second Division) at the end of the 2018-19 Premier League. The Bluebirds will start their league campaign on 3 August. The match will take place at the Cardiff City Stadium.

30 July: Burnley – Nice (in Burnley)

Les Aiglons’ stay across the channel will continue with a friendly against Burnley at Turf Moor with kick-off at 7.45pm (local time), three days after the match against The Bluebirds. Burnley finished in 15th place in the Premier League last season, and will start their league campaign on 10 August.

3 August: Leicester – Nice (in England)

Pre-season will come to a close with an exciting match between Leicester – Nice. A solid ninth placed finish for The Foxes in the Premier League, who have both Ricardo Pereira and Papy Mendy in their squad. The match will take place on Saturday 3 August, one week before the start of L1 and the Premier League

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