Beginning their build-up to the Championship season ahead, Middlesbrough meet Vitoria de Guimaraes on Saturday in Vila Real de Santo Antonio.
Boro are in Portugal for a week's warm weather training, which will finish with a behind-closed-doors training match.
Match preview
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After narrowly missing out on the Championship playoffs last term, when they ultimately finished eighth in England's second tier, Middlesbrough are aiming to push for promotion in the upcoming 2024-25 campaign.
A training camp in the Algarve is their base for the early phase of preparing for the long slog ahead, and manager Michael Carrick will be keen to start building on last season's successes.
In addition to coming up just short in their pursuit of a top-six finish, Boro went all the way to the EFL Cup semi-finals, where they were clinically dispatched by Chelsea.
Delano Burgzorg, Aidan Morris and former loanee Luke Ayling have arrived in the North East, bolstering Carrick's squad, and all three will be involved in several warm-up matches before Middlesbrough meet Heerenveen in their final friendly early next month.
They then kick off a fresh league campaign at home to Swansea City, four days ahead of travelling to Elland Road for an EFL Cup first round tie versus Leeds United.
First, though, Boro aim to boost their match-fitness following the summer break, having their first run-out of pre-season against Portuguese opponents.
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Vitoria de Guimaraes only saw their bid for a place in the Europa League ended on the penultimate weekend of the 2023-24 Primera Liga season, suffering a 3-2 defeat to direct rivals Braga.
Winning more than half of their matches had put them in contention, and a Taca de Portugal run was only halted by Porto in the semi-finals - but despite that disappointment, they can be confident of another positive year ahead.
Vitoria have already beaten Trofense and Farense in their first two games since reconvening, and - like Middlesbrough - are now wrapping up an Algarve training camp with Saturday's friendly.
Os Conquistadores are led by head coach Rui Borges, brought in from Moreirense to replace departing boss Alvaro Pacheco, who has already been sacked by new club Vasco da Gama.
Borges will certainly hope to last a little longer than that in Guimaraes and make progress in continental competition: Vitoria's UEFA Conference League journey begins in the qualifiers later this month.
Team News
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Despite being in the very early stages of preparing for the new season, Michael Carrick has taken his full first-team squad to Portugal, including injury absentees Darragh Lenihan and Marcus Forss, who will both work on their individual rehab programmes.
New signings Delano Burgzorg and Aidan Morris should be present on Saturday, when several fringe players will be offered minutes to build their fitness.
Meanwhile, Vitoria will have Nuno Santos at their disposal: the midfielder missed their final league game of last season through suspension but scored in a 70-minute practice match against Portimonense earlier this week.
Croatian defender Toni Borevkovic also found the net on Wednesday morning and should also feature; however, Spanish striker Adrian Butzke has been struggling with a foot sprain and may miss out again.
Vitoria de Guimaraes possible starting lineup:
Varela; Alberto, Fernandes, Borevkovic; Mendes, Handel, Silva, Santos, Cesar; Oliveira, Ramirez
Middlesbrough possible starting lineup:
Dieng; Ayling, Clarke, Van den Berg, Bangura; Howson, McCabe; Jones, Gilbert, Azaz; Latte Lath
We say: Vitoria de Guimaraes 2-1 Middlesbrough
As Vitoria have the advantage of several warm-ups under their belt already, the Primera Liga side should get the better of a Boro squad focusing more on fitness than earning a positive result.
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Jonathan O'Shea
