Chelsea FC will travel east, but not too east, on a Austria-bound pre-season tour that will see Antonio Conte take charge of the Blues for the first time.
Far from the expansive globe-trotting trips to the Far East, Chelsea FC are kicking off the 2016/17 pre-season in continental fashion. The Blues will square off with Rapid Vienna and WAC RZ Pellets (AKA Wolfsberger) in a two-game tour that will initiate Antonio Conte as the new coach.
As announced on the official club website, Chelsea will play their first game of the Conte era in the still-being-constructed Allianz Stadion. Of course, it is expected that Rapid’s new home will be finished in time. They will then take on Wolfsberger at Worthersee Stadion.
"We will meet Rapid Vienna in the first game to take place at their new Allianz Stadion home on Saturday 16 July, in what will also be Antonio Conte’s first match in charge of the Blues. We then meet WAC RZ Pellets at the Worthersee Stadion."
While the fixtures themselves are not of particular interest, it is worth noting that Chelsea will play their first pre-season fixture a good week before the opening contest at the start of this campaign. This is despite the 2016/17 edition of the Premier League kicking off a week later as well.
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A lack of preparation was cited as one of the reasons for the club’s slow and sluggish start to this campaign and it seems as though the criticism has been taken on-board. With EURO 2016 culminating on July 10th, the Blues participating in the final will have only six days until their pre-season football begins.
As usual, one shouldn’t read too much into pre-season football, but eyes will inevitably be on the contest as it is Conte’s first at the helm of the club. It will also be interesting to see what transfer activity, if any, has occurred by that stage.
After this trip, the Blues will then go on their customary expansive tour. They will once again take part in the International Champions Cup and will be based in the United States.
Attention is already turning towards Conte and he will certainly have a busy summer. Should Italy go all the way in the summer, he will barely have time to crack open the champagne before being forced to immerse himself in the turmoil of the Blues.
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Here are the full details for the two games:
Rapid Vienna v Chelsea FC, July 16th, 17:00 BST, Allianz Stadion
WAC RZ Pellets v Chelsea FC, July 20th, 19:00 BST, Worthersee Stadion