Antoine Griezmann was among Diego Simeone's Atletico Madrid players left wincing after a brutal training session in Spain known as 'Murder Hill'.
Simeone's side are currently preparing for their 2022/23 La Liga campaign that will also see them compete in the Champions League for a tenth consecutive season, having reached the quarter-finals last time before getting knocked out by Manchester City.
Pictures from Atletico's training camp have emerged where Simeone has been putting his players through an exhausting cardio session called 'Murder Hill'. And it has seemingly got the better of Griezmann and new summer signing Axel Witsel. During the gruelling training session, the former was filmed trudging down the hill and wincing as he attempted to catch his breath, with his teammates following shortly behind him.
A session devised by the club's fitness coach Oscar Ortega, according to the Daily Mail, the players are required to sprint up a 50-metre hill that had a 30 per cent incline behind the club's training pitch.
The report claims that Ortega himself built the in order to get Atletico's players up to speed for their 2022/23 campaign, which starts officially on Monday, August 15 away at Getafe.
Atletico are not the only club this pre-season to put their players through their paces, with Tottenham boss Antonio Conte recently getting the better of both captain Harry Kane and Son Heung-Min in 30c degree heat in South Korea.
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But it didn't prove to be too damaging for Spurs' top two scorers last season, Kane and Son as both men got on the scoresheet twice in the second half of Wednesday's 6-3 friendly victory over Team K League.
Both men came off the bench in the nine-goal thriller with Kane netting a free-kick and Eric Dier also getting on the scoresheet. Club-record signing Richarlison also made his debut in the game.
Atletico only have three pre-season matches planned, all of which are away from home. They face Numancia on July 27, before heading to Norway to face Newcastle United three days later.
Simeone's side will conclude their pre-season on August 4 in the Ramon de Carranza Trophy against Cadiz.
