Chelsea have added a third match to the preseason schedule, confirming a friendly against Austrian Bundesliga champions RB Salzburg on July 31, in Salzburg.
The Blues will travel to Austria this summer as part of our pre-season campaign! https://t.co/tFdhbTuh3P
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) May 24, 2019
It’s unclear if this is part of a larger training camp-type effort in the region, as Chelsea had done in both 2014 and 2016, or if it’s just a one-off engagement ten days before the start of the 2019-20 Premier League season on August 10. In both 2014 and 2016, Chelsea spent a week in Velden am Wörthersee, which is in the south, near the Slovenian border, while Salzburg is in the north, right on the German border, though distances aren’t too great in Austria.
Salzburg have been the dominant team in Austria since their acquisition by Red Bull in 2005, finishing in the top two every season since then and winning ten times, including the last six in a row.
They will be the third league champions Chelsea will face this summer after J-League champions Kawasaki Frontale and La Liga champions Barcelona, both in Japan.
The schedule so far for the summer is as follows:
July 19 vs. Kawasaki Frontale, in Yokohama, Japan
July 23 vs. FC Barcelona, in Saitama, Japan
July 31 vs. RB Salzburg, in Salzburg, Austria