Old Firm Facts
 

Celtic have recently returned from a trip to Dubai, but where did Britain’s top clubs spend their time training?

Photo by Stuart MacFarlane/Arsenal FC via Getty Images

Elite football can take its toll on even the fittest of players.

Wear and tear can affect performance over the course of a gruelling season, and so it’s no wonder clubs look forward to a winter break.

It’s a chance to recharge the batteries, and to enjoy a bit of sunshine in the midst of a cold winter.

From Arsenal to Tottenham Hotspur, here’s where Britain’s top clubs have been training this winter.

Scott Brown and an emotional Celtic farewell

ARSENAL

Mikel Arteta’s men trained in London, because there’s a pandemic.

CHELSEA

Frank Lampard conquered Europe as a player, but his side remained in London due to the pandemic.

Photo by Darren Walsh/Chelsea FC via Getty Images

LEICESTER

Brendan Rodgers might be remembered by Celtic fans for a controversial departure, but he managed not to depart the country with his players and backroom staff at the height of a pandemic.

MANCHESTER UNITED

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and his men spent a few days in Marbella. Last year, before Britain was involved in a pandemic.

MANCHESTER CITY

If there wasn’t a pandemic going on, Pep Guardiola might have taken his team abroad. But there is, so he didn’t.

LIVERPOOL

In a football landscape dominated by media-trained professionals who allow little of their personality to emerge during interviews, Jurgen Klopp provides a refreshing contrast with his eccentricity.

He’s not eccentric enough to fly an entire squad plus backroom staff out to the middle east during a pandemic though.

RANGERS

Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images

Steven Gerrard’s side are yet to lose a match in this season’s Scottish Premiership, and the decision to remain at home rather than flying out for a training camp during a pandemic proves they haven’t lost their minds either.

TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR

Jose Mourinho’s side were the stars of an Amazon Prime documentary called ‘Tottenham Hotspur: All or Nothing’.

Nothing is what was on Spurs’ winter break itinerary, as there is a pandemic going on.

Photo by Tottenham Hotspur FC/Tottenham Hotspur FC via Getty Images

In other news, Celtic manager Neil Lennon, his assistant John Kennedy and 13 players are self-isolating after defender Christopher Jullien tested positive for Covid-19.

The club travelled to Dubai for a winter training camp, a move which fans called “Sound, it’s not like there’s a pandemic going on” and was hailed by First Minister Nicola Sturgeon as “Exactly the sort of thing you should be doing during a pandemic lads”.

Although one or two reservations have been raised, Celtic moved quickly to assure fans that the trip was definitely worth it because you get to sit on the sunbeds.

The intense fitness sessions paid dividends on Monday night as Celtic came within two minutes of beating Hibs and cut Rangers’ lead to just 21 points.

Old Firm Facts’ columns are satirical, obviously.

In other news, Report: £50,000-a-week player Gary Lineker called 'quick' wants to join Aston Villa