Newcastle's second Sela weekender opponents announced as Magpies look to retain Sela Cup
Last year Newcastle United ended their pre-season preparations with a festival of football at St James' Park as they hosted the inaugural Sela Cup in a two-day event.
Newcastle took on OGC Nice and Fiorentina on the way to lifting the trophy, and now the pre-season friendly competition is set to return in a different format this summer.
We covered earlier that Newcastle were to take on Girona as part of the Sela Weekender, but shortly after we ran that story, the club released more details.
The club has now confirmed via the official site that the Girona friendly is part of the Sela Weekender, but the Sela Cup will return but it will be a winner-takes-all match to be played the day after.
Both Sela Weekender opponents will play in the Champions League next season
Newcastle will take on Girona on Friday 9th August (kick-off at 7:30pm) and will face Ligue 1 side Stade Brestois on Saturday 10th August (kick-off at 4pm).
Notably, both clubs will be partaking in the upcoming season's Champions League so they should provide ample competition ahead of the new campaign.
Becky Langley's women's team gear up for their assault on the Championship with a friendly at St James' Park on Saturday 10th at 1pm before the men take on Brest, but as yet the opponent has yet to be confirmed.
The Sela Weekender will be the perfect test before the Premier League returns
The Sela Weekender seems like a great way to round off Newcastle's preparations which will also include a friendly while camped at Adidas' impressive World of Sports facility, a trip to the MKM Stadium to take on Hull City and a spell in Japan to take on Urawa Red Diamonds and Yokohama F. Marinos.
With both sides having finished third in their respective leagues last season, Girona and Brest will certainly ramp up the difficulty levels the week before the Premier League gets back underway with Newcastle taking on newly promoted Southampton at St James' Park on Saturday 17th August at 3pm.
With the players returning to training soon, we're starting to get the pre-season tingles. Club football is on its way back.
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