The European Champions prepared for the new season in North America and without the services of star striker Cristiano Ronaldo Real Madrid won their third successive Champions League trophy against Liverpool but are a club who have been shaken with major changes to their team – with manager Zinedine Zidane having resigned from his post soon after the European victory and star striker Cristiano Ronaldo leaving to Juventus in a big-money move . Julen Lopetegui has taken the reigns of the European Champions ahead of the new season and will look to improve on the Spanish side's league showing after they finished third in La Liga – two places behind winners Barcelona. Fresh off the back of an eventful World Cup, where the likes of Luka Modric and Raphael Varane starred, Madrid have battled in the International Champions Cup (ICC) and closed out their preparations against local rivals Atletico Madrid in the UEFA Super Cup. Goal brings you a complete guide to Real Madrid's 2018 pre-season tour as well as dates, venues and all you need to know about the preparations for the new campaign. Real Madrid pre-season fixtures *UEFA Super Cup fixture. Madrid got their pre-season started with a massive fixture against Manchester United at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, Florida. In a meeting between managers of Real Madrid new and old – with Jose Mourinho's side taking a 2-1 win over his former side and their new boss. They then faced off against Juventus in Maryland in another high-profile European clash, with Los Blancos rolling to a 3-1 victory. Lopetegui's then faced Roma in New Jersey to cap off their Stateside tour with a 2-1 win. Los Blancos concluded their pre-season preparations with a 3-1 win over AC Milan at the Santiago Bernabeu before losing their first competitive fixture against Atletico Madrid in Estonia to hand their rivals the UEFA Super Cup. Real Madrid 2018-19 squad numbers Squad number Position Player 1 GK Keylor Navas 2 DF Dani Carvajal 3 DF Jesus Vallejo 4 DF Sergio Ramos 5 DF Raphael Varane 6 DF Nacho 8 MF Toni Kroos 9 FW Karim Benzema 10 MF Luka Modric 11 FW Gareth Bale 12 DF Marcelo 13 GK Kiko Casilla 14 MF Casemiro 17 FW Lucas Vazquez 18 MF Marcos Llorente 19 DF Alvaro Odriozola 20 MF Marco Asensio 21 FW Borja Mayoral 22 MF Isco 24 MF Dani Ceballos 30 GK Luca Zidane - GK Andriy Lunin - FW Vinicius Junior - MF Martin Odegaard - DF Fabio Coentrao - MF Federico Valverde - FW Raul de Tomas - GK Thibaut Courtois Real Madrid 2018-19 transfer activity Real Madrid pocketed a €100 million (£88m/$117m) windfall following Ronaldo's sensational move to Juventus, and they will be expected to dip into the transfer window for a suitable replacement before it closes on August 31. They have already been linked with the likes of Belgium duo Eden Hazard and recently had to deny that they inquired about the services of ex-Barcelona forward Neymar . Article continues below Mauro Icardi, Harry Kane, Kylian Mbappe and Robert Lewandowski have all been tentatively linked to the Blancos since the start of the summer, and attacking reinforcements are assured. One long-rumoured target who has landed in Madrid is former Atletico goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois, who joined from Chelsea for €35m, with Mateo Kovacic heading in the opposite direction on a season-long loan. Transfer activity in Position Player Transferred from Fee GK Andriy Lunin Zorya Luhansk €8.5m DF Alvaro Odriozola Real Sociedad €30m FW Vinicius Junior Flamengo €45m GK Thibaut Courtois Chelsea €35m Transfer activity out Position Player Transferred to Fee FW Cristiano Ronaldo Juventus €100m DF Achraf Hakimi Borussia Dortmund (loan) Free MF Mateo Kovacic Chelsea (loan) Swap DF Theo Hernandez Real Sociedad (loan) Free Real Madrid's La Liga 2018-19 fixtures<doc-sep>La Liga published the schedule for the 2018-19 season. Real Madrid will kick-off their campaign in the Santiago Bernabeu against Getafe in what should be a fairly manageable game for Los Blancos. The first El Clasico of the season will be played at the Camp Nou on Sunday, October 28th in what will be the 10th game for both teams. The return El Clasico at the Bernabeu will be played on March 3rd. These two games could very well decide the title if both teams end up battling for La Liga as they should. Other key games for Real Madrid include the Madrid Derby against Atletico de Madrid —Santiago Bernabeu, September 30th and Wanda Metropolitano, February 10th—. This means that Real Madrid should probably try to earn some kind of advantage before the Christmas break, given that they will play the two most difficult matches at home during the first leg of La Liga. You can see the full fixture list here.<doc-sep>The 2018-19 La Liga fixtures were announced on Tuesday, with Atletico Madrid, who finished third last season, travelling to fourth-placed Valencia in the pick of the opening day's games. Champions Barcelona will host Basque outfit Alaves, while Real Madrid have a home tie against Getafe when the season kicks off on the weekend of Aug. 18-19. Following public comments from La Liga chief Javier Tebas, who said it was "not ideal" for the second El Clasico meeting between Real and Barca last season to be played with the latter having already won the league title, the two sides will face off earlier this campaign. The two giants will first meet in the Catalan capital on the weekend of Oct. 27-28, following both sides' involvement in the third Champions League group game. Meanwhile, the Bernabeu fixture will be held on the first weekend of March. Real will host local foes Atletico at the end of September in the seventh match of the season, travelling across the city for the second meeting of the season on the weekend of Feb. 9-10. Other notable opening weekend fixtures see Villarreal host Real Sociedad, top division debutants Huesca visit Eibar and Celta Vigo take on Espanyol. Here is the full list of La Liga 2018-19 fixtures:<doc-sep>
Matthias Schrader/Associated Press Real Madrid begin La Liga life after Cristiano Ronaldo and Zinedine Zidane on August 19 with a meeting with Getafe at the Santiago Bernabeu. New manager Julen Lopetegui will have his first Clasico showdown of the campaign against Barcelona on October 28 at the Camp Nou before the return fixture on March 3. Los Blancos will face local rivals Atletico Madrid on September 30 at the Bernabeu and on February 10 at the Wanda Metropolitano. Week 1 Fixtures: Week 38 Fixtures: For the fixture list in full visit the Seleccion Espanola website. Madrid Set for Campaign of Transition Andrea Comas/Associated Press Having enjoyed so much stability in Zidane's three seasons at the club, Madrid embark on a new era under the guidance of Lopetegui. The new manager took over at Real after he was sacked as Spain manager on the eve of the FIFA World Cup having agreed to become Los Blancos boss. Now the pressure will be on him to get this illustrious group of players to perform. Dermot Corrigan of ESPN FC believes Lopetegui may find things difficult in the early stages of his tenure: Video Play Button Videos you might like Taking over at Madrid was always going to be tough, especially following on from Zidane, who steered the team to three UEFA Champions League wins in succession. But without Ronaldo, that challenge has become even tougher. After all, the 33-year-old was such an important player for Real in his nine seasons at the club, and Ronaldo showcased an incredible appetite for big games in recent years. Not having him leading the line will leave a massive void to fill in the capital. As noted by journalist Sam Pilger, even with one of the best goalscorers of all time within their ranks, Real have found it tough in La Liga: Last term they were slow out of the traps and lost ground to Barcelona early on, with manager Ernesto Valverde enjoying a sensational start to life at the Camp Nou. The Blaugrana are expected to be strong again this season. Atletico Madrid, who held off their city rivals to finish in second spot last season, have also enjoyed an excellent summer of recruitment, as Scouted Football pointed out recently: It'll be a huge ask for Real to reel in Barcelona this year, while Atletico also appear set to be a force at the top of La Liga once again in 2018-19. Even so, Ronaldo 's departure will present opportunities for other players to seize the role of attacking talisman, including the likes of Isco, Marco Asensio and Gareth Bale. Yet, La Liga success may be beyond them this term given the changes that have preceded the season.