The season had just ended, but that didn't stop the countdown to the 2008/09 preseason; a rigorous month of work that began on 21 July and included several friendlies on two continents. Also at stake is the first title of the year, the Spanish Super Cup.

On 29 May Real Madrid dropped the curtain on the 2007/08 season. While eight squad members -Casillas and Ramos (Spain); Robben, Van Nistelrooy, and Sneijder (Netherlands); Cannavaro (Italy); Pepe (Portugal), and Metzerder (Germany)- were on Euro 2008 duty with their respective national teams, their Madridista teammates kicked off their well-deserved holiday.

Marcelo, Julio Baptista, and Robinho joined Brazil for two friendlies against Canada and Venezuela before two World Cup 2010 qualifiers against Paraguay (15 June) and Argentina (18 June).

Gabriel Heinze and Fernando Gago had similar schedules with the Argentine national team, who played friendlies against Mexico and the United States prior to qualifiers versus Ecuador (15 June) and Brazil (18 June). Two other Madridistas bacome Olympians in Beijing: Gonzalo Higuaín with Argentina and Royston Drenthe with the Netherlands. Finally, Mahamadou Diarra was on duty with Mali for qualifiers against Congo (1 June), Chad (7 June), and Sudan (14 June).

Team camp in Portugal and training in Austria
On 14 July the squad regrouped for five days of family fun in Portugal's Algarve. This experience to promote and boost personal relationships was then followed by the first stage of training. For five years running, Real Madrid returned to Irdning, Austria for the most strenuous part of the preseason; ten days (21-31 July) of a strict training regimen during which the internationals progressively returned from vacation after being eliminated from the Euro. Only those who made the final or who participated in the Olympics missed the beautiful Austrian scenery.

Heavy dose of matches in August
After 11 straight days of training, the team few straight to London for the Emirates Cup organized by Arsenal. This year's participants included Juventus and Hamburg, the latter side who left the English capital with title in tow. 

The Whites returned to Madird on 4 and 5 August, but the following day were booked on a flight to Colombia to play Independiente Santa Fe on 7 August in Bogota. The team returned home until 10 August, when they again left Madrid for Germany.

Before the Spanish Super Cup, Madrid were scheduled to visit Eintracht Frankfurt on 12 August at the Commerzbank-Arena in what was a rematch of the fifth European Cup title won by the Madridistas (Puskas, Gento, Santamaría, Alfredo Di Stéfano). During the last two weeks leading up to the start of La Liga, the Whites faced off  against Valencia for the first title of the season.

The final test of the preseason was none other than the Santiago Bernabéu Trophy played at Santiago Bernabéu Stadium on 27 August. This year's tribute to the great Real Madrid President was against Sporting Club Portugal, who celebrated their centenary last season.