Pre-season is over, and Real Madrid players are gearing up ahead of the new season.

The Los Blancos will kick off their campaign against Athletic Bilbao on Saturday, and Real Madrid fitness coach Antonio Pintus is getting the players physically set for this game.

Real Madrid players again trained with special respiratory masks on Tuesday.

The masks simulate high altitude conditions for the players and help them build endurance and explosive power.

Although with good long-term effects, the equipment also makes training more exhausting for the players.

Real Madrid’s head of fitness Antonio Pintus has admitted that a player called him ‘a devil’ for coming up with this idea.

“Training with masks? A player said to me “Antonio you are a devil” and I was laughing, I won’t say who it is of course,” Pintus said.