Recovery plan for soldier Thiago Pitarch

Real Madrid’s Thiago Pitarch is set to join the Castilla team during the upcoming break, aiming to regain match fitness after recovering from a knee injury that sidelined him throughout the pre-season. The decision, confirmed by coach Jose Mourinho, comes two weeks after Pitarch returned to convocations but had not played in four matches against Inter, Rayo, Elche, and Atlético.

With Real Madrid not competing until October 10, Pitarch will be available for Julián López de Lerma in Castilla’s postponed match against Sant Andreu scheduled for this Wednesday. During this break, he has the opportunity to participate in three league matches with Castilla, including a derby, which are crucial for his development and accumulated playing time.

Despite being listed in the Real Madrid first team, Pitarch holds a registration with Castilla, allowing the club to leverage this setup for competitive play. His brief "pre-season" of about three weeks could also see him involved with the under-20 national team, which has a match against Mexico on September 30; however, this game remains uncertain due to the previous cancellation of their planned venue in Ceuta.

Rumors about his participation in the intercontinental match on Saturday at Bernabéu circulated last week, but concrete actions did not follow, especially with a derby the following day where Mourinho views Pitarch as a first-team player. With the current interval, Mourinho now believes allowing Pitarch to compete with Castilla represents a beneficial route for him to prepare, rather than starting fresh with the first team, considering the challenges in securing minutes as the situation stands.

This becomes critical as the last time Thiago played was two and a half months ago, during the European Under-19 final for Spain on July 11. Following this match, he sustained his knee injury shortly after returning to training at Valdebebas and has not seen playtime since.