Marca: Real Madrid youth player Thiago Pitacci has played more minutes for the national team than for the club

The Spanish media "Marca" reported that Real Madrid youth training youngster Thiago Pitacci has played more time with the national team than with the club.

After his outstanding performance in Castilla, Alonso allowed Pitacci to participate in first-team training and was impressed. Since then, he has become one of the coach's most trusted youth players. Whenever there was a shortage of players in the midfield, Alonso would call on Pitacci. Whether Camavinga or Ceballos is absent, he will choose Pitachi. So much so that players have been called up to the first team more times (4 times) than Castilla (3 times).

However, despite being called up several times by the first team, Pitachi did not get any playing time. What's even more surprising is that he also played very little playing time with Castilla. He also plays for the Youth A team, which competes in youth leagues. As a result, in two months of competition, Pitacci played more minutes for the national team than for Real Madrid. U20 national team coach Paco Gallardo used him more than Arbeloa.

So far, Pitach has played 423 minutes with the national team, distributed in 6 games. He played 2 games in a friendly against France in September and made 4 appearances in 5 games at the U20 World Cup. In Real Madrid, he only played 201 minutes, distributed in 3 games. These 3 games were all played for Castilla, and Castilla played a total of 9 games. He has twice as many games and time with the national team as with the club.

Arbeloa originally expected Pitach to return after the U20 World Cup, but Ceballos' injury once again caused him to lose Pitach. The Youth A team are now awaiting Ceballos' recovery and Xavi Alonso's decision to determine whether Pitachi will be called up to the youth league, a competition in which he has yet to feature this season.

Pitachi performed well in the early part of Castilla's pre-season, and fully participated in the two games against Marbella on July 26 and against Ferrol on August 3. Since then, his appearances in the white jersey have been inconsistent. Things could return to normal from Wednesday, though, with his return almost certain to happen this weekend.

Due to the absence of Roberto Martin in Castilla, Arbeloa needs Pitachi to strengthen the midfield. In addition, Alonso will welcome back Ceballos in the El Clasico, which will allow Pitachi to participate in the game between Castilla and Real Aviles.