Following the mid-season break, Real Madrid resumed training on Monday afternoon as they gear up for a challenging 2026 ahead.
Today, the club have organised an open training session so that fans can watch their favourite players prepare for their upcoming fixtures, starting with the La Liga clash against Real Betis on 4 January.
As it so happens, Real Madrid manager Xabi Alonso has called up a number of young talents from the Castilla ranks to train with the senior team today for the open session.
Indeed, as confirmed by journalist Alvaro Esteban , Joan Martinez , David Jimenez , and Thiago Pitarch are all training with the first-team squad, along with goalkeepers Fran Gonzalez and Javi Navarro .
Thiago Pitarch training with the first team. (Photo by Angel Martinez/Getty Images)
Martinez, Jimenez, and Pitarch have been regularly asked to train with the senior squad, especially in recent weeks when the squad had been ravaged by injuries.
In fact, Jimenez went on to make their first-team debut earlier this month, while both Martinez and Pitarch have been called up to several matchday squads.
As for the two goalkeepers, Gonzalez and Navarro are held in the highest regard at the club and have often been selected as the third goalkeeper in the squad by Alonso.
Real Madrid still have a number of players unavailable through injury, with the likes of Dani Carvajal , Trent Alexander-Arnold , and Eder Militao among those sidelined.
So, it will not be a surprise to see some of the aforementioned youngsters get called up to the squad for Real Madrid's first match of 2026 against Betis at the weekend.
