Freiburg Pitroipa played for Planete Champion in his native Burkina Faso until 2004, when he moved to Germany. In 2004, he signed with
Bundesliga side
SC Freiburg. He scored his first goal for Freiburg in a 3–3 draw with
SpVgg Greuther Fürth on 22 September 2006. He went on to make 75 league appearances, both in the Bundesliga and
2. Bundesliga, and scored 16 goals.
Hamburger SV In July 2008, Pitroipa moved to
Hamburger SV on a free transfer. In his last season in the Bundesliga with Hamburg, he appeared in 26 games, adding two goals and six assists. After the dismissal of head coach
Armin Veh in March 2011, Pitroipa voiced his unhappiness with the coaching situation. Under new manager
Michael Oenning, Pitroipa was relegated to a bit-part role for the club and expressed his desire to leave Hamburg in search of regular football. Hamburg's new director of football,
Frank Arnesen, formerly of
Chelsea, did not help matters either, bringing in many young players in an effort to freshen up the squad and start a new era. Pitroipa's last game for the club came on the final day of the
2010–11 Bundesliga season, coming on as a 38th-minute substitute for striker
Paolo Guerrero in Hamburg's 1–1 draw with
Borussia Mönchengladbach. Pitroipa made a total of 97 appearances for Hamburg, scoring six goals and adding ten assists. His exit from the club was part of a mass exodus of star names, as
Frank Rost,
Zé Roberto,
Joris Mathijsen,
Piotr Trochowski and
Ruud van Nistelrooy were also shown the door.
Rennes On 7 July 2011, Pitroipa completed his transfer to French side
Rennes for £3.16 million transfer fee, well under the €5 million sum desired by Hamburg. Rennes were keen on securing the signature of the Burkina Faso international for a long time, impressed by "his pace and dribbling skills". Pitroipa made his
Ligue 1 debut with Rennes in their
league opener against newly promoted
Dijon on 7 August 2011, which ended in a 5–1 victory. He helped in the build-up for the opening goal, delivering a long pass to
Abdoulrazak Boukari, who then flicked it on to
Víctor Montaño, who slid it in. This marked the first time in nine years that Rennes scored five goals in a Ligue 1 game. The following weekend, Pitroipa scored his first Ligue 1 goal for Rennes in their 1–1 draw with
Paris Saint-Germain on 13 August 2011. His 88th-minute equalizer denied the free-spending capital club their first win of the season and ensured that his side remained undefeated from their opening two league outings. After defeating Metalurgi Rustavi 7–2 on aggregate, Rennes were drawn against
Red Star Belgrade in the
Europa League Play-off. Pitroipa started the first leg at the
Stadion FK Crvena Zvezda in Serbia and continued his fine goal-scoring form, netting the equalizing goal for his side in the 41st minute. Substitute Víctor Montaño grabbed the winning goal for the visitors in the second-half, putting them in a comfortable position to advance to the group stages of the Europa League. Rennes won the second leg in convincing fashion, 4–0, to advance to the group stages. Pitroipa beat
Bakary Koné to the ball and shot past
Hugo Lloris to help Rennes record a 2–1 victory over
Lyon on 18 November and move up to fourth in the Ligue 1 table. On 4 March 2012, he turned in a "Man of the Match" performance against
Lorient as he scored a brilliant 25-yard strike with his left foot and then provided an assist for
Youssouf Hadji, the man who set up Pitroipa's goal, to earn a 2–0 victory. After a mazy run through four
Evian defenders, Pitroipa lofted the ball over onrushing goalkeeper
Stephan Andersen as Rennes won 3–1 on 7 April to boost their bid for European football. In Rennes' game against
Nice on 16 April, Pitroipa dribbled past
Didier Digard before slotting the ball home, giving Rennes a 3–1 victory and putting them two points away from a
Europa League spot. Pitroipa helped Rennes finish in sixth place on 60 points, thanks to scoring a goal in their 5–0 defeat of relegated Dijon on 20 May 2012; the result, however, was not good enough to secure European football for 2012–13 though. Pitroipa scored his first goal of the
2012–13 Ligue 1 season on 25 August 2012, as Rennes registered their first victory of the campaign with a 3–2 defeat of
Bastia, also providing the assist for
Mevlüt Erdinç's strike. He scored the winning goal for Rennes a minute from time against
Troyes on 2 December, completing a comeback victory from 1–2 down to seal a 3–2 win and a third-straight Ligue 1 victory.
Antwerp In early January 2018, Pitroipa was one of four signings to be announced by
Belgian First Division A side
Royal Antwerp F.C. Free agent Pitroipa signed a six-month contract.
Paris FC Pitroipa joined
Paris FC in 2018. He left in January 2021 after making a total of 69 league appearances and scoring 3 league goals.
Retirement Pitroipa announced his retirement from playing in February 2021. ==International career==