Real Madrid Defender Pepe Aiming For Champions League Final Return

Stricken Real Madrid defender Pepe has declared that he intends to be back in action in time for the UEFA Champions League final at the Bernabeu next May.

The Portuguese defender underwent surgery this week after suffering a ruptured cruciate ligament in his knee in the 3-2 win away to Valencia last weekend but his hopeful that his team can achieve their target of a tenth Champions League title this season, with himself playing in the final.

"I want to be for the Champions League final at the Bernabeu," Pepe is quoted as saying by AS.

Although the injury is set to rule him out for between five and seven months, the operation has been deemed a success and barring setbacks there is a possibility he could feature for Los Merengues again this season.

However Jose Carlos Noronha, the surgeon who performed the reconstructive surgery, refused to give an expected recovery time for the 26-year-old centre back stating that safe recovery is what matters most.

"We will not set time limits because medicine is not an exact science. I don't think it is possible. The important thing is that the player returns to the sport safely," he declared.