Report: Pepe to miss next four weeks

Real Madrid centre-back Pepe is reportedly set to miss the next four weeks of the season after breaking two ribs during last weekend's derby against Atletico Madrid.

Pepe opened the scoring in the La Liga fixture at the Bernabeu, but he was forced off midway through the second period after a collision with teammate Toni Kroos.

After the match, Real Madrid confirmed that the Portuguese international had suffered two separate fractures, and according to Football Espana, the centre-back could now spend the next month on the sidelines.

As a result, Pepe will miss both legs of his team's Champions League quarter-final against Bayern Munich, in addition to El Clasico at home to Barcelona on April 23.

Raphael Varane is also still struggling with a hamstring problem, leaving Los Blancos boss Zinedine Zidane short of centre-backs entering the business end of the campaign.