Real´s Pepe sidelined for a month due to injury

Real Madrid's Brazilian-born Portuguese defender Pepe will be sidelined for up to a month due to the left leg muscle strain which he picked up during a weekend Spanish league match, the club said Monday.

“After having magnetic resonance imaging, the Portuguese defender was diagnosed with a Grade I-II left quadriceps injury that will keep him sidelined between three and four weeks,” it said in a statement posted on its web site.

The 25-year-old was one of three Real players who were injured during the reigning Spanish champions 3-1 defeat on Saturday away to Getafe.

Dutch international midfielder Wesley Sneijder, 24, picked up a hamstring strain while Spanish defender Miguel Torres strained a thigh muscle.

Sneijder will be out for two weeks while Torres will be out for three weeks, the club said.

All three will players will miss Real's Champions League Group H match at home to Zenit St Petersburg on December 10.