Pepe demands Juventus response

Pepe has urged his Real Madrid teammates to bounce back from Saturday's costly draw with Valencia and focus on knocking Juventus out of the Champions League next week.

Los Blancos' La Liga bid suffered potentially irreversible damage in the 2-2 draw at the Bernabeu - a setback that leaves them four points behind Barcelona with two games to play this season.

Carlo Ancelotti's side welcome Juve to Madrid on Wednesday hoping to overhaul a 2-1 first-leg deficit en route to booking their place in the final.

Pepe and Isco netted last night as the hosts cancelled out Los Che's two-goal lead, and the Portuguese defender is confident of beating the Italian giants if they can reproduce their second-half display.

"We didn't start the match well, but we had ​​a great second half," he told reporters afterwards.

"If we play well against Juve, we'll beat them. La Liga is difficult now, but we must sweat for the jersey."

Paco Alcacer and Javi Fuego had fired the visitors into a 2-0 half-time lead on Saturday, with Cristiano Ronaldo missing a penalty moments before the break.