Spain striker Raul was named in the Real Madrid [ Images ] squad for Saturday's league match against Alaves, three months after suffering a serious knee injury.

Their captain's return is a major boost for Real ahead of next week's Champions League [ Images ] knockout tie against Arsenal [ Images ] and means he is on course to lead Spain at the World Cup in Germany [ Images ].

Raul suffered a partial tear of the cruciate ligament and damaged the cartilage in his left knee when he miscued a shot during Real Madrid's 3-0 defeat by Barcelona [ Images ] on November 19.

Club doctors opted to follow a "conservative" programme of treatment to deal with the injury rather than surgery in the hope that the player would make a more rapid recovery.