Racing de Santander vs Real Madrid preview - Ronaldo absence leaves Madrid with Real gap to fill

Posted Sunday, March 06, 2011 by PA

Real Madrid will have to do without leading scorer Cristiano Ronaldo as they make the potentially tricky trip to Racing Santander.

Ronaldo is set to be sidelined for around two weeks after suffering a hamstring injury during Thursday's 7-0 thrashing of Malaga.

Ronaldo asked to come off immediately after netting his third and Madrid's seventh of the night, and he is now likely to miss the league matches against Racing and Hercules, and faces a race to be fit for the Champions League last-16 second leg against Lyon.

Losing Ronaldo is a big blow for Madrid coach Jose Mourinho, with the Portugal international, who has also played every league match for Madrid this season, having enjoyed a stunning campaign.

The £80million man took his tally to 27 league goals with his treble against Malaga, leaving him level with Barcelona's Lionel Messi at the top of the Primera Division scoring charts, while in all competitions he has netted 37 times this term.

To put that into context, Madrid's second leading scorer in La Liga is the injured Gonzalo Higuain with seven goals, while Angel Di Maria is third on six strikes.

With Ronaldo missing and Higuain still some way from a return, Madrid will look to strike duo Karim Benzema and Emmanuel Adebayor to help pick up the slack.

Benzema has had his critics this season but he took his tally to four goals in four games with a brace against Malaga, and the Frenchman believes he is a player on the up.

"I'm getting better all the time and I think everybody can see that on the pitch," he said in AS. "I'm now reaping the fruits of all the effort I've made."

Madrid, who are also without Kaka, Sami Khedira, Alvaro Arbeloa and Fernando Gago for the match, kept within seven points of Primera Division pacesetters Barcelona with their victory over Malaga - their biggest league win this season.

Mourinho's men have dropped points in three of their last four away matches in La Liga, though, and it promises to be another testing road trip for the capital club this weekend.

Racing de Santander vs Real Madrid preview - Ronaldo absence leaves Madrid with Real gap to fill

Racing are unbeaten in six games since new owner Ahsan Ali Syed took over, while new coach Marcelino Garcia Toral has picked up eight points in his four games in charge.

That form has lifted Racing up to 12th place in the standings, five points above the relegation zone.

Speaking about the absence of Ronaldo tomorrow, Marcelino said: "Real Madrid are above any one player, although the statistics show that he is a key player.

"For us, of course, it's an advantage that he isn't playing."