Ronaldo completed his two-game ban for kicking out at Cordoba defender Edimar as the European champions sneaked past Sevilla to open up a four-point lead over Barcelona at the top of the table on Wednesday.
However, victory came at a cost as World Cup star James Rodriguez broke a bone in his right foot that will keep him out for two months, whilst centre-back Sergio Ramos will also be sidelined due to a hamstring problem in the coming weeks.
Real boss Carlo Ancelotti is short of defensive options with Pepe also out with a rib injury, but he insisted he has confidence in the inexperienced pairing of Raphael Varane and Nacho in central defence.
"What we lose above all is experience, but sometimes enthusiasm is a good thing," said Ancelotti. The two of them (Varane and Nacho) give me a lot of confidence. Ramos and Pepe are among the best defenders in the world, but I am not worried."
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However, defeat this weekend would see them fall 10 points behind the league leaders and all but end their defence of the title.
"I think it is important because the last games against Atletico weren't good, so we have to change this bad run," added Ancelotti. It will be a very difficult game, but we want to do something different.