Ronaldo-less Madrid takes road woes to Santander

Real Madrid will be without Cristiano Ronaldo when it goes to Racing Santander needing to overcome its recent struggles away from home to keep pace with Spanish league leader Barcelona.

Ronaldo, Madrid’s leading scorer with 37 goals, injured a muscle in his left leg after scoring his third goal in Thursday’s 7-0 win over Malaga. Madrid said medical scans performed Friday ruled the Portugal forward out for 10-15 days, which also puts at risk his participation in the Champions League return leg match against Lyon on March 16.

While Madrid has won all 21 games at its Santiago Bernabeu Stadium, it has taken only five of a possible 12 points in its last four away games against mostly mid-table teams to fall seven points behind Barcelona.

And now it has to show it can do without Ronaldo’s scoring touch after he matched Barcelona forward Lionel Messi’s league-high total of 27 goals with a hat-trick against Malaga.

“We’ve got to win,” Madrid goalkeeper Iker Casillas said. “What we can’t do is throw in the towel. We need to go on winning and keep pressing with the hope that the leader slips up.”

Coach Jose Mourinho, whose confrontational style continues to rile many in Spain, was at least able to substitute regulars Mesut Oezil and Angel Di Maria so they could get some extra rest ahead of Sunday’s game. Kaka could get the call to replace Ronaldo after the Brazil playmaker did not feature against Malaga.

Barcelona, which leads Madrid by seven points, welcomes relegation-threatened Zaragoza to the Camp Nou on Saturday with question marks over whether defender Carles Puyol will be in the lineup for the first time since Jan. 22 ahead of next week’s Champions League game against Arsenal.

Puyol has been recovering from a knee injury, while goalkeeper Victor Valdes is also battling to recover from a leg injury to reach the last-16 return leg match with Arsenal, which holds a 2-1 advantage ahead of Tuesday’s game in Spain. Backup goalkeeper Jose Manuel Pinto should be ready to fill in again despite appearing to pick up a knock in Wednesday’s 1-0 win at Valencia.

Pep Guardiola looks unlikely to make the game as the Barcelona coach remained in hospital Friday for treatment of acute lower back pain. The club said Guardiola’s progress was positive but that his availability would be determined after further treatment.

Barcelona has won five straight against Zaragoza, which has only won two times in league play at the Camp Nou and not since the 1965-66 season. Zaragoza is two points above 18th-place Sporting Gijon in the last relegation place.

“We’re in good shape, the victory (against Athletic Bilbao) did us good,” said Zaragoza striker Ikechukwu Uche, whose first goal since May 2009 proved the winner. “We’ll go there to compete against the best team in the world and if we manage something positive, better for us.”

Atletico Madrid’s hopes of qualifying for Europe next season face a stiff challenge Saturday when fourth-place Villarreal plays at the Vicente Calderon Stadium.

Atletico is 15 points off Villarreal but only three back of Sevilla, which holds the last Europa League spot.

“It’s gonna be a tough game because we’re playing against a big team,” said Villarreal striker Giuseppe Rossi, whose season goal tally stands at 22 overall. “They want to get into the Europa League so they have to win, and we want to get into Champions League so we have to win.”

Rossi’s 13th league goal in Wednesday’s 1-0 win over Hercules ended a four-game unbeaten run and put Villarreal only one point behind third-place Valencia.

While unbeaten in three games, Atletico has won only two of 13 games played in 2011. Even Rossi was surprised at Atletico’s inconsistent form.

“Its pretty much been a shock since they won Europa League last year and they won the (European) Supercup so you would have thought they would be top contenders for the Champions League,” the Italy striker said. “You can have an off-season and they’re having one.”

In other 27th-round games, it’s: Mallorca vs. Valencia; Sporting Gijon vs. Getafe; Hercules vs. Almeria; Malaga vs. Osasuna; Levante vs. Espanyol; Athletic Bilbao vs. Sevilla; and Deportivo La Coruna vs. Real Sociedad.