Cristiano Ronaldo faces a race to be fit for Real Madrid’s Champions League quarter-final against Tottenham after suffering a hamstring injury in Saturday’s victory over Atletico Madrid.

A similar problem caused Ronaldo to miss two games prior to last week’s victory over Lyon, and he complained of pain once again after coming off towards the end of Real’s 2-1 victory in the derby at the Vicente Calderon.

The 26-year-old was subsequently taken away for tests, with the verdict being that he could now miss up to three weeks of action.

“Cristiano Ronaldo felt pain and had inflammation on the biceps femoris of his left thigh after the match with Atletico,” a club statement read, before later adding that he will be sidelined for “between two to three weeks, depending on his progress”.

That would make him a major doubt for the first leg of the club’s clash with Spurs, which takes place at the Santiago Bernabeu on April 5 – just over a fortnight away.

He will definitely miss Portugal’s two forthcoming friendlies against Chile and Finland, while the La Liga clash with Sporting Gijon in 14 days could also come too soon for him to participate.

Credit: http://soccernet.espn.go.com

Cesare Prandelli has excluded Manchester City forward Mario Balotelli and Roma midfielder Daniele De Rossi from the Italy squad after they broke his ‘code of ethics’.

Italy are preparing for a Euro 2012 qualifier in Slovenia on Friday and then have a friendly against Ukraine on March 29, but he has left the highly-rated duo out as a result of their behaviour at club level.

Balotelli attracted strong criticism from manager Roberto Mancini after his red card hindered City’s attempts to overturn a deficit against Dynamo Kiev in the Europa League, while De Rossi was given a three-match ban for his elbow in Roma’s Champions League defeat to Shakhtar Donetsk.

“I accept my exclusion from the Italy squad, because I know there is a code of ethics and the rules are there to be respected,” De Rossi said. “I hope this will only be for these two games and I can return to the Azzurri soon.

“Prandelli does not owe me an explanation. There are rules, I broke them and it’s right I am left at home. I said it was a blessing, as I could rest during the break, but that was just a joke to take some of the pressure off.

“It’s true my tendon hurts and I picked up a knock, but I don’t think it’s anything serious.”

Italy squad to face Slovenia and Ukraine:

Buffon (Juventus), Sirigu (Palermo), Viviano (Bologna); Astori (Cagliari), Balzaretti (Palermo), Bonucci (Juventus), Chiellini (Juventus), Criscito (Genoa), Gastaldello (Sampdoria); Maggio (Napoli), Ranocchia (Inter), Santon (Cesena), Aquilani (Juventus), Marchisio (Juventus), Mauri (Lazio), Montolivo (Fiorentina), Thiago Motta (Inter), Nocerino (Palermo), Parolo (Cesena); Cassano (Milan), Gilardino (Fiorentina), Giovinco (Parma), Matri (Juventus), Pazzini (Inter), Rossi (Villarreal)

Credit :http://soccernet.espn.go.com

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