Cristiano Ronaldo publicly avowed that his birthday wish was to feature for Real Madrid against Espanyol in La Liga this weekend.

However, the Spanish Sporting Disciplinary Committee (CEDD) has denied the Portuguese superstar from having his dream granted.

Cristiano Ronaldo’s two-match ban is final and Real Madrid have definitely lost their appeal. The CEDD refused to open the player’s case and this means that Los Blancos will indeed have to fight against Espanyol without Cristiano Ronaldo.

Real Madrid are five points behind Barcelona and in second place in La Liga standings. They’ll be playing at the Santiago Bernabeu with the aim of maintaining their perfect home record this season.

As Cristiano Ronaldo will not play, reports indicated that Manuel Pellegrini will have to chose between Raul and Gonzalo Higuain in the starting line up to partner Karim Benzema upfront in search of goals.

Espanyol meanwhile are struggling in this current campaign. The stand in 14th place and along with bottom side Xerez, they hold the most alarming ‘away goals scored’ record which is of three goals.

Real Madrid vs Espanyol facts:

1) Espanyol will break Real Madrid’s record of ten consecutive home wins if they pick at least a point.

2) Real Madrid can be 6 or 8 points behind Barcelona if they fail to win and if the Catalans beat Getafe on Saturday as well.

3) Raul could extend his 16 goals record against Espanyol if he plays and scores this weekend.

For the 25-year-old Cristiano Ronaldo though, Saturday’s La Liga match between Real Madrid and Espanyol will have to be felt away from the field of play.


Angela Asante, Footballfantalk.com