Real Madrid will be without Cristiano Ronaldo when they go to Racing Santander needing to overcome their recent troubles on the road to stay with Spanish league leaders 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 yesterday 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 16 March.

While Madrid have won all 21 games at their Santiago Bernabeu Stadium, they have taken only five of a possible 12 points in their last four away games against mostly mid-table teams.

And now they have to show theycan 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 tomorrow’s game. Kaka could get the call to replace Ronaldo after the Brazil playmaker did not feature against Malaga.

Barcelona, who lead Madrid by seven points, welcome relegation-threatened Zaragoza to the Camp Nou today with question marks over whether defender Carles Puyol will be in the line-up for the first time since 22January, 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, who hold 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 battles acute lower back pain.

Barcelona have won five straight against Zaragoza, who have only won twice in league play at the Camp Nou and not since the 1965-66 season. Zaragoza are 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 today when fourth-place Villarreal play at the Vicente Calderon Stadium.

Atletico are 15 points off Villarreal but only three back of Sevilla, who hold the last Europa League spot.

“It’s going to 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.

Today

Atletico Madrid-Villarreal

Barcelona-Real Zaragoza

Mallorca-Valencia

Tomorrow

Athletic Bilbao-Sevilla

Hercules-Almeria

Levante-Espanyol

Malaga-Osasuna

Racing Santander-Real Madrid

Sporting Gijon-Getafe

Monday

Dep. La Coruna-Real Sociedad