MADRID — Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo is out of Wednesday's Champions League Group B match at home to Galatasaray due to a leg muscle strain, coach Carlo Ancelotti said Tuesday. The Portugal forward limped off at the start of the second half of Saturday's La Liga victory at Almeria and a scan Monday confirmed he had damaged a hamstring. The injury was not serious and Ronaldo might recover in time to feature in Saturday's La Liga match at home to Real Valladolid, Ancelotti told a news conference. “Cristiano cannot play tomorrow,” the Italian said. “He has picked up a very small problem. I think tomorrow he will start to work on his own on the pitch and we'll see if he can be available for Saturday. “It's a muscle strain but the player is very confident he can play Saturday. “If there is a risk he could injure himself we will not use him. If he is fine then he'll play.” If Real avoid defeat against Galatasaray, which it thrashed 6-1 in Istanbul in its opening game in September, it will qualify for the last 16 in first place. The nine-time European champion tops the group on 10 points from four of six matches. Galatasaray and FC Copenhagen each have four points and Juventus, which hosts Copenhagen Wednesday, has three. Ancelotti said Argentina winger Angel Di Maria or Spain under-21 forward Jese could replace Ronaldo in the starting lineup on Wednesday. Another former winner Manchester United is also among the teams that could wrap up qualification to the Champions League knock-out stages Wednesday. Big-spending French champion Paris Saint-Germain, Olympiakos and Bayer Leverkusen can also qualify. The defending champion, Bayern Munich, is Europe's in-form side and chasing what would be a record tenth consecutive Champions League victory when it visits a CSKA Moscow outfit which can only finish third at best. The Bundesliga front-runner is coming off a 3-0 thrashing of Borussia Dortmund at the weekend, the team it defeated in last year's final. That win on the road extended its German league record to 38 matches unbeaten, although it will be wary of dropping points and potentially top spot in the group to Manchester City. Bayern has won three of its eight trips to Russian clubs in European action but has only lost once back in 2008 when it was sent packing at the semifinal stage of the UEFA Cup, well beaten on the night 4-0 by Zenit Saint-Petersburg. Both sides, Bayer Leverkusen and Manchester United, at the BayArena would secure qualification to the knock-out stages with a victory. Manchester United knows that a win will almost be enough to secure top spot, unless it loses at home to Shakhtar Donetsk in its final group game. A draw would suffice for both teams as long as Shakhtar loses at home to Real Sociedad in the group's other match. The 2012 English champion, Manchester City, has qualified for the knockout phase for the first time following back-to-back wins over CSKA but needs to keep the pressure on Bayern at the top as it faces Viktoria Plzen. In other matches Juventus faces FC Copenhagen; Real Sociedad is in a must-win game game against Shakhtar Dontesk; Paris Saint-Germain is up against Olympiakos; and Anderlecht faces Benfica. — Agencies
