Real Madrid have received a blow ahead of their showdown with Sevilla with the news Cristiano Ronaldo misses out through injury.

Ronaldo has been unable to fully recover from the ankle injury he suffered during the midweek Champions League win over Marseille and has been left out of Manuel Pellegrini's 18-man squad.

"He tried playing yesterday and today and everyone, including the medical staff, believes he isn't ready to play," Pellegrini said.

"Cristiano's absence is significant but we have a good squad and sufficient alternatives."

Ronaldo has been in prolific form at the start of the season, scoring nine goals in seven competitive appearances following his world-record move from Manchester United in the summer.

Also missing for Madrid are Lassana Diarra, Alvaro Arbeloa, Ruud van Nistelrooy and Fernando Gago as the league leaders look to continue their 100% start to the campaign against third-placed Sevilla.

Madrid sit joint top of the table on 15 points with defending champions Barcelona, but Sevilla are just three points back in third.

The hosts have scored four times in each of their last two games, following their 4-0 win over Athletic Bilbao with a 4-1 Champions League success away to Scottish side Rangers.

And Diarra feels tomorrow's match will represent perhaps Madrid's most difficult test of the season so far.

"I think it will be a rather important match and one of the toughest,'" said the France international. "The clash with Villarreal was also complicated, but we ended up okay.

"We've played well so far but Sevilla have also had a great start to the season and we can't rule them out.''

Defender Christoph Metzelder returned to training yesterday and should be fit to play.

Sevilla go into the game on the back of six straight victories in all competitions and winger Jesus Navas insists they are capable of ending Madrid's winning start to the campaign.

He told the club's official website: "If we continue playing the way we have been we will have a strong chance of winning any game we play. We have been performing well in the league and we continue to train and play very well.

"It's going to be a tough game and both of us have been playing at a high level of football. We have to keep the mentality that we can play at the same level and compete.''