Ronaldo leads Madrid against Ajax in Champions

Fresh off his second hat trick of the season, Cristiano Ronaldo will be looking to lead Real Madrid over Ajax in Group D of the Champions League on Tuesday.Ronaldo spurred Madrids offense in Saturdays 6-2 win against Rayo Vallecano, although the Spanish clubs defense is struggling with a number of players missing because of injury.Ajax was held to a 0-0 draw with Lyon in its first match two weeks ago. On Saturday, the Dutch team conceded a late goal in a 1-1 draw against FC Twente in league play.Madrid is a great team and to win we will have to do everything very well, said Ajax coach Frank de Boer, who added that facing Madrid was special for him given his five seasons playing in rival Barcelonas defense.Madrid leads Group D with three points after opening with a 1-0 victory against Dinamo Zagreb. The Croatians play at Lyon on Tuesday.Madrid had little trouble beating Ajax last year by a combined score of 6-0 in group play on its way to the semifinals. But defender Alvaro Arbeloa wouldnt discount Ajaxs chances despite the loss of forward Luis Suarez and goalkeeper Maarten Stekelenburg.Ajax has lost important players but the rest of the team has spent a long time playing together, Arbeloa said. They are fast and dangerous players. I dont think it is a worse team than last seasons.While Ronaldo took his season tally to eight goals to stop Madrids two-game winless run, the nine-time European champions have struggled against weaker opponents recently. And Madrid will have to tone down its aggressive play that has seen it end three of last four games with 10 men.During the past week we havent had the same spark as other times and we hope that on Tuesday we win and can play a great game, Madrid defender Raul Albiol said.Ricardo Carvalho returns to Madrids defense after missing one game with a concussion, while Mourinho can count on Turkey midfielder Hamit Altintop for the first time since joining from Bayern Munich in the offseason.With forward Miralem Sulejmani back from a hamstring injury, Ajax will look to use its speed against a defense missing the suspended Marcelo and injured pair Pepe and Fabio Coentrao.