Ronaldo out of Champions League semi-final, first leg

Reuters: Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo has been ruled out of their Champions League semi-final, first leg at Manchester City on Tuesday.

The Portuguese striker, the top scorer in this season’s competition with 16 goals, has been struggling with a thigh strain and was not even listed among the substitutes by UEFA.

Ronaldo had trained on Monday with the 10-times European champions and was expected to return to the side, having missed the 3-2 La Liga win against Rayo Vallecano at the weekend.

Real’s talisman has scored 47 goals in all competitions this season and his absence will be a huge boost to Manchester City as they prepare for their first European semi-final in 45 years.

Lucas Vasquez was drafted into the team by manager Zinedine Zidane to fill the void left by Ronaldo, featuring alongside Gareth Bale and Karim Benzema in a three-pronged attack.