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 Madrid's offense in Saturday's 6-2 win against Rayo Vallecano, although the Spanish club's 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 leads Group D with three points after edging Dinamo Zagreb 1-0 in its opener, and can likely expect more tenacious defending from an Ajax under the direction of former Barcelona center back Frank de Boer.
Also on Tuesday, Dinamo plays at Lyon in search of its first points.
Both home and away, this season Madrid's defense has given up goals against teams with more limited attacking abilities than its Dutch rivals, a worrying development for coach Jose Mourinho whose teams has always distinguish themselves for being tough at the back.
“During the past week we haven't 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 in reference to his team's 1-0 loss at Levante and 0-0 draw with Racing Santander.
Last year, Madrid had little trouble beating Ajax twice by a combined score of 6-0 in the group stage as it rolled through the competition until falling to Lionel Messi's Barcelona in the semifinals.
Even so, Ajax hasn't been beaten in 13 straight Dutch league matches and still holds the overall record with four wins to Madrid's three.
With forward Miralem Sulejmani back from a hamstring injury, Ajax will look to its speed to break down a Madrid defensive line that will be without Marcelo (suspension), center back Pepe (leg) and the multi-position Fabio Coentrao (leg), three of its most athletic starters. It will also have to be seen if veteran center back Ricardo Carvalho returns after missing one game with a concussion.
In their place, the 18-year-old French defender Raphael Varane could get his third consecutive start in the center of the defense alongside Albiol or Sergio Ramos, who may slide over from right back.
But regardless of its starting 11, Madrid will also have to tone done its aggressive play and avoid errors in judgment that have seen it end three of last four games with 10 men.
The irregular play of the Spanish powerhouse has led to Mourinho shuffling his starting lineup, and Ajax will have to prepare for variants that could include combining playmakers Mesut Oezil and Kaka or seeing the more crafty Gonzalo Higuain start ahead of Karim Benzema in strike.
De Boer's main task in any case will be devising a plan to stop Ronaldo, who has seven goals in the Spanish league after five games— just one less than league leader Messi.
In France, Lyon will try to improve an attack that only created one shot on goal in week one as it faces the Croatian champions.
Lyon will also have to find a way to make up for the absence of Argentine striker Lisandro Lopez (ankle) and defensive specialist Cris (leg) unless it wants to see its campaign to reach the knockout stages for a ninth consecutive year put in danger.
Dinamo midfielder Milan Badelj recognized that Lyon was a “very strong team” that is “full of quality” but still believes in his side's options to get an important away win.