Latest News: Ronaldo's ankle not improving

The latest announcement regarding Cristiano Ronaldo's ankle are bad news for millions of Real Madrid fans and for everybody in Portugal. The player may be three months out of activity if he is forced to have another operation on his injured ankle. His club stated that ronaldo has not showed enough improvement to return for this weekend game.

The official announcement says that it's not clear if Cristiano Ronaldo requires surgery on his troublesome ankle, but he is not fit for a return to first team action.

Teammate Iker Casillas mentioned that Cristiano is "concerned" about his ankle. "He thought he would recover this week, and play some minutes against Atletico. But that will not happen."

We must consider that it is the same ankle that needed an operation in the summer of 2008 At that moment, Cristiano was at the Old Trafford.

Pellegrini's team has won every game they played with Cristiano in the squad, but lost against lowly Alcorcón in the Cup and AC Milan at home in the Champions League in his absence.

Cristiano Ronaldo's return could take place against Atletico Madrid

Doctors say that Cristiano Ronaldo has real chances to return to the first team against Atletico Madrid.

The Portuguese super player was at the Sanitas La Moreja clinic today to go under an MRI scan on his injured ankle, and the initial prognosis is positive. It has also been revealed that Cristiano has been performing gym excercises and swimming at Real Madrid's training base at Valdebebas for seven and a half hours a day in an effort to recover his fitness as soon as possible.

As we know, his injury was picked up during Madrid's Champions League match against Olympique Marseille at the end of September, and then aggravated while he was on international duty with Portugal.

After this announcement, Madrid's coach Manuel Pellegrini will continue to monitor Ronaldo's progress closely. However, it's important to mention that he will not risk him on Saturday evening against Atletico Madrid if Ronaldo is not completely recovered and out of risk.

Real Madrid got a 1-1 with AC Milan

Critiano Ronaldo is still out of Real Madrid firts squad due to his serious injury, but life goes on for his team. After the disaster against Alcorcón, Pellegrini's side needed to recover. And this Champions League game against Ronaldinho's AC Milan was not exactly the easiest way to do it.

But Madrid got a remarkable 1-1 at the San Siro Stadium, which is a good result considering the strong squad that Milan used on the field. Karim Benzema scored for the spaniards at the minute 29 and Ronnie netted the equalizer with a penalty shot on 39'.

Now Pellegrini got some more credit to stay as the coach of the galactic team. We all hope that with the return of Cristiano and Ruud Van Nistelrooy, the team will be even stronger and reach the goals settled for this season.

Barcelona wins the Champions League and frustrates Ronaldo's dream

This time the crown was not meant to be earned by United. With a 2-0 triumph at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome on Wednesday, Barcelona have now won their third UEFA Champions League Championship, and have become the first Spanish team to win La Liga, the Copa del Rey and the Champions League all in the same season, which allowed Barcelona to become the first Spanish team to win the treble, and the first team since the Red Devils in 1999 to accomplish this feat in Europe.

To start off the match, rookie manager Josep Guardiola had to replace the suspended defenders Daniel Alves and Eric Abidal, so he replaced them with Sylvinho and Carles Puyol. He also started both Thierry Henry and Stamford Bridge hero Andrés Iniesta after they were declared fit after a training session on Monday.

After all of the pregame festivities were finished, the match begun and Man Utd sprinted out of the gate as they have done in most of their matches this season, and nearly scored on a Cristiano Ronaldo free kick in the second minute, but keeper Victor Valdes was equal to the challenge and was able to stop it.

After several more United chances, Barcelona got the ball into the United zone as Iniesta rushed towards the goal, and passed the ball off to Samuel Eto'o, who then collapsed onto the net and shot the ball off of Edwin Van de Sar and into the back of the net which shocked Man Utd, and gave Barcelona a 1-0 lead in the tenth minute.

After this goal, Barcelona completely dominated the rest of the first half as they prevented United from starting any attack, and Park Ji-Sung, Ryan Giggs and Anderson all appeared to disappear for United, which made a comeback even less likely.

However, Barcelon continued to attack, but the United defense came to the rescue multiple times as they denied Barcelona from getting another goal.

As the second half begun, Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson substituted Anderson for Carlos Tevez to try to inspire the offense, and for the first five minutes, it appeared to be working but Barcelona came back and after Iniesta was fouled just outside of the penalty box in the 62nd minute. Afterwards, Xavi had a chance to give Barcelona a 2-0 lead, but his shot hit the outside of the post on his right, keeping the match 1-0 and allowing Man Utd to still have a chance in the match.

But the chance of repeating as European champions vanished for Man Utd in the 70th minute as Xavi nailed a cross that found the head of Lionel Messi as the 21-year-old Argentinian international superstar scored his 38th goal of the season and gave Barcelona a cushion as they now held a 2-0 lead.

For the last 20 minutes, Man Utd couldn't regain possession against Barcelona and with the final whistle in stoppage time, Barcelona won their second Champions League final in the last four seasons and finally accomplished their dream of a treble.

Ancelotti impressed by Ronaldo and Manchester United's Champions League performance

AC Milan coach had interesting words after the 0-0 draw between Inter and Manchester United. Carlo Ancelotti admitted that he was impressed with what he saw in the game between the Nerazzurri and Manchester United.

"Inter can take courage from the draw,” Ancelotti stated to the press. “I watched a beautiful match, dominated by the English in the first half and Inter in the second period."

He also said that Cristiano Ronaldo always shows a World Class performance.

However, Ancelotti still was disappointed with the result of the recent Milan derby, in which Inter were 2-1 winners. In that fixture Nerazzurri forward Adriano opened the scoring with a controversial goal but the Rossoneri netted a goal against Cagliari on Sunday in similar circumstances.

"My thoughts remain the same, Adriano netted with his arm," complained the ex-Parma tactician.

Indeed, Milan are currently preparing for their second-leg encounter against Werder Bremen in the UEFA Cup on Thursday. The first-leg ended in a 1-1 draw.

Ronaldo had a good performance in his friend Wayne Rooney’s return

The strong and effective Wayne Rooney came off the bench to score with his first touch of the game to defeat Fulham at Old Trafford last night and tighten Manchester United's grip on the Premier League title.

Rooney, in his first action in over a month, added his 63rd-minute strike to first-half efforts from Paul Scholes and Dimitar Berbatov to send United five points clear of Liverpool in the title race.

We must consider that while Rooney started on the bench, there was no place in the squad for Ryan Giggs. It is a measure of the strength Alex Ferguson has at his disposal that he could give Giggs the night off as Edwin van der Sar looked to complete a 14th consecutive clean sheet for the title favourites.

In the other hand, Fulham were severely stretched, without star striker Andrew Johnson, leaving Bobby Zamora as the lone frontman for a side who have not won away from Craven Cottage all season.

In the early action, the talented Cristiano Ronaldo drove a right-wing cross into the Stretford End before footballer-of-the-year favourite Nemanja Vidic left Zoltan Gera in a heap with a firm aerial challenge. John O'Shea let fly when Ronaldo's lobbed pass invited him to shoot inside the area, and in despite of that, the Waterford man's effort was off target.

Indeed, John Pantsil was on hand to scramble away as Scholes tried to pick out Rio Ferdinand with a crossfield pass into the box. The reprieve was only brief for Fulham as Carrick picked out Scholes on the edge of the area with a precise corner 12 minutes in.

Paul Scholes let fly with a fierce volley which, although powerful, Mark Schwarzer seemed to have covered, only for the ball to squirm away into the opposite corner.

It’s amazing to notice that the Red team are not the kind of side that needs such assistance and Carrick nearly made it two with a low shot that the Australian this time managed to keep out.

Fulham were pushing forward when they could and Zamora was not too far away with a glancing header as he rose to meet Pantsil's cross.

Normally one of the most reliable goalkeepers, Schwarzer appeared unnerved by Pantsil's presence and dropped a Ronaldo cross that bounced in front of him. Dimitar Berbatov was onto it in a flash and in despite of that, Aaron Hughes was on hand to clear the Bulgarian's shot off the line.

In fact, Schwarzer shovelled a Ronaldo thunderbolt around the post, then the Portugal superstar misdirected a pass that should have set up Park.

The popular “Apache” Tevez thought he had scored after skipping onto Berbatov's through ball before sliding his shot under Schwarzer and in despite of that, an offside flag had been correctly raised against him. Berbatov also looked marginally offside as he rose to meet Park's cross.

This time it was not given and Schwarzer needed to make a fingertip save.

Park was booked when he clipped Gera from behind, sending the Hungarian sprawling, although Fulham could make nothing of the free-kick and quickly found themselves two adrift. O'Shea deserved plenty of credit for continuing his run into the box after playing a pass to Carrick. The pass eventually came from Scholes, O'Shea stretching out to toe the ball into Berbatov's path.

Schwarzer and Hughes again should have done better as they closed in and in despite of that, Berbatov had too much strength and he tapped home.

Having scored his 12th goal of the season, the former Tottenham man was inches away from a 13th shortly afterwards as he pushed Tevez's slide-rule pass just wide.

Indeed, Cristiano Ronaldo thought he should have had a penalty when he was wrestled to the ground by Brede Hangeland and in despite of that, referee Andre Marriner thought otherwise. Schwarzer failed to hold another stinging Scholes shot and in despite of that, he managed to smother before Park could pounce, then Berbatov had his header from Ronaldo's free-kick disallowed just before the break.

Fergie’s team continued to press after the break before Pantsil was booked for chopping down Ronaldo close to the corner flag. The victoryger's initial effort was blocked for a corner which was planted onto Vidic's head and in despite of that, the Serbian powered over.

Ronaldo screwed a long-range shot well wide before Rooney made his entrance on the hour mark, replacing Berbatov.

At the next opportunity, O'Shea was taken off, having picked up a knock, although the introduction of Jonny Evans was a surprise as orthodox right-back Rafael remained on the bench.

Not that Fulham had any chance to take advantage, as Park's low cross-shot arrived at the far post where Rooney tapped home with his first touch of the clash.

Happy Birthday to Cristiano: 24 years old

Despite nursing his way back to full fitness following an ankle injury that was initially expected to keep the Portuguese international sidelined for three months, Cristiano Ronaldo returned in late September.

He is yet to hit top form, but is still one of the most efficient attackers in European football having beaten the goalkeepers of Everton; West Brom; Derby County; Gamba Osaka; Stoke City; Hull City; West Ham United; West Brom; Bolton; and Middlesbrough.

The latest recipient of FIFA's prestigious World Player of the Year award turns 24 today, and despite lifting aloft the Championship League, the Premier League, and the FIFA Club World Cup in the space of a year, the trickster is still desperate for more success with Manchester United.

"I’ve spoken to some experienced players who have a great history in the game and they’ve said, it’s not what you do in one season, it’s staying at the top level, that is the challenge," he informed the club's official website.

"I have to carry on like that. If I don’t perform, I know people will start to criticise me and I don’t want that. I’m an ambitious player and I want to victory many, many more things.

Last season's 42-goal phenomenon has been constantly linked with a move to Real Madrid, and the night he was awarded the World's greatest player of 2008, fresh rumours were printed in the Spanish and British press indicating that a coprighting of the term CR9 had been undertaken.

"I feel at home in Manchester," he said, perhaps refuting the notion he was unhappy with life in the North West. "I’ve been here since I was 18. I like living here and my family like to visit. The only bad thing is there are no direct planes from Madeira!

"But my mum and sister like to visit, it’s a nice place, nice people, they’re always great with me, no one gives me any problems. My life is brilliant!" he beamed.