by Mark Bassey

Cristiano Ronaldo will be available for selection this weekend and manager Carlo Ancelotti says he is happy to have his star player back.

The Portugal international was banned for two matches, after he picked up a straight red card in a 2-1 win over Cordoba in January.

With James Rodriguez suffering a broken foot and Sergio Ramos going off with a suspected hamstring tear against Sevilla on Wednesday, Ancelotti was eager to look on the bright side.

“Cristiano Ronaldo’s comeback is important for us,” he told reporters. “It’s very good news.

“We won two games without him, but he’s certainly going to help us against Atletico.”

Marcelo is also likely to miss the weekend’s derby against Atletico Madrid, but Ancelotti confirmed that the club will appeal the yellow card he picked up.

“We will appeal Marcelo’s yellow because it was not a foul on Vitolo but Fabio Coentrao trained this morning and is available for the derby,” the Italian coach said.

“We’ll have less experience without Pepe and Sergio Ramos, but we’ll have the enthusiasm of Nacho and Raphael Varane.”