David Moyes' Sociedad travel to Santiago Bernabeu on Saturday looking for a rare double against the European champions.
Of Sociedad's five league wins this season, three have come against Real, Barcelona and Atletico Madrid, highlighting their ability.
His absence on this occasion comes after the FIFA Ballon d'Or winner was suspended for two matches for kicking out at Cordoba defender Edimar and then raising a hand to strike him in the face last Saturday.
Ronaldo lost his temper after failing to make an impact in the clash against the Liga strugglers and was given his marching orders with eight minutes left, although there was still time for Gareth Bale to net an 89th-minute penalty in a 2-1 win.
It remains to be seen whether Madrid will give new signing Lucas Silva his debut after the 21-year-old joined from Cruzeiro on Monday.
The highly rated Brazilian joins Martin Odegaard's as the club's major January signings.
While Madrid are preparing for the future, Sociedad will look to the past for inspiration to beat Real twice in the league since 2004, following up a 1-0 home win with a 4-1 success at the Bernabeu in May of that year. Playing on both occasions for Madrid were Brazil great Ronaldo, Raul, Luis Figo and Roberto Carlos.
Madrid have won nine of the last 11 meetings between the two sides, but maybe Moyes can look to his impressive record against Carlo Ancelotti for inspiration.
The Scot's Everton side beat Ancelotti's Chelsea in both the 2009-10 and 2010-11 Premier League seasons, while they also dumped them out of the FA Cup in February 2011.
