Marseille defender Souleymane Diawara is ready to apologise to Real Madrid winger Cristiano Ronaldo for the tackle which sidelined Portuguese superstar for two months.

With l'OM trailing 1-0 during the sides UEFA Champions League clash back in September, Diawara launched himself into a challenge on Ronaldo for which he was promptly dismissed.

Although Kaka went on to score the resultant penalty and CR9 swept home a third for Los Blancos, it was revealed after the match that Ronaldo had sustained a serious ankle injury, forcing him to miss a number of crucial games.

Now the pair are ready to come face-to-face again when l'OM host Real at the Stade Velodrome on Tuesday night, and Diawara has revealed that he shall apologise to the 24-year-old before kick-off and insisted that he is not a dirty player.

"It was in the heat of the game, nothing more, I'm not a violent player, I've never hurt anyone," the Frenchman told Spanish sports daily Marca.

"I'll greet him and tell him that I regret (what happened) but Ronaldo is a good person, a great footballer who knows very well that I didn't want to hurt him."