AC Milan striker Ronaldo has been ruled out of the Club World Cup Final in Japan on Sunday.
''We had a long word with the doctors and decided not to risk him. He'll have plenty of time to get back in shape when Serie A resumes on January 13,'' Ancelotti said.
The Brazil legend, who pulled a calf muscle while warming up for a Champions League match on November 28, had been very eager to get his first taste of serious action this season.
''But the doctors said we shouldn't risk him, even for a quarter of an hour,'' Ancelotti said.
The 31-year-old 'Phenomenon' has been out all season with a calf strain, apart from a few minutes against Cagliari last month.
He had been expected to be in the squad to face likely final opponents Boca Juniors of Argentina in Yokohama.
Milan midfield ace Andrea Pirlo said Tuesday: ''He really, really wants to get back and we need him''.
But Milan have plenty of other fire power up front including Italy strikers Alberto Gilardino and Filippo Inzaghi.
European champs Milan have won the tournament - formerly the Intercontinental Cup - twice in the last 20 years but most of the current crop of players will only remember the three defeats in the 1990s.
Goal-getter Inzaghi, who recently became UEFA's all-time top scorer, says he is determined to get on the score sheet in the one tournament he has yet to leave his mark on.
''I'll be going all out for the net,'' said the 34-year-old, whose two goals doomed Liverpool in the European Champions League Final in May.
Milan face Japanese champs Urawa Red Diamonds in the semis on Thursday while Argentine champs Boca meet Tunisia's Etoile Sahel a day earlier in Tokyo.
The Club World Cup runs from December 7-16 in Japan and pits the champions of each continent in a straight knock-out tournament.
Barring major upsets, Milan and Boca Juniors, who beat the Italian side in the 2003 Intercontinental Cup Final, will meet in the final in Yokohama on Sunday.
Both sides won the South American-European Intercontinental Cup three times but have never won the three-year-old Club World Cup.
