THE STRONGEST SQUAD

Real Madrid's director of institutional relations Emilio Butragueno has said that this is by far the strongest squad Real Madrid have had in their history.

This comes as a major statement just ahead of the Champions League encounter with CSKA Moscow for Real Madrid.

José Mourinho has been one of the main reasons for Real Madrid to be extremely strong in the domestic league this season. It has been a different season in Spain were the likes of Valencia and Barcelona have struggled to exert their dominance on the lower teams. Despite this, Real Madrid have been extremely dominant, which easily shows in the 10 point advantage they have over Barcelona.

There have been many successful squads at Real Madrid over the years, but Emilio Butragueno has claimed that the current squad is probably the best in the history of the club. This comes as a controversial statement due to the fact that the squad, which contains the likes of Kaka and Cristiano Ronaldo, is yet to do anything of substance in the Champions League.

In fact, they have not even entered into the semifinals of the Champions League, but this season may be different. José Mourinho could become the first manager to win the Champions League with three different clubs.

"This is probably Real Madrid's best-ever squad. I really think this is the most complete team in the club's history. Just look at the situation of [Gonzalo] Higuain for example. He is one of the best attackers in the world and he has hardly played in recent months. [Karim] Benzema has returned to the team and has scored a lot. We are talking about a very complete squad here," Butragueno said to Marca.

Real Madrid come into the CSKA Moscow match with a slender lead from the first leg, though according to the latest Champions League odds they are firm favourites to qualify for the Quarter Finals.