Real Madrid's best European XI: Cristiano Ronaldo leads frightening attack

With Real Madrid set to face Liverpool in Saturday's Champions League final, theScore takes a look back at the players who helped Los Blancos become one of European football's most revered clubs.

GK: Iker Casillas

Based on the evidence above, it's hard to imagine future versions of Real Madrid's all-time teams without Casillas remaining one of few no-brainer inclusions, and that is a huge testament to both his ability and impact in the Spanish capital. The club's second-most-capped player won a trio of Champions League titles during a 16-year spell that saw the local kid blossom, thanks to incredible reflexes and agility, into one of the most trusted goalkeepers to ever play the game.

RWB: Sergio Ramos

At 32, Ramos has already solidified himself as a Real legend. Since his arrival from Sevilla as a teenager, he has gone on to carve out one of the most successful careers ever enjoyed by a defender at the Santiago Bernabeu, leading the famous club to four La Liga championships and three Champions League crowns. Despite having developed a reputation as a player with a short fuse, Ramos is compiling winner's medals at a furious rate.

CB: Fernando Hierro

A lot of credit has to go to Hierro for Los Blancos' reemergence as an indomitable force in the 1990s. The central defender was influential in bringing the type of success that had been absent since the days of adored 1950s- and '60s-era heroes such as Alfredo Di Stefano and Paco Gento (see below). Over the span of 14 years, the versatile defender - a prolific set-piece specialist - scored a remarkable 127 goals in 601 matches and helped Real end a 32-year drought in 1998 with the first of three Champions League triumphs in five years.

LWB: Roberto Carlos

Roberto Carlos, Real Madrid's most-capped foreign-born player with 527 appearances, had the pace and fearlessness necessary to be a successful full-back. But it was his left foot many will recall whenever the Brazilian's name is mentioned. Widely considered the most attack-minded defender to ever play, Carlos was famous for a cannon of a left foot - his shots regularly reached speeds of 140 km/h. His consistent phenomenal control and crossing ability made him a nightmare to deal with whenever he surged into the opponent's final third, and the left-back, a teammate of Casillas, Ramos, and Hierro in his time in Madrid, ended his Real career with three Champions League titles to go along with 10 other major trophies in 11 years.

RW: Pirri

Pirri could do it all. Widely considered one of Real's most loyal servants during a career in Madrid that spanned 16 years, he is remembered for his leadership on the pitch, famously playing in the 1971 European Cup Winners' Cup final with his arm in a sling and navigating the 1975 Copa del Rey final with both a fever and a broken jaw. Despite winning a single European Cup, a modest total for a leading Real star, Pirri's dedication saw him become just the second Los Blancos player to receive the club's highest distinction, the Laureate.

CM: Luka Modric

Perhaps one of Madrid's most underrated players over the past decade, Luka Modric has been arguably one of the most significant signings outside of Cristiano Ronaldo. The Croatian midfielder has been an integral part of the club's three Champions League triumphs this decade but often fails to garner the respect he deserves as he goes about his business in a subtle manner which is regularly overshadowed by the glow of a star-studded attacking unit. Modric's ability to dictate the pace of matches and find his teammates with pinpoint passes generally results in opportunities for his team to put pressure on opposing back lines.

CM: Zinedine Zidane

When Zinedine Zidane joined Real as a soon-to-be 29-year-old in 2001, he began an unforgettable five years in Madrid. The world-record transfer fee paid to Juventus resulted in European glory less than a year later when the French star scored one of the greatest goals in Champions League history. Zidane's audacious volley, on his weaker left foot, was the most perfect ending imaginable to his first season in Spain, as he got his hands on European club football's most prized trophy.

LW: Paco Gento

Real Madrid was a continental giant from the get-go, winning the first five European Cups from 1956-60. That reign of dominance helped spawn the legendary career of Paco Gento, a unique player during his era who possessed pace, vision, and goal-scoring ability that helped vault Madrid into the global spotlight. Gento spent nearly two decades at Real, and to this day, his personal total of six European Cups remains unmatched.

ST: Raul

Before Cristiano Ronaldo, Raul was the most prolific goalscorer in Real Madrid's history as the pacey, left-footed striker found the back of the net with regularity. The Spanish forward finished his career as Real Madrid's leader in appearances with 741 during a memorable spell that saw him lift the Champions League trophy on three occasions.

ST: Cristiano Ronaldo

Cristiano Ronaldo's significance is unparalleled after leading Madrid to three Champions League titles in four seasons since his arrival at the Santiago Bernabeu in 2009. There's hardly a club record that doesn't belong to the Portuguese star, who in just nine years has soared past Di Stefano and Raul to become the club's all-time leading scorer with over 400 goals. The 33-year-old showed signs of slowing to begin 2017-18, but quickly quelled talk of regression by scoring in 11 consecutive Champions League matches to bring his overall scoring record in the tournament to 120 goals.

CF: Alfredo Di Stefano

Di Stefano, alongside prolific Hungarian goalscorer Ferenc Puskas, went on to become one of the most revered players in the history of the game after his arrival in Madrid in 1953 coincided with one of the most successful and dominant periods in club football. Real won eight league titles in his 11 years at the club, and Di Stefano finished with a then-club-record 216 league goals in 262 appearances. His performance in his fifth and last European Cup final is still regarded as one of the finest individual displays ever witnessed as the then-33-year-old treated supporters at Hampden Park to a masterclass exhibition that resulted in him scoring a hat-trick in a 7-3 thumping of Eintracht Frankfurt in 1960.

Honourable mention: Puskas, Ronaldo (Brazil), Luis Figo, Marcelo, Chendo, Fernando Redondo, Emiliano Butragueno, Amancio Amaro