Viktor Goncharenko: 'Manchester United side strongest since Alex Ferguson days'

CSKA Moscow manager Viktor Goncharenko has claimed that the current Manchester United team is the best since the retirement of Sir Alex Ferguson.

Both teams started their Champions League campaigns with wins as the Red Devils comfortably beat Basel 3-0 and CSKA claimed a 2-1 win over Benfica.

On Wednesday, CSKA and United go head to head at the VEB Arena and Goncharenko is predicting a tough encounter against the Premier League giants, who lost the legendary Scottish manager to retirement in 2013.

"After Alex Ferguson's legacy, this current version of Manchester United is without any doubt the strongest team," Goncharenko told Sky Sports News.

"It's quite hard to argue because Alex Ferguson has created so many versions of strong Manchester United [teams]. We can compare it with 1999, 2003 versions, so there was lots of great squads and great teams."

Antonio Valencia, Michael Carrick, Paul Pogba and Marouane Fellaini are among the players not to have made the trip to Moscow for Jose Mourinho's side.