Madrid, Nov 4 (IANS): Real Madrid president Florentino Perez on Saturday praised the club's football team and painted an optimistic picture of the future, despite the struggling start to the season that has left Los Blancos in ninth place in the Spanish league

On Monday, Perez fired head coach Julen Lopetegui after a series of poor results in his debut campaign, including a five-match winless skid in La Liga, reports Efe news.

"We've got a great squad which has proved that it's capable of winning everything going. I want to state that all of our targets for this season remain intact," Perez said during a speech at an award ceremony for longtime club members, as quoted on Real Madrid's website on Saturday.

"For the first time in this club's history and the first time in sporting history, we're the European champions in football and basketball in the same season," the president reiterated.

"We're a club with a financial strength which will allow us to continue to remain competitive in what's an increasingly complex landscape," he added.

Perez also stressed that the redevelopment of Santiago Bernabeu stadium is to begin in the near future, and that this would in turn bring new resources and revenue streams to the club.