11 wins and a draw: Real Madrid equal their best-ever start

Real Madrid’s victory away to Getafe on Saturday night moved them back to the top of LaLiga for at least 24 hours, before Barcelona face Celta Vigo in the late game at Camp Nou on Sunday evening.

Los Blancos have won seven of their first eight league matches this season and 11 of their 12 fixtures in all competitions. In addition to sitting in first place in LaLiga, they’ve already won a trophy, defeating Eintracht Frankfurt in the European Super Cup final in August, and are all but through to the Champions League knockout stages having played only three of their six group stage games.

It’s been an impressive start to the campaign, perhaps even more so than we’ve all realised.

Real Madrid have won 11 and drawn one of their first 12 matches for just the second time ever

In their entire 120-year history, only once have Real Madrid begun the season with 11 wins (and a draw) from 12 games. Carlo Ancelotti’s team have equalled the record set all the way back in 1928-29, a season in which Los Blancos competed in the augural edition of the Primera División and also the Campeonato Regional Centro, a competition for clubs based primarily in the Castille region of Spain, which included the Community of Madrid.

The fact that Madrid could be knocked back off the top of the table come the end of the weekend despite equalling their best-ever start suggests that they and bitter rivals Barcelona could be in for a tight season-long battle to be crowned LaLiga champions.

A slight concern for Ancelotti will be his team’s inability to pull away from opponents, with missed opportunities against Getafe and Shakhtar Donetsk in the last week leaving the results in those games somewhat in the balance when they really shouldn’t have been. The Italian was, however, very pleased with his team finally keeping a clean sheet at Coliseum Alfonso Pérez, which, despite their excellent start, was their first shutout in LaLiga this term.

Real Madrid and Barcelona play in El Clásico on 16 October

There is little to choose between Real Madrid and Barcelona ahead of the first Clásico of the season, which will take place next weekend, on Sunday 16 October. Another victory at the Santiago Bernabéu would turn this Madrid team into record breakers and give them a psychological edge over the Catalans as they bid to retain their domestic league title.