REAL MADRID
The LaLiga and Champions League unbeaten records Real Madrid can break this season
Carlo Ancelotti’s team are currently on long undefeated streaks in Spain and the UCL. They could make history in the coming weeks and months.
On Tuesday (September 24), a year will have passed since Real Madrid were last defeated in LaLiga. Atlético were the last team to beat Carlo Ancelotti’s side in the Spanish league, with the city rivals set to lock horns again at the Metropolitano at the end of the month (Sunday, September 29).
In fact, no one other than Atleti has tasted victory against the Champions League holders in a competitive game in 16 months. As well as that league win, Diego Simeone’s side also dumped Los Blancos out of the Copa del Rey after extra time in January this year. The last team other than Los Colchoneros to defeat Madrid was Valencia in May 2023, a game overshadowed by Vinícius Júnior being the target of racist abuse at Mestalla.
All in all, Real Madrid are undefeated in their last 50 games in LaLiga and the Champions League combined. Since they were beaten by Atleti in the Copa del Rey, they have pieced together a 33-match unbeaten streak. And that extends to 55 games if we only consider those played over 90 minutes.
Numbers which could see Ancelotti’s team break more all-time records. Some have already tumbled.
Which team has the longest unbeaten streak in LaLiga? When can Madrid break it?
Until this year, Los Merengues’ longest unbeaten run in LaLiga was 30 games, starting at the end of the 1987-88 season and continuing into 1988-89. However, the current Madrid side are currently on a streak of 37 league games without defeat, which is the third best of any club since LaLiga was founded in 1929.
If they avoid defeat to Espanyol on Saturday (September 21, 3pm ET), Real Sociedad’s 38-game sequence in 1979 and 1980 will be equalled. The 15-time European champions would then have to win or draw their next five LaLiga games to match Barcelona’s record of 43 without defeat in 2017 and 2018.
As fate would have it, they can equal that tally against Barça in El Clásico at Estadio Santiago Bernabéu on the weekend of October 27, and could take the record outright the following week against Valencia at Mestalla.
Which team has the longest unbeaten streak in the Champions League?
Ancelotti will also be setting his sights on setting Champions League milestones. Last season, Madrid won the tournament without losing a game, the first time they had ever done so. That feat had previously been achieved by 15 other winners, but never by the Spaniards.
After Tuesday’s victory over Stuttgart, Los Blancos are now undefeated in their last 14 UCL fixtures, which is approaching a club record. After surprisingly losing to Wolfsburg in the first leg of the quarterfinals in 2016, Zinedine Zidane’s Madrid embarked on a 15-game unbeaten run, which came to an end against Atlético Madrid in the semifinal second leg in 2017.
They are still some way off the all-time Champions League record, but would you bet against them beating it? It may be hard to believe it now, but Manchester United have the longest undefeated streak in UCL history, and by some distance.
Under Sir Alex Ferguson, The Red Devils avoided defeat in 25 matches between September 2007 and May 2009, when they lost to Barcelona in the final. Ajax and Bayern Munich are next on 19, while United have also had two 16-game unbeaten sequences, along with Barça.
When can Real Madrid break the UCL record?
To break the Premier League giants’ overall record, Real Madrid would have to reach the quarterfinals of this year’s tournament without losing a game (provided they avoid the knockout round playoffs).