Barcelona somehow emerged from their game against Sevilla last weekend with their long unbeaten league run intact thanks to late Luis Suarez and Lionel Messi goals. That improbable 2-2 draw extended their unbeaten streak in La Liga to 37 games.
That’s already a club record. Their previous best was 31 games set by Pep Guardiola’s side in 2010-11. Now, they’re just one game away from matching the all-time league record, currently held by Real Sociedad. The Basque side went 38 games without losing in Spain’s top flight between 1979 and 1980.
If Barca can avoid defeat against Leganes at Camp Nou on Saturday, they will draw level with La Real. They could then take the record outright with a draw or a win against Valencia at home next weekend.
With that in mind, ESPN FC looks at the longest-ever unbeaten streaks in La Liga.
1. Real Sociedad: 38 games (1979-80)
Perhaps the biggest travesty of La Real‘s long unbeaten run is that they weren’t able to crown it with the league title. After ending the 1978-79 season with six unbeaten games, they began the following campaign by going 32 games without defeat, taking the streak up to an impressive 38 games.
At the time, there were only 18 teams in La Liga, so when they lost in the 33rd game of the season to Sevilla, there was only one more game to go. However, that defeat ultimately cost them as it allowed Real Madrid to leapfrog them in the table, despite the fact Los Blancos had already lost three games that season.
La Real‘s problem was they drew too many games — 14 that season — and while they achieved a record that still stands today, they didn’t win a trophy. (They did go on to win the league in each of the next two years, mind, their only two titles to date.)
In total, they won 22 of the 38 games, drawing the other 16 before finally being beaten.
2. Barcelona: 37 games* (2017-2018)
Like Sociedad’s run, Barca’s current streak spans two campaigns starting with the seven successive wins Luis Enrique’s side racked up at the end of last season. Ernesto Valverde picked up (in La Liga, at least) where Luis Enrique left off. The former Athletic coach has yet to experience a loss in the league since taking on the job last summer.
Barca are unbeaten through 30 games this season and have built a nine-point gap between themselves and Atletico, who are second. Real Madrid, meanwhile, are 13 points back in third. During Barca’s 37-game run, they’ve won 30 matches and drawn seven, with just Sevilla, Las Palmas, Atletico, Valencia, Celta Vigo, Espanyol and Getafe capable of even taking a point off them.
Avoid defeat against Leganes and Valencia in the next week and they will leapfrog Real Sociedad. Thoughts will then turn to the next domestic challenge: becoming Spain’s first ever team to go through an entire league campaign unbeaten.
3. Barcelona: 31 games (2010-2011)
Pep Guardiola’s Barcelona suffered a shock 2-0 defeat at Camp Nou against Hercules in the second game of the 2010-11 season. Rather than lead to a crisis though, that result proved the catalyst for a third successive league title. After all, that loss was followed by a 31-game unbeaten streak, which included the famous 5-0 win against Jose Mourinho’s Madrid in Catalonia.
The run was eventually ended by Real Sociedad, although it didn’t stop Barca ending the season with 96 points and another league title — although Madrid were only four points back in the end. In total, Guardiola’s side won 27 games and drew four before suffering what proved a minor setback at Anoeta.
4. Real Madrid: 31 games (1988-1989)
Madrid’s longest unbeaten streak also covers two seasons and was achieved by the famous side known as “La Quinta del Buitre,” which won five consecutive league titles between 1986 and 1990.
Coached by Leo Beenhakker, Madrid finished the 1987-88 season with three unbeaten games and were rampant at the start of the following campaign, going unbeaten through 28 matches before finally losing to Celta Vigo. Things got worse for Madrid a few days later when they were hammered 5-0 by AC Milan in the European Cup semifinal.
Their unbeaten run featured 21 wins and 10 draws and contributed to another league title, their fourth in a row as they enjoyed domestic domination in the years before Johan Cruyff’s Barca took off.
5. Real Madrid: 29 games (1996-97)
Madrid came close to matching their own personal best less than a decade later but came up two games short when they were beaten by local rivals Rayo Vallecano in the 25th game of the 1996-97 season.
As well as the 24 games at the start of that campaign, Madrid had ended the previous season with four wins and a draw. In total, the run took in 20 wins and nine draws and contributed to another league title, with Fabio Capello’s Madrid ending the season two points ahead of Bobby Robson’s Barca.
Samuel Marsden covers Barcelona for ESPN FC. Follow him on Twitter @SamuelMarsden.
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