Unbeaten series of football clubs. Longest unbeaten streaks in Europe Winning streak in football

"Spartak Moscow)

Season: 1994
Unbeaten streak: 12 matches
Who stopped:“Spartak” (Vladikavkaz) – 0:1

The above-mentioned unbeaten streak of 12 matches was achieved by Spartak Moscow in the third edition of the Russian Championship, which, like the two previous tournaments, they won. Oleg Romantsev's team made an excellent start to defending their title, scoring ten wins with two draws at the start of the championship. However, the 13th round turned out to be truly unlucky for the red and white. Strongest team Russia of the 90s unexpectedly stumbled in Vladikavkaz, where it lost to the local Spartak with a minimal score. This defeat remained the only one for Muscovites that season.

A notable detail of the game in North Ossetia is the fact that he did not enter the field from the first minutes best sniper capital team Vladimir Beschastnykh. Before the match with the Vladikavkaz Spartak team, the Russian national team forward scored ten goals in 12 championship matches. Immediately after the disastrous match, Beschastnykh moved to Werder Bremen, and for the rest of the tournament, none of his former partners managed to surpass the number of goals he scored.

"Spartak Moscow)

Season: 2000
Unbeaten streak: 10 matches
Who stopped:“Saturn” – 0:2

At the beginning of the second millennium, Moscow Spartak won its eighth gold medal, which became the penultimate for the “people's team” to date. The final success was largely due to a confident spurt at the beginning of the championship, which resulted in nine wins and one draw. In the opening rounds, only Lokomotiv managed to give battle to the future triumphant, taking two points from the red and white. At the beginning of April 2000, an incredible number of spectators came to watch the capital derby - 65,000. However, unfortunately for them, the match ended in a goalless draw.

Oleg Romantsev’s team was defeated in the 11th round of the Premier League. The offender was a team from the Moscow region - Ramensky's Saturn, which beat the most titled club in the country with a score of 2:0.

Lokomotiv (Moscow)

Season: 2002
Unbeaten streak: 10 matches
Who stopped:“Wings of the Soviets” – 0:1

During the spring period of the RFPL, the railway workers created a solid foundation for themselves, which ultimately helped Yuri Semin’s team first reduce the determination of the champion to a golden match with CSKA, and then win the first title in Russian history. In the first ten rounds, Lokomotiv left the field as winners eight times, only to stumble in the game against Krylya Sovetov. The “locomotive” rushed to Samara as the sole leader, but they failed to break the resistance of the owners. Moreover, the “wings”, through the efforts of the current head coach of Zenit-2, Vladislav Radimov, scored the only goal in the meeting. And this result is worth a lot, since the railway workers’ defense was fine-tuned to barracks order, as evidenced by only 14 goals conceded in 30 matches.

Lokomotiv (Moscow)

Season: 2005
Unbeaten streak: 20 matches
Who stopped:"Rubin" – 1:3

Lokomotiv, having won its second championship title in the 2004 season, was considered one of the main contenders for gold in the next tournament. In fact, the “railroad workers” faced a turning point year, during which Yuri Semin, after almost 19 years (with some interruptions) of working for the benefit of the red-greens, accepted an invitation to lead the Russian national team. For a long time, Loko did not notice the absence of the main creator of victories in modern history club. Under the leadership of Vladimir Eshtrekov, the team confidently held the lead in the table of ranks throughout 16 rounds. Loko's unbeaten starting streak was 20 matches: 12 wins with eight draws. However, the most impressive thing was the number of goals conceded by Sergei Ovchinnikov during this period - there were only six of them.

The defeat that broke Lokomotiv happened in the capital of Tatarstan, where Rubin scored three goals against the undisputed leader. The red-greens managed to get one goal back, but the guests were not capable of more. On top of that, Dmitry Sychev suffered a serious injury in Kazan, after which the promising forward never returned to his previous level.

In the rest of the season, Lokomotiv won only two victories, drew eight times and suffered another fiasco - this time from Torpedo (0:3). The lost advantage was only enough for bronze medals in the Premier League. It is worth noting that Lokomotiv went down in the history of domestic football as the first team that started with an unbeaten streak of ten or more meetings, but did not win the championship title at the end of the season.

Zenit (St. Petersburg)

Season: 2010
Unbeaten streak: 23 matches
Who stopped:“Spartak” (Moscow) – 0:1

This season, the team from the banks of the Neva was led by Italian specialist Luciano Spalletti, who, on the first try, managed to achieve a golden double with Zenit in the domestic arena. And the triumphant campaign began with an impressive 23-match unbeaten streak, which included 17 wins and six draws. The blue-white-sky blues looked so powerful and respectable along the way that experts began to seriously talk about a season-long undefeated streak. The Russian giant failed to repeat the achievement of London Arsenal in 2004. In the rescheduled match of the 16th round, Zenit misfired, losing away to Moscow Spartak with a minimal score. The only goal in the match was scored by Dmitry Kombarov from the 11-meter mark at the end of the match. True, at the end of the confrontation, they discussed not the interrupted streak of the St. Petersburg team, but the clash between the red-and-white head coach Valery Karpin and Zenit midfielder Igor Denisov.

However, neither the defeat from Spartak nor the subsequent setback in the game against CSKA prevented Zenit from finishing confidently in first place in the table.

Zenit (St. Petersburg)

Season: 2014/2015
Unbeaten streak: 12 matches
Who stopped:“Terek” – 1:3

Zenit spent the debut of the 2014/2015 season beyond all praise. The St. Petersburg team, led by Andre Villas-Boas, surpassed Rubin Kazan's record for the number of victories in a row in the opening period of the championship, beating their opponents in the first eight rounds. Then the blue-white-blues were content with two draws: with Spartak and Krasnodar. And then they left no stone unturned against Mordovia - 5:0, and achieved an advantage in the most important match against CSKA - 2:1. True, already in the next round, Zenit experienced the full bitterness of defeat, losing at Petrovsky to Grozny's Terek (1:3). Among the triumphants, it is worth noting Ailton, who scored a double and subsequently became known as a real specialist in St. Petersburg.

This was the only time when such a long streak without defeat at the start of the season was interrupted in front of its own fans.

Once I already talked about the most. Now I want to talk about record winning streaks. True, last time we talked only about the leading European championships, but now we’ll talk about all of Europe.

Longest winning streaks of European football clubs

15 matches

"Real Madrid.
"Sparta".
"Bavaria".
Bangor City (Wales).

I'll start with those who won 15 matches in a row. Real Madrid did this in the 1960-1961 season, and its lead over second-place compatriots Atlético Madrid was 12 points (even though a victory was then awarded two points). Sparta Prague achieved the same lead, winning 15 victories in a row in the 1999-2000 season. True, already with a three-point system.

For Bayern Munich, a landslide victory in the German Championship is not something out of the ordinary. But a dozen victories in a row don’t happen every year. The Munich team succeeded in this in 2004-2005 under the leadership of Felix Magath.

The modest Welsh “Bangor City” has wormed its way into the company of two European superclubs and one middle peasant. This team was notable because it was founded almost a century and a half ago, and its home stadium seats only 1,500 spectators. But in the 2010-2011 season, Bangor wrote another line in its history. The team won the national championship for the third time, and 15 of 22 victories were won in a row.

16 matches

"Olympiacos".
"Barcelona".

Despite 16 wins in a row in the 2005-2006 season, the 35th Greek title was not easy for Olympiacos - they managed to beat AEK by only three points.

The same thing happened to Barça in the 2009-2010 season. Despite the record number of points for Primera - 99, Real managed to be ahead by only three. At the same time, both Barça and Real won 31 victories in 38 matches, setting a record both for the total number of victories in the championship and for their percentage of the number of matches played.

17 matches

"Dynamo" Moscow.
"Valur" (Iceland).
"Steaua".
"Dinamo" Bucharest.
Inter Milan.

The largest list of teams is those who were able to win 17 victories in a row, there are as many as five of them. Our “Dynamo” opens this list. It was a special championship - 1945, which began a few days after the end of the Great Patriotic War. In total, Dynamo won 19 victories in 22 matches, but they managed to beat CDKA by only one point.

The humble Icelandic Valur in 1978, set a powerful record - not only did it win 17 matches in a row. There were 18 games in the tournament, and only once during the entire championship did Valur play a draw.

But what happens next is even more interesting. The fact is that Steaua and Dynamo achieved a similar achievement during the same championship. As a result, Steaua scored 64 points, and Dynamo - 63 and became the only club on this list who, after an outstanding winning streak, failed to win the national championship.

Against this background, the achievement of Inter Milan in the 2006-2007 season looks almost ordinary. Moreover, many, especially Juventus fans, are skeptical about the Nerazzurri records of that time. And that season was the first after “Calcipoli”, and the “old lady” spent it in Serie “B”. The only thing that can be noted is that Inter won 17 victories in a row from the start of the championship.

18 matches

Another representative of Iceland, this time with a name that is difficult to pronounce. Hafnarfjörður is the most successful Icelandic club in the new century. In 2004 the team became champions, winning 5 last matches contract.

Hafnarfjörður started the 2005 Icelandic Championship with 13 wins in a row and became the champion ahead of schedule, winning 16 out of 18 matches in total.

22 matches

The 1987-1988 season was the best for the Dutch club. The team added a victory in the Champions Cup to the championship title and national Cup. And 22 victories in a row in the championship became a pleasant bonus to the titles.

And that team was coached by our good friend Guus Hiddink, who had not yet become Ivanovich.

25 matches

"Celtic".

The Scottish giants set many records, but in terms of the number of consecutive wins, Celtic left their rivals Rangers far behind. In the 2003-2004 and 2004-2005 seasons, the Catholics won 22 matches in a row.

However, they won the championship only in the first of these seasons; in the next, the “Protestants” already excelled.

28 matches

"Dynamo" Zagreb.

Dinamo Zagreb's winning streak stretched over two championships. Interestingly, 22 of the 28 victories occurred in the 2006-2007 season, when Dynamo, which confidently won the championship, changed as many as four coaches.

29 matches

Benfica.

In the 1972-1973 Portuguese Championship, Benfica achieved perhaps a unique record by winning 28 and drawing 2 of their 30 matches.

But the main feature is that the club began its winning streak in the 1971-1972 season, and in the calendar year 1972, the Eagles won all the championship matches! Thus, if you look at the calendar, Benfica’s winning streak lasted for an entire year!

What doesn't happen in football!

Real Madrid's recent 40-game unbeaten streak brought to mind other similar impressive records.

The Romanian Steaua, which in 1986-1989 did not lose in 119 matches in a row, has no competition here!

The achievement is unique, especially since Steaua successfully played not only in the Romanian championship, but also in the European Cup, winning the tournament in 1986, and three years later reaching the final. But still I will talk about clubs from leading European championships.

Longest unbeaten streaks of European football clubs

"Manchester United"

Year: 1998-1999.
Matches without defeat: 33.

This is the same legendary United that made its own. The unbeaten streak of the Mancunians lasted exactly five months - from December 26, 1998 to May 26, 2999, and included the famous final.

Interestingly, before the start of the series, Manchester United lost at home to Mildsbrough 2:3. But after the first half, the “red devils” were 0:3, and in the second half they almost saved the game. And it was in that season that the famous concept of “Fergie time” appeared.

"Real Madrid

Year: 1988-1989.
Matches without defeat: 34.

That Real Madrid dominated Spain with five consecutive league titles, from 1986 to 1990.

At that time there was still a limit on foreign players, so the Spaniards were in charge of Real Madrid - Sanchis, Michel, Butragueno, and the main one impact force The team had a foreigner - a Mexican scorer.

"Milan"

Year: 1991-1992.
Matches without defeat: 36.

This is perhaps the most best team in this list. More precisely, we're talking about about two teams at once: the series began under Arigo Sacchi, when Milan, under the Dutch trio - Rijkaard - demonstrated a brilliant attacking game.

"Real Madrid

Year: 2016-2017.
Matches without defeat: 40.

And here is the very series that prompted me to write an article. It lasted from April 9, 2016 to January 15, 2017, and was interrupted by Sevilla, with whom Real met three days earlier in the Spanish Cup and managed to escape with stoppage time - 3:3.

And who now remembers that before the start of the impressive series, Madrid, under the leadership, almost flew out of the Champions League from Wolfsburg?

"Milan"

Year: 1992-1993.
Matches without defeat: 42.

Again . But this time, Don Fabio led the team for an impressive series alone.

Milan went on to win with a score of 1:0, which, however, did not stop them from defeating Barcelona with a score of 4:0.

Juventus

Year: 2011-2012.
Matches without defeat: 43.

Another Italian grandee who made an impressive breakthrough under the leadership of. True, skeptics can find fault - after all, Juventus did not play in European cups then.

But this is their business, and the “old lady” then won Serie A for the first time since “Calcipoli” without suffering a single defeat, and still continues to dominate the championship.

"Arsenal"

Year: 2003-2004.
Matches without defeat: 49.

Here I am being a little disingenuous - Arsenal did not lose in the English Championship, and they had defeats in cup tournaments, including in the Champions League. The most painful was the 1-2 loss at Highbury to Chelsea in the quarter-final return leg, with Wayne Bridge scoring three minutes before the end of the match.

But still, I celebrate this series, so to speak, out of competition, because not losing almost fifty matches in the Premier League is an almost impossible task.

If someone repeats it, I will remove Arsenal from this list. But I think that in the foreseeable future this will not be necessary.

For the past two months, we have been following one of the most amazing events in current sports history. The Miami Heat's streak reached 27 straight victories, and they still stumbled on the road in Chicago against the local Bulls. Just six wins were not enough for LeBron and Co. to achieve the best result in history - the 71-72 Lakers. But in view of the fact that it is already very for a long time teams don’t spoil us with such records, you must agree, this series was amazing. The southern coast was simply on edge, and the opponents were biting their elbows. This 27-game Miami Heat streak gave us all this.

We decided to tell you: what were the longest streaks in other sports? How did this affect the history of other sports? Was this such a significant event? Will this be something that fans everywhere will be talking about for years to come? So, let's begin.

NBA

1971-1972 Los Angeles Lakers

Period: 33 wins

In the year preceding this event, another important event occurred. The Milwaukee Bucks have won 20 straight during the regular season. Led by Oscar Robertson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, they also defeated the Lakers, blocking their path to the championship. Los Angeles returned the favor in full the following season. After Elgin Baylor was injured, the Lakers rattled off 33 straight wins with Wilt Chamberlain and Jerry West.

This record remains unbroken to this day. And no team has come as close to the coveted mark of 33 straight wins as the Miami Heat. But we must not forget - the Lakers ended their series on major note, having received championship rings. So, in order to stay in the “trend”, Miami needs to do the same.

NCAAB

1971-1974 UCLA(men)

Period: 88 victories

For three seasons, the Bruins made fun of the rest of the country. With the legendary John Wooden at the helm. Bill Walton hasn't lost a game since high school. The streak began after the Bruins lost to Notre Dame in 1971. This university record stood for a long time until the UConn women's team appeared on the horizon, winning 90 games in a row.

Obviously, time does not stand still. Many chronicles and records were lost. And we won’t always be able to prove whether there were even more episodes. There were exactly 5 different 50-game series. But this was in the first basketball divisions.

NFL

2003-2004 New England Patriots

Period: 21 wins

The NFL also had its heroes. In the 2003-2004 season, the Patriots made a 21-game surge. After a 2-2 start in 2003, Tom Brady led the Patriots to the Super Bowl. They were unbeaten for 13 months and finished the season with the title in their pocket.

Football is perhaps the most physical sport we explore here. Very hard contacts, forcing the player to give his best in every game. But fortunately for the players, they take to the field once a week. The Heat had to go on the court three, four, sometimes five times a week.

NCAAF

1953-1957 Oklahoma Sooners

Period: 47 wins

This period has stood the test of time and is still valid today. No American football team has ever broken this record. There were 35 (Toledo, 1969-71). Oklahoma coach and Hall of Famer Bud Wilkinson took his team to 2 championships thanks to this series.

This record is comparable to the UCLA record. It’s interesting that the players studied, others went to the draft, others worked, but victories came one after another. Another interesting fact: Notre Dame was the last team to beat the Sooners before their great streak began.

MLB

1916 New York Giants

Period: 26 wins

The New York Giants simply dominated the 1916 September season. They won 26 matches in a row, drawing one. And the time it took them to complete this series was 24 days! The next longest streak in baseball will be 21 games. Despite all the difficulties: in the face of everyday matches, traveling on buses, they were able to complete this crazy series. Unfortunately, they were unable to turn that success into a title.

The 2002 Oakland Athletics are the only team since 1935 to win 20 games in a row. And the impressive thing about this event is that the team was not rich, the payroll was not the best. But the movie Moneyball will tell you better about this team than I can.

NHL

1992-1993 Pittsburgh Penguins

Period: 17 wins

This winning streak is special because the team had 18 games left to play before the end of the regular season. The Penguins finished a long, difficult season by winning every game and scoring at least 3 goals. It was a crazy period, but they couldn't make it into the playoffs, losing to the Islanders in the elimination games

What's interesting is this. While the Heat attempted the impossible, the Pittsburgh Penguins are currently threatening their own record. They have won 15 times in a row and look ready to continue. Thus, it will be even more interesting to watch this series. Perhaps she will remain unconquered in the future.

Bayern Munich's record for the most matches without defeat is an excellent occasion to remember the longest unbeaten streak.

The victory over Augsburg in the last round allowed Bayern to set another Bundesliga record, of which the record holder already has a ton. Now belongs to the Munich team best achievement by the number of matches without defeat - 37 meetings. The previous holder of the record streak was Hannover, who went unbeaten for 36 rounds in 1982-83.

Bayern's last defeat dates back to October 2012, when it lost to Bayer. It is interesting that literally in the next round the Munich team will have a match against Borussia Dortmund, which will definitely want to interrupt such an impressive streak of its main opponent.

37 matches without defeat is, of course, an outstanding result, but far from the longest. On this moment The title of record holder for the number of unbeaten matches is disputed by two clubs - ASEC Mimosas from Ivory Coast and the Romanian Steaua. The African team has 108 matches without defeat from 1989 to 1994. As for Steaua, the official achievement Bucharest team - 106 matches, but if we take into account cup matches, then the record figure will be equal to 119 matches. This achievement was established in the period from 1986 to 1989.

The details of the African club's grand series are, unfortunately, almost completely absent, but a lot is known about the exploits of Steaua in the late eighties. These years are considered golden for Steaua and all Romanian football. The Bucharest team, led by Emeric Enei and then Angel Iordenescu, instilled fear in almost every opponent. Moreover, Steaua’s phenomenal play extended not only to the national championship, but also to European competitions. In the 1985/86 season, the Romanian club managed to become the owner of the European Cup, two years later it reached the semi-finals, and a year later - the final. In those years, the main stars of Steaua were Gavril Balint, Victor Pitsure, Miodrag Belodedici and many others. For five years in a row, Steaua became the champion of Romania, and only in the 1989/90 season they lost this title to their neighbors from Dynamo.

Steaua's closest rival in this record race is the Moldovan club Sheriff, which went unbeaten for 63 matches in a row between 2006 and 2008. Then the Tiraspol residents were led by none other than Leonid Kuchuk - the current Main coach Moscow "Lokomotiv". In the 2006/07 season, Sheriff managed to achieve a unique achievement, becoming a champion without losing a single match.

Who else has managed such long unbeaten streaks?

Celtic (Scotland) - 62 matches (1915 - 1917)

"Levadia" (Estonia) - 61 matches (2008 - 2009)

Union (Belgium) - 60 matches (1933 - 1935)

"Shirak" (Armenia) - 59 matches (1933 - 1995)

"Pyunik" (Armenia) - 59 matches (2002 - 2004)

Milan (Italy) - 58 matches (1991 - 1993)

Olympiacos (Greece) - 58 matches (1972 - 1974)

"Skonto" (Latvia) - 58 matches (1993 - 1996)

Benfica (Portugal) - 56 matches (1976 - 1978)

"Porto" (Portugal) - 55 matches (2010 - 2012)

Shakhtar (Ukraine) - 55 matches (2000 - 2002)

As you can see, most of the teams that have managed such long unbeaten streaks are far from the strongest championships. Except that Milan of the early nineties can boast of serious competition. However, against the background of these results, 37 matches of Bayern Munich no longer look so formidable, would you agree? And in this regard, one cannot fail to note the phenomenal result of London's Arsenal in the 2003/04 season. Then the magnificent “gunners” with Thierry Henry, Robert Pires and many other legends of the London club did not lose for 49 matches in a row!

This achievement by Arsenal is absolutely the best in the history of the Premier League. But there is another amazing record in English football, which belongs to the team from London. The truth is not “Arsenal”, but “Chelsea”. Between 20 March 2004 and 26 October 2008, no club managed to win at Stamford Bridge. The Chelsea Stadium became an impenetrable fortress for their opponents, and the West London team's unbeaten run at home was an incredible 86 matches! By the way, the previous owner of such an achievement was Liverpool in the late seventies, but the result of the Merseysiders is much more modest - 63 games.

Quite recently, a very protracted unbeaten streak, which belonged to the Tula Arsenal, was interrupted in domestic football. Dmitry Alenichev's team did not know defeat in 39 official matches in a row until the match of the 11th round of the FNL against Vladikavkaz "Alania". True, as we know, now Arsenal can only dream of at least three matches without defeat.

National teams' unbeaten streaks are a completely different story, and it is difficult to compare the achievements of national teams with clubs, given the difference in the number of matches per unit of time. However, records are also being calculated for national teams. I think that hardly anyone will be surprised by the fact that the owner of the best achievement is the Spanish national team. The “red fury” has a record 29 matches without defeat. After losing to Switzerland at the European Championships in 2010, the Spanish team did not lose until July 2013, when the reigning world and European champions lost to Brazil in the final match of the Confederation Cup. The previous best achievement belonged to the French national team, which went unbeaten for 27 matches in a row from September 1994 to March 1999.

In addition to unbeaten streaks, there is another very interesting indicator, namely winning streaks. So the best achievement among national teams belongs to Germany, which won 15 official matches consecutively from July 2010 to June 2012. The Spaniards also had the same number of victories in a row from June 2008 to June 2009, but this time taking into account friendly matches.

Returning to club football, we cannot help but talk about the absolutely outstanding achievement of the Portuguese Benfica. The Lisbon club has won 29 matches in a row. This series began in the 1971/72 season and ended in the 1972/73 season. The legend of Portuguese football Eusebio noted that the main merit in establishing such a record lies on the shoulders of the team's head coach, Englishman Jimmy Hagan, who instilled strict discipline in the freedom-loving Portuguese. Under his leadership, Benfica won three league titles in a row.

Just a few days ago, everyone admired Roma, which set a Serie A record with ten wins in a row at the start of the season. But the absolute best achievement in the Italian championship in terms of the number of victories in a row belongs to Inter Milan, which won 17 matches in a row. If you look at other top championships, then there top scores look like this. In the English Premier League, London's Arsenal won 14 matches in a row, this happened in 2002. In the German Bundesliga, Bayern Munich won 15 victories in a row in the 2005/06 season. As for Spain, the best there is Barcelona, which defeated its rivals 16 times in a row in the 2010/11 season.

If we talk about the general list longest winning streak in European championships, then it looks like this:

Benfica (Portugal) - 29 matches (1971 - 1973)

Dynamo (Croatia) - 28 matches (2006 - 2007)

"Celtic" (Scotland) - 25 matches (2003 - 2004)

PSV (Holland) - 22 matches (1987 - 1988)

Hafnarfjordur (Iceland) - 18 matches (2004 - 2005)

Steaua (Romania) - 17 matches (1988)

Dynamo (Romania) - 17 matches (1988)

Inter (Italy) - 17 matches (2006 - 2007)

Valur (Iceland) - 17 matches (1978)

Olympiacos (Greece) - 16 matches (2005 - 2006)

Barcelona (Spain) - 16 matches (2010 - 2011)