Real Madrid nearing Barcelona record: Longest unbeaten runs in La Liga history

One measure of greatness is the ability to perform consistently without faltering or losing concentration, so among all the club titles and individual feats, lengthy unbeaten streaks tend to stand the test of time.

While the mark for most consecutive home games without a loss stands at a staggering 121 - put together by Real Madrid from February 1957 to March 1965 - the overall record is considerably lower.

Carlo Ancelotti's current Madrid team are on a long undefeated streak that could ultimately see them make history in the next few weeks, as a year has now passed since they were last conquered in La Liga.

But where do Bellingham, Vinicius, Valverde and co stand in the all-time pantheon? Here, Sports Mole counts down the longest unbeaten streaks in La Liga history.

5. Real Madrid (30 games, 1987-1988)

Until this year, Real Madrid's longest unbeaten run in La Liga was a relatively modest 30 matches, starting at the end of the 1987-88 season and continuing into 1988-89.

In the era of legendary Mexican striker Hugo Sanchez and German midfielder Bernd Schuster - the latter of whom later returned as manager - Los Blancos were untouchable in Spanish football for several months.

Backed up by 'La Quinta del Buitre' - Manolo Sanchis, Rafael Martin Vazquez, Michel and Miguel Pardeza, five talented graduates of Madrid's youth academy - and helmed by Dutch coach Leo Beenhakker, they were quite a force to be reckoned with.

At the end of their 1988-89 campaign, Real finished as champions for the fourth consecutive season, five points ahead of runners-up Barcelona.

Furthermore, they completed a superb domestic treble by winning both the Copa del Rey and the Supercopa.

4. Barcelona (31 games, 2010-2011)

In the season after several Spain stars - such as Xavi, Carles Puyol and Andres Iniesta - finally ended La Roja's wait to lift the World Cup, a team widely considered one of the greatest club sides of all time stayed undefeated for many months in La Liga.

Pep Guardiola's team - described by legendary Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson as the best he had ever faced - were peerless at the time, with Lionel Messi fast becoming an iconic figure in Catalonia.

Of course, even the greatest fail occasionally, and on 30 April 2011, Barca's unbeaten run finally came to an end with a 2-1 loss to Real Sociedad at Anoeta.

Nevertheless, a 3-1 Champions League final triumph over Ferguson's Manchester United one month later more than made up for that defeat, and Guardiola's squad are rightly remembered as having touched the pinnacle of football possibility.

3. Real Sociedad (38 games, 1979-1980)

For 38 years Real Sociedad's record stood alone, as the last in a long line that had eventually succumbed to either Barcelona or Real Madrid.

Alberto Ormaetxea's squad featured Luis Arconada in goal, captain Inaxio Kortabarria at centre-back and Periko Alonso (father of another club legend, Xabi Alonso) running shifts in the engine room.

As they took the fight to Madrid for top spot in La Liga, the Basque club recorded several draws but stayed undefeated, most memorably coming from behind to beat Barca 4-3 in October 1979 with two goals in the last 10 minutes.

La Real were still unbeaten with just two games left to play in the 1979-80 season, but they ultimately slipped up at Sevilla, conceding an 83rd-minute goal that shattered hearts across San Sebastian.

Not only did they lose their long streak without defeat, but they also lost the title. Showing great heart, though, La Real bounced back from such a setback in style, going on to win the next two Spanish titles.

2. Real Madrid (39 games, 2023- )

The current Real Madrid side are on a streak of 39 La Liga games without defeat, having surpassed Real Sociedad's 38-game sequence by beating Alaves 3-2 at the Bernabeu.

Inspired by Vinicius Junior, Jude Bellingham, and now Kylian Mbappe, they have effectively gone unbeaten for a full league campaign, split between last season and the start of this season.

City rivals Atletico Madrid were the last team to beat Carlo Ancelotti's men in the league, and the two city rivals are set to convene again on Sunday, September 29.

Indeed, no team other than Atleti has overturned Real in a competitive game for some 16 months - also doing so in the Copa del Rey at the start of this year - and the last time anyone else beat Los Blancos was Valencia back in May 2023.

Across their club-record run, the European champions' numbers are immensely impressive: they have posted 29 wins and 10 draws, scoring 92 goals in the process.

1. Barcelona (43 games, 2017-18)

The all-time milestone that Ancelotti's side are chasing is held by old foes Barcelona, and was set between April 2017 and May 2018.

Barca's streak was a shared effort between Luis Enrique (seven games at the end of the 2016-17 season) and Ernesto Valverde, who started his time in charge of the Blaugrana with 36 games undefeated in La Liga.

Luis Enrique signed off with a run of seven successive victories, the first of which came against Real Sociedad at Camp Nou, with goals from Lionel Messi and Paco Alcacer setting them on the way to their historic achievement.

Valverde's team then came desperately close to completing an 'invincible' season, after recording 27 wins and nine draws. However, on 13 May 2018, with Barca already crowned Spanish champions, an incredible 5-4 away defeat to Levante brought the curtain down on their remarkable run.

Nonetheless, an all-star team featuring prime Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar had scored no fewer than 122 goals in the process, while also keeping 19 clean sheets.

When can Real Madrid break the record?

First, the Madrid derby must be negotiated on Sunday, and Real's last visit to the Metropolitano - one year ago - ended in a 3-1 defeat that remains their most recent league loss.

Games against Villarreal and Celta Vigo then await, before a seismic contest takes place at the Bernabeu, with potential ramifications for the all-time unbeaten record as well as this year's fight for the title.

In the last weekend of October, Carlo Ancelotti and co could equal the record by avoiding defeat in El Clasico, as Barcelona arrive in the Spanish capital seeking to tip the title race in their favour.

Should Madrid manage to get that far and then keep their old rivals at arm's length, they could claim the record outright the following week, against Valencia at Mestalla.

Then, there is the tantalising possibility of going the whole season without defeat. That has been achieved before in La Liga - Athletic Club did so in 1929-30 and Real Madrid followed suit two years later - but that was when teams only played 18 matches.