The 2015/16 domestic league seasons have come to an end across Europe with most of the champions decided before the final game week. While Paris Saint-Germain were crowned Ligue 1 champions as early as mid-March, other clubs such as Barcelona (La Liga) and Benfica (Primeira Liga) had to wait till the final day of the season to be assured of getting their hands on the trophy.
In England, Leicester City won the Premier League title despite the heavily stacked 5000/1 odds against them. Juventus shrugged off a terrible start to win their fifth consecutive Serie A title while the Bayern Munich juggernaut rolled on to yet another Bundesliga title in Pep Guardiola’s final season.
Over the course of the season, a number of clubs had a fine run of form that saw them win points by the dozen to either catch up to the league leaders or extend their own leads at the top. But which clubs had the best streaks of all?
Best Winning Streaks
Serie A’s serial winners Juventus almost lost out on the title as early as October. After 10 games, the Old Lady were down in 12th place having suffered four losses. Gianluigi then rallied his troops and Max Allegri’s side then went on a 15-match winning streak that took them all the way to the top of the table. In fact, the 16th game was a draw, after which they had yet another 10-match winning streak!
Barcelona are second on the list with a run of 12 games where they won the maximum of 36 points. The Catalan club did not lose or draw a game between 9 January and 12 March and had built up a healthy lead before a draw and three consecutive losses blew the league wide open. However, Luis Enrique’s side held their nerve and won the league title with a one-point lead over Real Madrid
# | Club | League | Wins | Total Games |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Juventus | Serie A | 15 | 38 |
2 | Barcelona | La Liga | 12 | 38 |
3 | Benfica | Primeira Liga | 12 | 34 |
4 | Dynamo Kyiv | Ukrainian Premier League | 12 | 26 |
5 | Real Madrid | La Liga | 12 | 38 |
6 | Shakhtar Donetsk | Ukrainian Premier League | 12 | 26 |
7 | Bayern Munich | Bundesliga | 10 | 34 |
8 | Juventus | Serie A | 10 | 38 |
9 | Paris Saint-Germain | Ligue 1 | 9 | 38 |
10 | Sporting CP | Primeira Liga | 9 | 34 |
Page 2: Best undefeated streaks
Best Undefeated Streaks
‘Invincible’ streaks are few and far between in Europe and it takes a vastly experienced and superior squad to accomplish that. Nevertheless, a number of managers did push their teams to the limit to have long streaks of unbeaten games.
Laurent Blanc did just that with Paris Saint-Germain. So dominant were they in Ligue 1 that second-placed Lyon were closer to the relegation zone than catching up with the champions. In fact, PSG did not lose their first 27 games. Their first Ligue 1 loss of the season was against Lyon – in February! In all, PSG lost just two games the entire season, making a mockery of the French league.
Juventus’ undefeated streak consisted of two winning streaks with a draw sandwiched in between. After losing a game in the end of October, they did not lose again until May when the title was already won as Napoli fell away. The undefeated run also saw Buffon set a new Serie A record for most minutes without conceding a goal – 973 minutes.
Meanwhile, Barcelona actually went on a 39-match unbeaten streak in all competitions. But in the league, the run was restricted to 23 games. The run between a loss to Sevilla in October and Real Madrid in the Clasico in April saw the Catalan club win 19 games and draw four.
# | Club | League | Undefeated | Total Games |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Paris Saint-Germain | Ligue 1 | 27 | 38 |
2 | Juventus | Serie A | 26 | 38 |
3 | Barcelona | La Liga | 23 | 38 |
4 | FC Basel | Swiss Super League | 17 | 34 |
5 | AS Roma | Serie A | 17 | 38 |
6 | Borussia Dortmund | Bundesliga | 15 | 34 |
7 | Chelsea | EPL | 15 | 38 |
8 | Bayern Munich | Bundesliga | 14 | 34 |
9 | Benfica | Primeira Liga | 14 | 34 |
10 | FC Porto | Primeira Liga | 14 | 34 |