Who can stop Real Madrid and can they win the treble?

Can any team stop the Real Madrid juggernaut this season?

17 matches, 17 wins, 64 goals scored, just 9 conceded, and 9 clean sheets = Real Madrid’s record-breaking 17-match winning streak with Carlo Ancelotti. The longest winning run in the club’s history and second longest by any Spanish club in history (second only to Barcelona’s 18 wins).

Real Madrid have rampaged to a 10-match winning streak in La Liga that propelled them to the top of La Liga rankings in addition to a 5-match winning streak in this season’s Champions League that secured the top spot in their group. Finally, they also won their two matches in the Copa del Rey this season to set up a potential second round meeting with neighbours Atletico Madrid, but with their unbelievable form, will Atletico pose a threat?

Will any team be able to pose a threat to Real Madrid? That’s the question on everybody’s mind, particularly Real Madrid’s opponents.

Real Madrid have faced some fearsome opponents in their 17-match winning streak like: Barcelona, Liverpool (twice), Malaga, Basel (away), Athletic Bilbao, and Villarreal (away). Which begs the question: if these teams couldn’t beat Real Madrid, then who can? Will the answer arrive in the coming months as Madrid face a tumultuous few months in the beginning of 2015.

The months of January and February will see Real Madrid face Valencia (away), Sevilla, Atletico (away) in La Liga and the very likely meeting with Atletico Madrid in the second round of the Copa del Rey. That could also be followed by Barcelona (if both teams make it to the quarter-finals) in January. So you see, January will be loaded with challenging games for Real Madrid followed by the Madrid Derby in La Liga in February and the possible semi-finals of the Copa del Rey. A tough couple of months to say the least.

If Real Madrid somehow make it through January and February unscathed, they will have the Champions League in March and April and the possible La Liga decider in the form of an El Clasico at the Camp Nou. Of course, it is ridiculous to assume that Real Madrid will win every single match between now and the months of March or April. But what I mean by making it to March-April unscathed is the fact that Real Madrid won’t suffer a ‘crisis’ as the newspapers love to call it.

There won’t be any major hiccups in the form of back-to-back losses or several matches without a win or even relinquishing the top spot in La Liga or being eliminated from the Copa del Rey and/or Champions League. If Real Madrid can make it through these extremely difficult and loaded months without these ‘hiccups’, then I truly believe we might be seeing a Real Madrid side that will bring the famed treble for the very first time in the club’s history.