Top Ten: Longest unbeaten runs in European Football

Unbeaten runs in football are rare but an epitome of happiness even when fans talk about it years later. Here in this slideshow, we take a look at the top ten unbeaten league runs in the history of European football.

#10 Nottingham Forest: 42 matches.

Year(s): 1977-1978.

The previous record for an unbeaten run in English football was held by Nottingham Forrest for 26 years before Arsene Wenger’s Arsenal broke it. Notthingham went on a 42 consecutive League games winning spree and finished as League Champions in the 1977-78 season. The team had players such as Anderson, Barrett, Birtles, Clarke, Bowyer, Elliott and Burns.

#9 Dinamo Bucharest: 47 matches.

Year(s): 1991-1992.

Dinamo Bucharest couldn’t come close to their rival’s streak of an impeccable 104 matches without a single defeat, but their feat helped them secure the league title as they went unbeaten from 26 May 1991 to 20 September 1992.

#8 Juventus: 49 matches.

Year(s): 2011-2012.

Juventus were the third Italian team to go through an entire campaign unbeaten while securing the Scudetto under manager Antonio Conte. The run was ended by Inter thanks to a brilliant show by Diego Milito.

#7 Arsenal: 49 matches.

Year(s): 2003-2004.

Taking the Premier League by storm, Arsene Wenger’s Invincibles won the Premier League title while not losing a single match in the league. The team had players like Sol Campbell, Patrick Vieira and Thierry Henry who scored 39 goals in all competitions. Even though the team was knocked out by Chelsea in the Champions league, their league performance redefined Arsenal history.

#6 Ajax: 52 matches.

Year(s): 1994-1996.

Ajax under Louis Van Gaal won their 25th Dutch league unbeaten and scoring 106 goals. Considered to be one of the best teams in football history, the team went an entire season unbeaten in both the Eredivisie and the Champions League, defeating A.C. Milan 1-0 in the final.

#5 FC Porto: 55 matches.

Year(s): 2010-2012.

A streak started by manager Jesualdo Ferreira and continued by his successor André Villas-Boas, Porto surpassed their previous record of 53 games unbeaten under Sir Bobby Robbson. The unbeaten run ensured Porto win the Portuguese league title, the Taca de Portugal and the Europa League, before the run was eventually ended by Gil Vicente who defeated Porto 3-1.

#4 Benfica: 56 matches.

Year(s): 1976-78.

The team boasted players like Humberto Coelho, Fernando Chalana Toni, Nené, Manuel Bento, Shéu, and Minervino Pietra. Led by John Mortimore, the team went unbeaten from October 1976 to August 1978 when they succumbed to a loss against rivals Porto. Benfica was the first club in Portugal to last a whole season without a single loss, winning 28 matches and drawing two.

#3 AC Milan: 58 matches.

Year(s): 1991-1993.

Easily one of the greatest team in the history of football, the team’s foundation was laid by Arrigo Sacchi while Fabio Capello was appointed as the manager at the beginning of the season. Little did Capello know that his first job as a manager would have started like this. The team had players such as Paolo Maldini, Baresi, Frank Rijkaard, Rudd Gullit and Marco Van Basten. The unbeaten run was however ended by Parma in 1993.

#2 Celtic FC: 62 matches.

Year(s): 1915-1917.

A century old streak – Celtic under manager, Willie Maley hired way back in 1897, were the dominant force in all of Europe. Thier unbeaten run of 62 matches is a British record which still stands to this day. After losing three times in the first twelve games during the start of the 1915-16 season, the Celtics were unbeaten until the second-last fixture in the following season.

#1 Steaua Bucharest: 104 matches.

Year(s): 1986-89.

The Romanians went on to win three consecutive league titles, unbeaten all the way. It could be said that the Romanian league was weak at that time but their dominance had a far wider reach. In 1985-1986, Steaua Bucharest won the European Cup defeating Barcelona in the final on penalties. Led by George Hagi, this team was all-Romanian. No European team has even to come close to this brilliant streak, let alone broken it. However, a team from the Côte d’Ivoire Premier Division known as ASEC Mimosas broke the record in 1989-1994 as they registered 108 league matches win, out of which 17 draws and 87 wins.

This was a world record until Ivorian side ASEC Mimosas broke it with their 108 matches unbeaten run from 1989 to 1994. However, this is still the longest run in Europe.

You could check their match scores throughout the whole unbeaten run here.