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With the European club competition finally gaining momentum, the competitions across the continent have yielded a few teams that have still managed to remain unbeaten. While a few of them are the regular footballing powerhouses of their respective leagues, there are a few surprise packages who might yet prove to be the dark horses that go on to upset the plans of the bigger fish in the competition. We take a look at the teams that are still unbeaten in the top leagues across Europe.
#1 Ligue 1
Paris Saint-Germain remain the only team from the French top-tier to remain unbeaten so far this season. Having won the first four games that they have played this season, they have five wins in six if you count the Super Cup victory against Lyon.
Les Rouge-et-Bleu were held to stalemates in their last two league matches against Reims and Bordeaux, but are still on top of the French league table with 14 points, one more than second and third places Rennes and Saint Etienne. Their draw against Bordeaux could have been avoided if not for the glaring errors made by their goalkeeper Kevin Trapp.
In the absence of the talismanic Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who missed out on a couple of games, Edinson Cavani has really stepped up his game, scoring five goals from six appearances. Contributions from midfield in the form of Blaise Matuidi, Ezequiel Lavezzi and a resurgent Angel Di Maria, who is out to prove a point after a disastrous spell at Manchester United, have seen the Parc de Princes outfit remain unbeaten despite playing far below what is expected of a team of their calibre.
#2 Premier League
With Manchester City falling to West Ham last weekend, this year’s surprise package in the Premier League Leicester City remain the only unbeaten team in the English top flight. Despite a shaky defence that has already leaked nine goals in just six matches, the Foxes have always found a way to claw their way back into matches.
A case in point is the dramatic turnaround against Aston Villa at home where they came from two goals behind to record a 3-2 victory. The score read 0-2 in favour of the away side in the 72nd minute!
Leicester’s success is courtesy of a front-line that is on superb form and a line up where Tom Albrighton and Jamie Vardy are all hitting a purple patch. But it is the blistering form of one man – Riyad Mahrez – that stands out. The 24-year-old midfielder is the Premier League’s joint top scorer with 4 goals and has chipped in with two assists already and has at times seemed unplayable.
Arsenal and Barcelona are said to be on the lookout, and it will be interesting to see if Leicester keep hold of someone who has been instrumental to their rise to within three points of league leaders Manchester City.
#3 Bundesliga
With a resurgent Borrusia Dortmund side that looks intent on dispelling the shadows of a shambolic season last year, the Bundesliga, for the first time in years is looking to be much more that the staple two (or one) horse race that it has come to be in recent years. Three teams remain unbeaten after the first five games – Borussia Dortmund, Bayern Munich and VfL Wolfsburg.
Bayern Munich will be left dumbfounded that despite winning all of their five games this season and conceding just two goals, they still find themselves in second place in the Bundesliga. The Dortmund side that now sits pretty at the top of the table have been simply devastating in front of goal, scoring 18 times in their 5 games so far.
The lightning fast attack of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Marco Reus and Henrikh Mkhitaryan has plundered any defence in their way, with 13 goals between themselves and the striker from Gabon alone scoring six goals from five games to be joint top scorer of the Bundesliga.
Bayern have been eking out wins, despite being unconvincing for a team of their calibre, courtesy of Thomas Muller who has bailed them out numerous times already this season. Due credit must go to a Bayern’s defensive unit that has put in solid performances throughout this season, conceding just twice over five games.
Wolfsburg has lost their Player of the Season last year in Kevin De Bruyne, who moved to Manchester City in the summer. But they pick off where they left off last season – as genuine title challengers with a strong team and a couple of smart signings that have filled the gaps. The duo of Dante and Naldo have been a rock at the back, conceding only two goals so far this season.
The pairing of Julian Draxler with Max Kruse up front has a lot of promise. Factor in Andre Schurrle and you have a team with a lot of potential. Wolfsburg are currently behind the pace setters having drawn two of their games already. But they face a trip to the Allianz Arena in midweek and the result could prove crucial in days to come.
#4 Serie A
The Italian Serie A features four teams that remain unbeaten till now – Internazionale, Torino, Roma and Sassuolo. While Inter have raced to four wins in as many games, largely due to their defensive line which has been brilliant conceding just one goal so far, Torino has drawn once while Roma and Sassuolo have been held to one point twice this season.
Inter’s resurgence began last November with the return of Roberto Mancini, who has somehow managed to engineer a sense of solidity and composure into a defence that has been chaotic in the past few years with the partnership of Joao Miranda and Jeison Murillo in the back particularly standing out. The arrival of Geoffrey Kondogbia in midfield has also been vital in the Nerazurri’s exploits these past couple of months.
Daniele Baselli and Fabio Quagliarella have both been on a hot streak this season for Torino with the former scoring thrice (he had just three shots on target, all of which were goals, before the game against Sampadoria) while, the latter has slotted in four times in as many games. The team from Turin have had to deal with the loss of their best defender in Matteo Darmian to Manchester United in the summer, but they have been performing capably so far conceding just four times.
Roma are also a team that is on a roll this season, and despite being held to a draws against Sassuolo and Hellas Verona, it is another draw, a well deserved one against Barcelona in the Champions League that will have the team from the capital all pumped up.
The signing of Edin Dzeko and Mohammed Salah in the summer have added some verve to a team that also features the likes of Miralem Pjanic, Radja Naingollan and the legendary Francesco Totti who scored his 300th goal for the club last week. Juan Iturbe and Iago Falque have also been effective with the latter slotting in his 12th goal of 2015 in the victory against Frosinone.
Sassuolo is not really a team anyone expected to be on the list, but after a well-fought draw against Roma, denied a victory only by a 49th minute Salah goal, they remain the fourth unbeaten team in Italy. The performances of Antonio Floro Flores have played no small part in this achievement, with the 32-year-old veteran striker scoring thrice and setting up two goals in his four games in the Serie A so far.
#5 La Liga
The Spanish Primera Division features the most number of unbeaten teams across Europe’s top Leagues with the top four teams Barcelona, Real Madrid, Villareal and Celta de Vigo, as well as seventh-placed Valencia, all yet to be defeated.
Barcelona lead the pack winning all four of their games in the league so far, scoring eight and conceding twice with the M-S-N trio contributing six of those goals. Real Madrid boast the best defence in Europe so far having not conceded a single goal in any of their four matches. But their 0-0 draw against Sporting Gijon will leave a bitter taste in their mouth and two points adrift of the Blaugrana in the league standings.
Madrid have devastated defences with 12 goals scored in their other three games. Cristiano Ronaldo alone put five past a hapless Espanyol side while Karim Benzema is among the goals as well, scoring thrice with Gareth Bale putting in two and setting up three before his injury setback.
Villareal have kept their superb record at home intact. The club who had won 12 of their 19 home games last season maintain El Madrigal as a fortress of sorts, having won 3-1 over Athletic Bilbao over the weekend. The arrival of Roberto Soldado has been vital for Villareal. The Spaniard has made a great start on his return to his home region, scoring two league goals and setting up another two in four games – more than what he managed in the whole of last season for Tottenham in the Premier League.
Celta de Vigo have had an unbeaten start to the season so far, but that could change pretty soon with the Galician club facing Barcelona over the week. The performances of rumoured Barca target Nolito have been fundamental in Celta’s success, with the forward having participated in 5 of Celta’s 10 league goals scoring four and assisting once in his four games so far.
The final team from the Spanish top division to make this list is Valencia who, despite remaining unbeaten, have won only one of their four league games, leaving them in 7th place. Valencia’s unbeaten run comes courtesy of their renowned defence, which despite having to deal with the departure of their best defender last season – Nicolas Otmendi to Manchester City over the summer – have somehow managed to concede only one goal so far in La Liga.
Retaining Shkodran Mustafi has been critical to this feat, and the way he teams up with Aymen Abdennour and new signing Joao Cancelo might determine the fate of Valencia’ defence over the rest of the season.
