Longest unbeaten streak in Europe. Longest unbeaten streak in world football Longest winning streak in football

For the past two months we have been following one of the most amazing events in the current history of the sport. The Miami Heat reached 27 consecutive wins, and they still stumbled on the road to Chicago against the local Bulls. Only six victories were not enough for LeBron & Co. to achieve the best result in history - the Lakers of the 71-72 model. But in view of the fact that for a very long time the teams have not spoiled us with such records, you must admit that this series was amazing. The southern coast simply "was on ears", contenders biting elbows. All this gave us this 27-game series, “Miami Heat”.

We decided to tell you: what were the longest streaks in other sports? How has this affected the history of other sports? Was it the same significant event? Will it be something that fans of all countries will discuss over the years? So, let's begin.

NBA

1971-1972 Los Angeles Lakers

Period: 33 wins

In the year preceding this event, another important event took place. The Milwaukee Bucks have won 20 consecutive regular season victories. Led by Oscar Robertson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, they defeated the Lakers as well, blocking their path to the championship. “Los Angeles” returned the favor in full the next season. After Elgin Baylor was injured, the Lakers rattled off 33 straight wins alongside Wilt Chamberlain and Jerry West.

This record remains unbroken to this day. And no other team has ever come close to the coveted mark of 33 straight wins like the Miami Heat. But we must not forget – “Lakers” completed their series on a positive note, acquiring championship rings. So Miami needs to do the same to stay on trend.

NCAAB

1971-1974 UCLA (men)

Period: 88 wins

For three seasons, the Bruins made fun of the rest of the country. With the legendary John Wooden at the helm. Bill Walton hasn't lost a game since high school. The series began after the Bruins lost to Notre Dame in 1971. This collegiate record stood for a long time until the women's team from UConn appeared on the horizon, with 90 consecutive victories.

It is obvious that time does not stand still. Many chronicles, records have been lost. And we can't always prove whether there were more episodes. There were exactly 5 different 50 match streaks. But it was in the first basketball divisions.

NFL

2003-2004 New England Patriots

Period: 21 wins

The NFL had its heroes too. In the 2003-2004 season, the Patriots made a breakthrough to 21 games. After starting 2-2 in 2003, Tom Brady led the Patriots to the Super Bowl. They were undefeated for 13 months and ended the season with the title in their pocket.

Football is arguably the most physically developed sport that we will explore here. Very tough contacts, forcing the player to give all the best in every game. But fortunately for the players, they go out on the field once a week. The Hit had to hit the court three, four, sometimes five times a week.

NCAAF

1953-1957 Oklahoma Sooners

Period: 47 wins

This period has stood the test of time and is valid to this day. No American football team has been able to break this record. 35 was (Toledo, 1969-71). Oklahoma coach, Hall of Famer, Bud Wilkinson, thanks to this series, took 2 championship titles with the team.

This record is comparable to the UCLA record. It is interesting that the players studied, others went to the draft, others worked, but the victories came one after another. Another fun fact: Notre Dame was the last team to beat the Sooners before their great streak began.

MLB

1916 New York Giants

Period: 26 wins

The New York Giants simply dominated the 1916 September. They have won 26 matches in a row, drawing one. And the time for which they completed this series of 24 days! The next longest streak in baseball will be 21 games. Despite all the difficulties: in the face of everyday matches, moving in buses, they were able to make this crazy streak. Unfortunately, they couldn't turn that success into a title.

The 2002 Oakland Athletics are the only team since 1935 to win 20 consecutive games. And the impressive thing about this event is that the team was not rich, the payroll was not the best. But better than me, the film Moneyball will tell you about this team.

NHL

1992-1993 Pittsburgh Penguins

Period: 17 wins

This winning streak is also special because the team had 18 games left to play before the end of the regular season. The Penguins ended a long, difficult season, winning every game and scoring at least 3 goals. It was a crazy period, but they failed to make it to the playoffs, losing to the Islanders in the elimination games.

Here's what's interesting. While the Heat have been trying to take the impossible, the Pittsburgh Penguins are currently threatening their own record. They have won 15 in a row and look ready to continue. Thus, it will be even more interesting to watch this series. Maybe she will remain unconquered in the future.

29 - Benfica (Portugal) 1971-73
The Portuguese hold the European record, which they set in the early 70s. The 29-win streak began at the end of the 1971/72 gold-winning season for the Eagles and continued for most of the next. At the end of the 1972/73 season, Benfica became the first club not to suffer a single defeat in the Portuguese championship. Eusebio, who shone in those years, later noted the contribution of English coach Jimmy Hagan: “He liked discipline. All the players thought that his training was incredibly exhausting, but as soon as the team began to win, we realized that it was worth it. He gave us additional strength, and therefore We won three championships in a row during that period."

28 - Dinamo Zagreb (Croatia) 2006-07
Eduardo, Luka Modric and Vedran Corluka grew up in a team that was unrivaled in Croatia. The defeat of Istra on November 8, 2006 with a score of 5:1 marked the beginning of a winning streak, which was interrupted only on September 23, 2007, when the Zagreb team lost to Varteks (now Varazdin) - 3:4. On the eve of that meeting, Dynamo coach Branko Ivankovic said: "We have a great team, and Dynamo are a great club. We are going to win the 29th match in a row and repeat Benfica's record so that the current generation of Dynamo will take its rightful place in the history of the world football". It must be embarrassing.

Celtic Favorites

25 - Celtic (Scotland) 2003-04
With 25 wins in a row between 16 August 2003 and 29 February 2004, Celtic set a new record in British football. During this period, Martin O'Neill's team scored 86 goals, winning the championship and the Scottish Cup. A worthy end to Henrik Larsson's last season as part of the Celts! defender Johan Mjelby. - If the team was drawn to win, then it is difficult to stop it. Especially when you have guys like Henrik, Chris Sutton and John Hartson in your lineup, scoring goals just for fun."

25 - Dynamo Tirana (Albania) 1951-52
Dynamo was born in 1950 and won four championships in a row. In the middle of this successful period, the team was marked by a long winning streak. It began on April 18, 1951 in a match with Pune, and ended on June 1, 1952 in a goalless draw in a duel with the same opponent. Dinamo, having won the national championship 18 times, is in second place in the list of the most titled Albanian clubs, but after being relegated from the elite in the 2011/12 season, the team from Tirana is in the second division.

24 - Red Star (Serbia) 2015-16
Between two draws, July 21, 2015 with Radnička (1:1) and April 2, 2016 with Vojvodina (0:0), Miodrag Bozovic's team crushed everyone who got in their way in the Serbian Super League. Overall, Belgrade have won 24 matches in a row, including both derbies against Partizan. "Any adventure like this is exciting and we enjoyed it as long as it lasted. Our streak has come to an end, but these things are inevitable," said Bozovic.

23 - Malmö (Sweden) 1949-50
The golden season of 1948/49 was crowned with five victories at the finish line, and the campaign for a new championship title began by defeating Elfsborg (2: 0) on June 31, 1949. After that, "Malmö" did not lose points until May 14, 1950, when they played away with AIK.

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22 - PSV (Netherlands) 1987-88
Having taken a running start in the final five matches of the 1986/87 season, in the next campaign, PSV did not leave the opponents a chance even despite the departure of Ruud Gullit. Hans van Breukelen, Ronald Koeman, Eric Gerets, Berry van Arle, Jan Heintze, Ivan Nielsen, Søren Lerby, Gerald Vanenburg, Wim Kieft and the experienced Willy van de Kerckhof, under the guidance of Guus Hiddink, who was still understanding the intricacies of the coaching profession, were a team to resist it was useless. On January 16, 1988, the winning streak of Eindhoven was stopped by Twente, who achieved a draw with a score of 2: 2. This, however, did not prevent PSV from winning the championship and the Dutch Cup, as well as the European Cup.

22 - "Kyapaz" (Azerbaijan) 1997-98
The team of Mehman Allahverdiyev of the 1997/98 season remains the only one who managed to win the Azerbaijani championship without a single defeat. For 10 months, until September 23, 1998, "Kapaz" did without point losses at all. However, it will be important to note that two of the 22 victories are technical.

19 - Bayern (Germany) 2013-14
18 - Hafnarfjordur (Iceland) 2004-05
17 - Olympiakos (Greece) 2005-06, 2015-16
17 - Steaua (Romania) 1988
17 - Dynamo Bucharest (Romania) 1988
17 - Internazionale (Italy) 2006-07
16 - "Valur" (Iceland) 1978
16 - Barcelona (Spain) 2010-11
16 - APOEL (Cyprus) 2008-09
15 - Benfica (Portugal) 1963
15 - Real Madrid (Spain) 1960-61
15 - Sparta Prague (Czech Republic) 1999-00
15 - Bangor City (Wales) 2010

"Spartak Moscow)

Season: 1994
Win-win streak: 12 matches
Who stopped: Spartak (Vladikavkaz) - 0:1

The unbeaten streak of 12 matches mentioned above was given out by Spartak Moscow in the third draw of the Russian championship, which, like the two previous tournaments, they won. Wards of Oleg Romantsev excellently started the defense of the title, scoring ten victories with two draws in the starting segment of the championship. However, the 13th round turned out to be really unlucky for the red-whites. The strongest Russian team of the 90s model unexpectedly stumbled in Vladikavkaz, where they lost with a minimum score to the local Spartak. This defeat remained the only one for the Muscovites that season.

A noteworthy detail of the game in North Ossetia is the fact that the best sniper of the capital team Vladimir Beschastnykh did not enter the field from the first minutes. Before the match with Vladikavkaz Spartak, the forward of the Russian national team scored ten goals in 12 league matches. Immediately after the disastrous match, Beschastnykh moved to Werder Bremen, and for the rest of the tournament, none of his former partners managed to surpass the number of goals he scored.

"Spartak Moscow)

Season: 2000
Win-win streak: 10 matches
Who stopped:"Saturn" - 0:2

At the beginning of the second millennium, Moscow "Spartak" won its eighth gold awards, which became the penultimate for the "people's team" to date. The final success was largely based on a confident spurt at the beginning of the championship, which resulted in nine wins and one draw. In the starting rounds, only Lokomotiv managed to give battle to the future victor, taking away two points from the red-and-whites. In early April 2000, an incredible number of spectators came to watch the capital derby - 65,000. However, unfortunately, the match ended in a goalless draw.

The team of Oleg Romantsev was defeated in the 11th round of the Premier League. The offender was the Moscow Region team - Ramensky Saturn, which beat the most titled club in the country with a score of 2: 0.

Lokomotiv (Moscow)

Season: 2002
Win-win streak: 10 matches
Who stopped:"Wings of the Soviets" - 0:1

During the spring segment of the Premier League, the railway workers created a solid groundwork for themselves, which eventually helped the team of Yuri Semin first reduce the definition of the champion to a golden match with CSKA, and then win the first title in Russian history. In the first ten rounds, Lokomotiv left the field eight times as a winner, and stumbled in the game against Krylya Sovetov. The “locomotive” rushed to Samara as the sole leader, but they failed to break the resistance of the owners. Moreover, the “wings”, thanks to the efforts of the current head coach of Zenit-2, Vladislav Radimov, scored the only goal in the meeting. And this result is worth a lot, since the defense of the railroad workers was debugged to the barracks, as evidenced by only 14 goals conceded in 30 matches.

Lokomotiv (Moscow)

Season: 2005
Win-win streak: 20 matches
Who stopped: Rubin - 1:3

Lokomotiv, having won its second league title in the 2004 season, was considered one of the main contenders for gold in the next tournament. In fact, the “railroad workers” faced a turning point, during which Yuri Semin, after almost 19 years (with some interruptions) of work for the benefit of the red-greens, accepted an invitation to lead the Russian national team. For a long time, Loko did not notice the absence of the main creator of victories in the recent history of the club. Under the leadership of Vladimir Eshtrekov, the team confidently held the lead in the table of ranks for 16 rounds. Loko's unbeaten starting streak was 20 matches: 12 wins with eight draws. However, the strongest impression was made by the number of goals conceded by Sergei Ovchinnikov in this segment - there were only six of them.

The defeat that broke Lokomotiv happened in the capital of Tatarstan, where Rubin loaded three goals into the undisputed leader's goal. The red-greens managed to retaliate one ball, but the guests were not capable of more. In addition, Dmitry Sychev was seriously injured in Kazan, after which the promising forward never returned to his previous level.

In the rest of the season, Lokomotiv won only two victories, drew eight times and suffered another fiasco - this time from Torpedo (0:3). The confused advantage was only enough for the bronze medals of the Premier League. It is worth noting that Lokomotiv went down in the history of domestic football as the first team that started with an unbeaten streak of ten or more meetings, but did not win the league title at the end of the season.

Zenit (St. Petersburg)

Season: 2010
Win-win streak: 23 matches
Who stopped: Spartak (Moscow) - 0:1

This season, the team from the banks of the Neva was headed by the Italian specialist Luciano Spalletti, who managed to get a golden double with Zenit on the domestic arena on the first try. And the triumphal campaign began with an impressive 23-match unbeaten streak, containing 17 wins and six draws. Blue-white-blue looked so powerful and solid in the course of the distance that experts seriously started talking about a season-long unbeaten streak. The Russian giant failed to repeat the achievement of the London Arsenal of the 2004 model. In the postponed match of the 16th round, Zenit misfired, losing on the road to Spartak Moscow with a minimum score. The only goal in the match was scored by Dmitry Kombarov from the 11-meter mark at the end of the meeting. True, at the end of the confrontation, they discussed not an interrupted series of St. Petersburg, but a skirmish between the head coach of the red and white Valery Karpin and the midfielder of Zenit Igor Denisov.

Nevertheless, neither the defeat from Spartak nor the subsequent failure in the game with CSKA prevented Zenit from confidently finishing on the first line in the table.

Zenit (St. Petersburg)

Season: 2014/2015
Win-win streak: 12 matches
Who stopped: Terek - 1:3

The debut of the 2014/2015 season "Zenith" was beyond praise. St. Petersburg, led by Andre Villas-Boas, surpassed Rubin Kazan's record for the number of wins in a row in the starting season of the championship, beating rivals in the first eight rounds. Then the blue-white-blues were content with two draws: with Spartak and Krasnodar. And then they left no stone unturned from Mordovia - 5:0, and achieved an advantage in the most important duel against CSKA - 2:1. True, already in the next round, Zenit knew all the bitterness of defeat, losing at Petrovsky to Grozny Terek (1:3). As part of the victors, it is worth noting Ailton, who recorded a double at his own expense, and later became known as a real specialist in St. Petersburg.

This case was the only one when such a long streak without defeat at the start of the season was interrupted in front of its own fans.

Somehow I already talked about the most. Now I want to talk about record winning streaks. True, last time it was only about the leading European championships, now let's talk about the whole of Europe.

Longest winning streak in European football clubs

15 matches

• "Real Madrid.
• "Sparta".
• Bayern.
• Bangor City (Wales).

I'll start with those who won 15 matches in a row. Real Madrid did it in the 1960-1961 season, and their lead over the second-place countrymen from Atlético was 12 points (and this, moreover, that two points were given for a victory then). The Prague "Sparta" achieved the same gap, having won 15 victories in a row in the 1999-2000 season. True, already with a three-point system.

For Bayern Munich, a confident victory in the German championship is not something out of the ordinary. But a dozen victories in a row do not happen every year. This was achieved by the Munich team in 2004-2005 under the leadership of Felix Magath.

In the company of two European superclubs and one middle peasant, the modest Welsh Bangor City wormed its way. This team was notable because it was founded almost a century and a half ago, and its home stadium can accommodate only 1,500 spectators. But in the 2010-2011 season, Bangor wrote another line in its history. The team won the national championship for the third time, and 15 of the 22 victories were won in a row.

16 matches

• Olympiacos.
• "Barcelona".

Despite 16 wins in a row in the 2005-2006 season, the 35th Greek title was not easy for Olympiakos - they managed to get ahead of AEK by only three points.

Barça did the same in the 2009-2010 season. Despite a record number of points for the Examples - 99, Real Madrid managed to get ahead by only three. At the same time, both Barça and Real Madrid scored 31 wins in 38 matches, setting a record both for the total number of wins in the championship and for their percentage of the number of matches played.

17 matches

• Dynamo Moscow.
• "Valur" (Iceland).
• "Steaua".
• Dynamo Bucharest.
• Inter Milan.

The largest list of teams is those who were able to win 17 victories in a row, there are as many as five of them. Our Dynamo opens this list. That was a special championship - 1945, which began a few days after the end of the Great Patriotic War. In total, Dynamo won 19 victories in 22 matches, but CDKA managed to beat them by just one point.

The modest Icelandic Valur in 1978 set a powerful record - not only did they win 17 matches in a row. In total, there were 18 games in the tournament, and only once in the entire championship did Valur draw.

But further - even more interesting. The fact is that Steaua and Dynamo achieved such an achievement during the same championship. As a result, Steaua scored 64 points, and Dynamo - 63 and became the only club on this list who, after an outstanding winning streak, could not win the national championship.

Against this background, the achievement of Milan "Inter" in the 2006-2007 season looks almost ordinary. Moreover, many, especially Juventus fans, are skeptical about the Nerazzurri records of that time. And that season was the first after Calcipoli, and the “old lady” spent it in the “B” series. The only thing that can be noted is that Inter have won 17 victories in a row since the start of the championship.

18 matches

Another representative of Iceland, this time with a hard-to-pronounce name. Hafnarfjordur is the most successful Icelandic club in the new century. In 2004, the team became champions, having won the last 5 matches in a row.

The 2005 Icelandic Championship "Hafnarfjordur" started with 13 wins in a row, ahead of schedule became the champion, winning 16 out of 18 fights in total.

22 matches

The 1987-1988 season was the best for the Dutch club. The team added victory in the Champions Cup to the championship title and the national Cup. And 22 wins in a row in the championship were a nice bonus to the titles.

And that team was coached by our good friend Guus Hiddink, who had not yet become Ivanovich.

25 matches

• Celtic.

The Scottish giants set many records, but in terms of the number of victories in a row, Celtic left their competitors from the Rangers far behind. In the 2003-2004 and 2004-2005 seasons, the Catholics won 22 matches in a row.

However, they won the championship only in the first of these seasons, in the next the “Protestants” already excelled.

28 matches

• Dynamo Zagreb.

Dynamo Zagreb's winning streak spanned two championships. Interestingly, 22 out of 28 victories occurred in the 2006-2007 season, when Dynamo, which confidently won the championship, changed as many as four coaches.

29 matches

• Benfica.

In the Portuguese Liga 1972-1973, Benfica set an arguably unique record by winning 28 and drawing 2 out of 30 matches.

But the main feature is that the club started its winning streak in the 1971-1972 season, and in the 1972 calendar year, the Eagles won all the league matches! Thus, if you look at the calendar, Benfica's winning streak has stretched for an entire shooting range of the year!

What just does not happen in football!

1) Celtic: 62 games (1915 - 1917)

Under the leadership of Willy Meili, Celtic had a staggering 62-game unbeaten streak almost a century ago, helping them to 3 straight league titles. It's even more impressive when you consider that in 1916 they once had to play twice in one day: first they beat Motherwell, only to go home and finish Raith Rovers 6-0. Mayley was appointed coach in 1897 and spent 43 years in this post, winning 16 national championships and 14 Scottish Cups.

2) Peñarol: 56 games (1966-1969)

The Uruguayan giants went 56 unbeaten in the late 60s, having won the Copa Libertadores and the Intercontinental Cup in 1966 by that point. That Copa Libertadores was won after one of the most memorable comebacks in the competition's history: Peñarol was 0-2 down with 25 minutes to go, but they managed to score twice in 6 minutes to celebrate with a 4-2 final score in extra time. They then finished off Real Madrid 4-0 and became world champions. The unbeaten streak eventually ended in September 1969, but before that, Roque Maspoli and Rafael Milans won the national championship twice.

3) Steaua: 104 games (1986-1989)

The Romanians lasted 104 matches without defeat, for 3 whole seasons no one could beat them, and this allowed Steaua to take 3 league titles and the Champions Cup, where in the final they beat Barcelona in Seville on penalties. Regardless of what can be argued about the competitiveness of Romanian football at that time (but not about modern football? - approx. Translator), Angel Yordanescu's team showed their level, reaching the semi-finals of the most prestigious European club championship in 1988 and the final the next year, where they were declassed by the legendary Milan 4-0, which allowed Arrigo Sacchi to take his first European crown.

4) ASEC Mimosas: 108 games (1989-1994)

The Ivorians remained invincible for the whole 5 years, the first 3 of their mentor was the Frenchman Philip Troussier, who then worked in Nigeria, Japan, South Africa and Marseille. With the help of goalkeeper Alain Gouamenet, who later joined Toulouse along with Donal Sieu, Abdoulaye Traore and Basil Kouame, Mimosas won 6 Ivory Coast titles, after which the series ended with a 1-2 defeat by CO Army.

5) Milan: 58 games (1991-1993)

Arrigo Sacchi laid a fine foundation, but Capello never imagined that his life in Milan would begin this way, as he led Milan to victory in Serie A of the 1991-1992 seasons without a single defeat. Their streak was eventually ended by the efforts of Parma and Faustino Asprilla in 1993, but that didn't matter - Don Fabio retained the title for another 2 seasons, and climaxed with Barcelona in the Champions League final in 1994, where Milan finished Barça 4- 0. Milan's performance in that match is considered by many to be the best in club football history.

6) Ajax: 52 games (1994-1996)

Van Der Sar, Reiziger, the De Boers brothers, Davids, Seedorf, Rijkaard, Blind, Kanu Overmars, Litmanen (already brought tears to my eyes - translator's note) - Van Gaal's famous line-up has been showing "xy from xy" in Dutch football for the last 20 years. In 1994-1995, they went the entire season undefeated in both the domestic league and the Champions League, where they eventually beat AC Milan in the final thanks to a one-year substitute for 18-year-old Kluivert. They will lose in the final of the next Champions League to Juventus on penalties, after which the exodus of players from Ajax will put an end to one of the greatest teams in the history of European football.

7) Boca Juniors: 40 games (1998-1999)

The Bianchi Boys surpassed Racing's record of 39 games unbeaten, which had stood for 33 years. It happened when Carlos Bianchi led Boca Juniors to a 40-match unbeaten streak that helped them capture 2 league titles along the way. Their series ended with a rout from Independiente. But all this was just a prelude to the greatest period in the history of the team, in which they won 3 of 4 Copa Libertadores and 2 world titles, defeating Real Madrid in 2000 and Milan on penalties in 2003. Boca's current manager Julio Falcioni came close to repeating record with a 33-game unbeaten streak to take the Apertura championship last season. The series ended with a dramatic match in which Boca lost to Independiente 4-5.

8) Arsenal: 49 games (2003-2004)

Wenger's "invincibles" galloped through the 2003-2004 Premier League season and became the first team in a century to go undefeated. They didn't manage to show the same football in the Champions League as Chelsea knocked them out in the quarter-finals, but the backbone of the team, consisting of Saul Campbell, Patrick Wier, Dennis Bergkamp and an electrified Henry, put on some of the best football I've ever seen this English game.

9) Porto: 55 games (2010-2012)

André Villas-Boas must have taken for granted his success as a coach when he moved to Chelsea after leading Porto undefeated and the team winning the Portuguese Championship, the National Cup and the Europa League. The streak started under Jesualdo Ferreira, continued by AVB until he packed his bags for London, and ended under his successor, Vítor Pereira, when Porto lost 1-3 to Gil Vicente. They broke the record of Sir Bobby Robson, who was manager at Porto from 1994 to 1996, when they went 53 games without a defeat.

10) Juventus: 44 games to be continued (2011-)

Juventus became only 3 teams in the history of Italian football to go through a season undefeated, allowing them to win the Scudetto last year. Juventus' excellent form in Serie A has continued this season despite Conte's 10-month ban. Juve also showed character last week with a comeback after a 0-2 win at Stamford Bridge against Chelsea.

Original article: http://www.goal.com/en/slideshow/456