The New Saints missed out on their 23rd consecutive league win with a surprising draw. Which teams have had longer streaks in Europe?
29 Games – Benfica (Portugal) 1971-73
What started for Benfica at the end of one championship season is still the European record. This streak was carried into the next season, which also ended with the championship, without losing a single game. No team in Portugal had ever achieved this before. English coach Jimmy Hagan played a decisive role, as Eusébio recalled: “He loved discipline. All the players thought his training sessions were very physically demanding, but the team soon began to win games, and we knew it was worth it. He gave us extra strength, and that was the reason we won three championships in a row during that time.”
28 Games – Dinamo Zagreb (Croatia) 2006-07
Eduardo, Luka Modrić, and Vedran Ćorluka were among the key players who had this run in Croatia with Dinamo. It began on November 8, 2006, with a 5:1 win against NK Istra and ended on September 23, 2007, with a 3:4 loss against NK Varteks (today NK Varaždin). On the eve of this game, coach Branko Ivanković said: “We have a great team, and Dinamo is a big club. We want to win the 29th game in a row and thus equal Benfica’s record, so that this Dinamo generation secures its place in the history of world football.” They were so close!
28 Games – Ferencváros (Hungary) 1931-33
After two wins at the end of the previous season, the Hungarians marched unstoppably through the next season. All 22 league games were won. The next season also started with two wins, and thus they held the record for a long time until Benfica surpassed it.
25 Games – Celtic (Scotland) 2003-04
Celtic achieved a milestone in British football history with 25 consecutive league wins from August 16, 2003, to February 29, 2004. During this period, they scored 86 goals and eventually clinched the double of championship and cup under manager Martin O’Neill. It was also Henrik Larsson’s last season at Celtic Park. “We tried to win every game,” said former Celtic winner Johan Mjällby. “When a team starts winning games, it’s hard to stop them.”
25 Games – Dinamo Tirana (Albania) 1951-52
Dinamo was the absolute dominant team in Albania at the time, winning four consecutive championships. The winning streak started and ended against Puna. Today, Dinamo, with 18 championships, is the second most successful club in the country but was relegated to the second division in 2011/12.
24 Games – Crvena zvezda (Serbia) 2015-16
Between a 1:1 draw at home against Radnički Niš on July 21, 2015, and a 0:0 draw at Vojvodina on April 2, 2016, Miodrag Božović’s team won 24 consecutive matches, including both games against Belgrade rival Partizan. “Every adventure like this is great, and we enjoyed this series,” said Božović. “Our run was stopped, but that happens.” 24 games with no draws and no losses is awesome.
23 Games – Malmö (Sweden) 1949-50
After winning the championship in 1948/49 with five wins at the end of the season, Malmö started the following season on fire as well. It wasn’t until May 14, 1950, that they dropped points in a 3:3 draw against AIK.
22 Games – PSV Eindhoven (Netherlands) 1987-88
After winning the last five games of the 1986/87 season, PSV continued in the same vein the following season, even though superstar Ruud Gullit had left the club in the summer. Hans van Breukelen, Ronald Koeman, Eric Gerets, Berry van Aerle, Jan Heintze, Ivan Nielsen, Søren Lerby, Gerald Vanenburg, Wim Kieft, and veteran Willy van de Kerkhof, under Guus Hiddink, who was celebrating his debut season, were unstoppable. On January 16, 1988, this series ended with a 2:2 draw against Twente, yet they still managed to win the domestic double and also clinched the European Champion Clubs’ Cup.
22 Games – Käpäz (Azerbaijan) 1997-98
The team from the 1997/98 season, coached by Mehman Allahverdiyev, remains the only team to have finished the league undefeated. And for ten months – until September 23, 1998 – opponents did not take a single point from them. Notably, two of Käpäz’s 22 victories were awarded as wins by default.
22 – The New Saints (Wales) 2016
After a win in the last league game of the 2015/16 season, the Saints started the new season with 21 victories, scoring 74 goals. The streak ended in the first game of 2017 with a surprising 3:3 draw against relegation candidate Newtown. The New Saints are close to their new winning streak record in 2024, you can check it out here.
19 – Bayern Munich (Germany) 2013/14
19 – Ajax (Netherlands) 1971/72
18 – FH (Iceland) 2004/05
17 – Olympiacos (Greece) 2005-06, 2015/16
17 – Internazionale Milano (Italy) 2006/07
17 – Steaua Bucureşti (Romania) 1988
17 – Dinamo Bucureşti (Romania) 1988
16 – Real Madrid (Spain) 2016-17
16 – Barcelona (Spain) 2010/11
16 – APOEL (Cyprus) 2008/09
16 – Valur Reykjavík (Iceland) 1978
15 – Bangor City (Wales) 2010
15 – Sparta Praha (Czech Republic) 1999/2000
15 – Benfica (Portugal) 1963
15 – Real Madrid (Spain) 1960/61