Real Madrid, PSG, Inter Milan, Arsenal and Liverpool are among the European giants who won’t be boasting a historic invincible campaign in 2025-26.
We’re still in the opening stages of the season, but only a few of the traditional European elite powerhouses are yet to taste defeat. The list of still-unbeaten teams features a refreshing number of surprise packages punching well above their weight.
Here are the only unbeaten sides remaining in Europe’s five major leagues.
Crystal Palace
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The last men standing in the Premier League, Oliver Glasner’s Eagles are arguably the most remarkable story in all of European football.
When was the last time a non ‘big six’ side were the last side to taste defeat in England’s top flight? Genuine question as we can’t find an answer, leading us to believe it must be yonks ago.
Palace’s unbeaten run stretches back 19 matches in all competitions, back to a uncharacteristic collapse in a 5-0 loss away to Newcastle back in April.
As well as victories over Aston Villa, Manchester City and Liverpool at Wembley, en route to lifting the FA Cup and Community Shield, Palace have taken points from Arsenal, Tottenham, Liverpool (twice) and Chelsea in the Premier League.
Only Arsenal have taken more points on the road than Palace in 2025. They might just be the real deal.
A Leicester City-esque fairytale title challenge is probably too much to ask, given the strength of the competition, but their underlying performance data suggests a push at the top four might not be beyond them.
Barcelona
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Hansi Flick’s insistence on a high line saw Barcelona caught out in the Champions League against PSG, as well as Inter in last season’s semi-final.
But capitalising on their daring high-wire act is easier said than done. Imagine Ange Postecoglou’s Spurs… except really, really good.
Barca’s imperious form in the latter half of last season saw them claim a domestic treble in wonderful style, with no fewer than four high-scoring victories over Real Madrid for good measure.
They’ve picked up where they left off last season. It’s 22 wins, three draws and just one defeat from 26 La Liga outings in 2025. A serious team.
Elche
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Joining Barcelona as La Liga’s only other unbeaten side aren’t Real Madrid, who were tonked 5-2 by Atletico Madrid last weekend.
It’s not even Atleti, who have only won three of seven league outings so far. Nor is it Valencia, Sevilla, Athletic Club or Real Betis.
Flying high up fourth in La Liga are minnows Elche, who have won three and drawn four of their seven outings to date.
Eder Sarabia’s team have benefited from a relatively forgiving fixture list, but they have done well to hold Atletico Madrid, Betis and Sevilla to draws.
They don’t do anything particularly interesting, but Eder Sarabia has built a solid, functional team with a well-drilled five-man backline at one end and Andre Silva and Rafa Mir banging in the goals at the other.
Bayern Munich
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Believe it or not, but for all their domestic dominance over the years, Bayern Munich have never completed a full league campaign unbeaten.
Xabi Alonso’s Bayer Leverkusen became the first side in history to claim that rare Bundesliga honour the season before last.
The Bavarian giants have been blessed with more depth in the past, which might be their undoing as they look to navigate multiple fronts later in the campaign, but right now Vincent Kompany’s first-choice XI is making short work of every test.
Five games. Five wins. Twenty-two goals scored and just three conceded, with Harry Kane on track to demolish all kinds of records. Gulp.
Borussia Dortmund
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It looks as though we’re relying on Bayern’s traditional rivals to give us any kind of title challenge this year.
Dortmund’s form has actually been pretty good since Niko Kovac replaced Nuri Sahin back in January.
It’s four straight Bundesliga wins since a madcap 3-3 draw with St. Pauli on the opening weekend, and they’ve been scoring for fun in the Champions League too.
Juventus
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The Old Lady became the first side to go unbeaten in Serie A’s 20-team format under Antonio Conte back in 2011-12, an imperious title triumph that marked the beginning of their historic nine-in-a-row era of dominance.
We’re not quite sure whether this Juve under Igor Tudor will hit those heights, but they certainly look more ready to compete than they have in a while.
Their stunning last-gasp 4-3 victory over Inter made us stand up and take notice, only to follow it up with 1-1 draws with Hellas Verona and Atalanta.
Watch this space for what evidently remains a work in progress.
Atalanta
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We fully expected Atalanta to fall off a cliff after replacing the visionary mastermind Gian Piero Gasperini with Ivan Juric in the summer.
Yes, that’s the same Juric of 0.29 points per game infamy at Southampton last season.
But the Croatian has an altogether more respectable record in Serie A and he’s done well to keep Atalanta’s ship relatively steady.
It’s only two wins from five and their fixtures have been favourable, but last weekend’s 1-1 draw with Juve shows they’re no mugs.
Cremonese
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One to file alongside Elche in the ‘what are _you_ doing here?’ surprise package category.
Veteran journeyman coach Davide Nicola has worked wonders after taking over newly-promoted Cremonese in the summer, kicking off their Serie A return with a superb 2-1 victory away to AC Milan on the opening weekend.
We suspect their unbeaten run will come to an end this weekend when they go away to Inter, but they’ve already won once at San Siro this season. Why not again?
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