Paris Saint-Germain have started this season’s Ligue 1 campaign in unrelenting fashion.
Their performances in Europe leave a lot to be desired, which should not be the case given the players that manager Thomas Tuchel has at his disposal, but they remain first among equals in France.
Of the last 21 major domestic honours, they’ve won 18, including four of the last five championships, and few are betting against them from adding yet another, especially with the Parisians winning their opening 10 league fixtures.
It sees them on the brink of history. PSG match Manchester United (1985/86), AS Roma (2013/14) and Bayern München (2015/16) and stand one win away from equalling Tottenham Hotspur (1960/61) who hold the outright record for the longest opening win-streaks in the history of the top five league’s in Europe.
Claim all three points against fierce rivals Olympique de Marseille this weekend and they will equal the 58-year old milestone. Before this weekend’s Le Classique it’s worth looking back on the teams mentioned above and see what happened next.
Manchester United
Season: 1985/86
Matches: 10
Heading into the 1985/86 season, Manchester United had endured an 18-year title drought. Ron Atkinson was embarking on hs fifth campaign in charge and he couldn’t have asked for a better start.
The Red Devils won their opening 10 league fixtures, registering 27 goals and conceding just three, before they were held to a 1-1 draw away to Luton Town. They never truly recovered, winning just three of their next eight First Division matches, finishing the season in fourth and 12 points behind rivals Liverpool.
What happened next? This season proved to be Atkinson’s last full campaign as United boss. He’d famously be relieved of his duties early in the 1986/87 season with his successor being former Aberdeen manager Alex Ferguson – the rest as they say is history.
AS Roma
Season: 2013/14
Matches: 10
Rudi Garcia’s first season at the helm of AS Roma gave supporters visions of a better future. It started in stunning fashion with the giallorossi stringing 10 consecutive league victories together, including 2-0 wins over city rivals Lazio and Napoli. The run came to a halt with a 1-1 draw away to Torino; which began a run of four successive draws and allowed their rivals to peg them back. In spite of a late season surge, including nine back-to-back wins, they’d lose their final three outings and finish runners-up to Juventus.
What happened next? Garcia could never match his debut Serie A campaign points tally (85) even if he did manage to guide Roma to another second place finish the following season. He would, though, lose his job 19 games into 2015/16 with Roma languishing in fifth.
Bayern München
Season: 2015/16
Matches: 10
Pep Guardiola’s arrival in Munich was seen as a game changer, even if the celebrated Spanish tactician had a tough act to follow. Jupp Heynckes departed in the summer of 2013 with a treble; Pep could only manage a double in his first season, but rewrote the record books at the start of his second campaign. Bayern raced to 10 wins from 10, with many envisaging a perfect season, but that never came to fruition as Eintracht Frankfurt held them to a goalless draw in game 11.
What happened next? Bayern still won the league and by a comfortable margin of 10 points, with Borussia Dortmund in second. Guardiola would remain at the Allianz Arena for one more season, winning another Bundesliga crown in the process, before taking his talents to Manchester City.
Tottenham Hotspur
Season: 1960/61
Matches: 11
Bill Nicholson’s men ended their fabled 1960/61 campaign by completing the double, a feat not managed in English football since the Preston North End side of 1888/89. Spurs would celebrate 15 wins from their opening 16 fixtures, with the first 10 outings ending with the north London side claiming maximum points. Despite suffering a total of seven losses, they’d win the league by eight points, with Sheffield Wednesday behind them in second.
What happened next? This remains Spurs’ last championship win. Nicholson would manage the Lilywhites for another 12 years in which they celebrated two further FA Cup wins, two League Cups as well as the UEFA Cup and Cup Winners’ Cup.
The post What happened next? The longest opening win-streaks in the history of Europe’s ‘big five’ leagues appeared first on Squawka News.
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