Last season, Xabi Alonso’s Bayer Leverkusen managed to remain unbeaten for an entire league season. Will anyone emulate that in 2024/25?

Arsene Wenger’s Arsenal Invincibles were the last team to do so in England in the 2003/04 season, while Juventus did it in Serie A in the 2011/12 season. It has never happened in France, and neither Barcelona nor Real Madrid have done it in La Liga in the post-war era.

Of the 96 teams in Europe’s five major leagues, 79 have suffered at least one defeat so far. It’s still very early days, but 17 teams have yet to taste defeat – with some having more realistic hopes of total invincibility than others.

Manchester City

Surprise, surprise.

Pep Guardiola’s mighty side are seeking their fifth consecutive Premier League title, but an undefeated season is an achievement that does credit to both them and their era-defining coach.

They could have been just seconds away from their first home league defeat in almost two years against title rivals Arsenal, but super-sub John Stones was in the right place at the right time and slotted home a rebound to make it 2-2.

arsenal

With key playmaker Martin Odegaard out injured and having already survived two games in which they had to play with ten men, Mikel Arteta’s Gunners have not been at their best in the 2024/25 season but have shown their iron side.

With Bukayo Saka assisting in every Premier League game so far, Gabriel continuing to prove himself a threat from set pieces and the rearguard looking as doggedly organised as ever, Arsenal look set to rise to the challenge and fight for every point.

The fact that Arsenal are unbeaten away from home against Aston Villa, Tottenham and Manchester City, winning seven points and are only two points off the top of the table after five games, is further proof of Arsenal’s title chances. It is a risk not to write them off straight away.

Brighton

Fabian Hurzeler, the first and so far only full-time Premier League manager born after the founding of the Premier League, got off to a lightning start at Brighton, winning two games in a row against Everton and Manchester United.

Three consecutive draws against Arsenal, Ipswich and Nottingham Forest have somewhat dulled the team’s shine, but they are still considered a safe bet to once again fight above their means and secure a European place.

The upcoming games against Chelsea, Tottenham, Newcastle and Liverpool will really test their skills under the new, inexperienced manager.

Nottingham Forest

Having battled relegation in recent years, Nottingham Forest’s early signs for this season are positive – with a well-rounded squad built entirely in the mould of Nuno Espirito Santo, the team look set to cement their top-flight status with a more comfortable mid-table position.

The way they performed against in-form Liverpool, recording their first win at Anfield since 1969, shows that this is a strong team.

It was a defensive masterpiece with real counter-attacking power thanks to Anthony Elanga and Callum Hudson-Odoi.

Barcelona

Under Xavi, Barcelona endured a disappointing title defence last season, ending up without a trophy and finishing ten points behind rivals Real Madrid in the final table.

But the appointment of new coach Hansi Flick appears to have had the desired invigorating effect. They are one of only two teams in all five major European leagues with a 100% winning streak and have scored an incredible 22 goals in just six games so far.

Raphinha and Robert Lewandowski seem to have found new life, and Lamine Yamal is quickly living up to his reputation as the most promising player of his generation.

However, an injury to Marc André ter Stegen, which could mean the end of his season, will raise big questions in defence and could throw them off balance.

READ MORE: The 10 highest-earning players in European football 2024-25: Mbappe, Haaland …

Try a quiz: Can you name the 10 longest winning streaks in the 10 best leagues in Europe?

real Madrid

Mark Sunday, October 27th in your calendar. Kylian Mbappe’s first El Clasico against a newly resurgent Barca is set to be a cracker.

We’ve never seen the reigning European champions fire up like their historic rivals, but Sunday’s 4-1 comeback win over Espanyol, with Rodrygo, Vinicius Junior and Mbappe all scoring, was a reminder of the frightening potential of this new Galactico project.

Poor draws against Las Palmas and Mallorca leave Los Blancos four points behind Barca, but even a less-than-strong Madrid are a tough nut to crack. They have lost a total of one La Liga game since the start of last season.

Atletico Madrid

Diego Simeone has been at Atletico Madrid long enough to consider this the fourth or fifth iteration of a Simeone-Atletico team.

And with draws against Villarreal, Espanyol and Rayo Vallecano, there was certainly a sense that there is still work to be done in this new cycle.

But their hard-fought victory in the Champions League against RB Leipzig suggested that the new Atletico can go far.

While a title challenge would be a tall order, one would expect them to take their now-familiar place in the top three in La Liga, while it is by no means impossible for them to achieve something special in Europe.

Torino

In this early phase of the 2024-25 season, the Serie A table is a real tension. Torino at the top! Udinese third! Empoli fifth! Defending champions Inter sixth!

Paolo Vanoli’s surprise team admittedly had a relatively relaxed schedule, but they drew away at Milan, came from behind to beat Atalanta 2-1 and picked up eleven points from their first five games.

Long may it continue like this.

Try a quiz: Can you name all the clubs in La Liga, Serie A, Bundesliga and Ligue 1 in the 2024–25 season?

Juventus

London? Manchester? Rome? Milan? No, the second city after Madrid with several undefeated teams is Turin.

There is a feeling that Thiago Motta has not yet put his stamp on his Juventus team and that the team is not playing quite as fluid football as the remarkably entertaining Bologna of last season.

Their last three games in Serie A have all ended goalless, but while they struggle to score in the final third, they suddenly look like a defensive force with five consecutive games without conceding a goal.

They are the only team in all major European leagues that has not conceded a single goal.

Empoli

Empoli are only behind Juventus on goal difference, although the team has also won two and drawn three games so far.

Like against Torino, their games were easier, but they frustrated Juventus with a 0-0 draw. The upcoming games against Torino, Fiorentina, Lazio and Napoli will be an interesting test.

Bayern Munich

Vincent Kompany’s Bayern Munich have much bigger questions to ask themselves, but so far the team has passed all tests with flying colours – and has scored no fewer than 20 (!) goals in their last three games in all competitions.

Bayer Leverkusen, who have themselves lost their long unbeaten domestic record, will likely face a stronger and more powerful Bayern team this time around on their way to defending their Bundesliga title.

RB Leipzig

It was Leipzig that ended Leverkusen’s era of invincibility in the second week of the season by overcoming a 2-0 deficit to record a remarkable 3-2 victory at the BayArena.

However, the attacking strength they demonstrated that day was lost in the two 0-0 draws against Union Berlin and St. Pauli.

READ: All clubs in Europe ranked by their 2024-25 salary list: Real Madrid 2nd, Liverpool 9th…

Union Berlin

Union Berlin is the third undefeated team in the top German league and is coming back to its former self after the major setback last season.

In the away draws against Mainz and Leipzig and the home wins against St. Pauli and Hoffenheim, they appeared equally stubborn and organized.

PSG

The first signs suggest that the perennial champions of Ligue 1 have adapted quite well to life after Kylian Mbappe.

With arguably the least star-studded squad of the QSI era, the Parisians may lack glamour, but under Luis Enrique they look like a true collective and still have plenty of quality.

They had to settle for a draw at Reims at the weekend, but before that they had won four Ligue 1 games in a row in impressively comfortable fashion.

Marseille

Ever since Marcelo Bielsa sat on a cooler at the Stade Vélodrome, Marseille no longer looked like a serious challenger for the Ligue 1 title.

It is too early to declare them real challengers under Roberto De Zerbi, but so far all signs are positive. They have picked up 13 points out of a possible 15 and are only behind leaders PSG on goal difference.

Monaco

Monaco, which also started the Champions League with a win over Barcelona, ​​is level on points with PSG and Marseille.

Monaco have won against Saint-Etienne, Lyon, Auxerre and Le Havre in their league campaign, and drawn at home against Lens.

Everything is going well under Adi Hütter, but it will be interesting to see if they can repeat their performance against Barcelona against their direct rivals in the French top league.

lens

Among the top four in Ligue 1 is Lens, which started its season with consecutive wins against Angers and Brest before drawing with Monaco, Lyon and Rennes.

A very promising start for Will Still.