The Champions League is where the cream of the crop contest club soccer’s grandest prize. To survive is hard enough. Thriving is even tougher.
Only Europe’s elite teams harbor genuine ambitions of Champions League glory each season and there have been some historically stunning campaigns since the competition’s rebranding back in 1992.
Putting together a lengthy winning streak worthy of the title offers the sternest of challenges but there are an array of big-hitters who have embarked on storied triumphant runs that defy logic.
With that in mind, here are the longest winning streaks in Champions League history.
The Longest Champions League Winning Runs Ever
Bayern Munich comfortably boast the most impressive winning run since the Champions League’s inception. An astonishing 15-match streak spanned over a year—admittedly the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic elongated the run—starting in September 2019 with victory over Red Star Belgrade and concluding with a routine triumph over RB Salzburg in November 2020.
During their remarkable purple patch, Bayern scooped the 2019–20 Champions League crown by beating Paris Saint-Germain in the competition’s final, while also claiming their famous 8–2 win over Barcelona alongside thrashings of Tottenham Hotspur, Chelsea and Atlético Madrid. The streak ended with a stalemate against the latter in the 2020–21 group stage.
Bayern also possess the joint-second longest winning streak in the competition—their 10-match spree between April and November 2013—while they also enjoyed an impressive run shortly after setting the record, winning eight games on the spin between September 2022 and March 2023.
Manchester City are the English side with the longest run and they also clinched the trophy during their 10-game streak, which started with a 4–0 victory over Real Madrid in the 2022–23 semis. City proceeded to beat Inter in the showpiece event before triumphing in their first eight European games of the following campaign—eventually ended by a quarter-final draw with Madrid in 2024.
Joining Bayern and Man City on 10-game winning runs are Real Madrid, whose journey began with a 1–0 semifinal win over Bayern, continued with victory over Atléti in the 2013–14 final and ended when they were surprisingly beaten 4–3 on home soil by Schalke in the following season’s last 16 second leg.
There have been two nine-match winning streaks in the Champions League, both undertaken by Barcelona. The first dates back to 2002 and lasted exactly five months before being ended by eventual runners-up Juventus in the last eight, while the second was enjoyed during their 2014–15 title-winning campaign—although it ended just before their final victory over Juve in Berlin.
| Team | Matches Won | Start Date | End Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bayern Munich | 15 | Sept. 18, 2019 | Nov. 25, 2020 |
| Manchester City | 10 | May 17, 2023 | March 6, 2024 |
| Real Madrid | 10 | April 23, 2014 | Feb. 18, 2015 |
| Bayern Munich | 10 | April 2, 2013 | Nov. 27, 2013 |
| Barcelona | 9 | Oct. 21, 2014 | May 6, 2015 |
| Barcelona | 9 | Sept. 18, 2002 | Feb. 18, 2003 |
| Bayern Munich | 8 | Sept. 7, 2022 | March 8, 2023 |
| Borussia Dortmund | 8 | Dec. 4, 1996 | Oct. 1, 1997 |
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as The Longest Champions League Winning Runs—Ranked.
