Unbeaten 2017-18

The large winter break across most European leagues will come to an end in the next few weeks and it's a perfect time to recap on the opening half of the season. Five sides across the continent remain undefeated this season and all look to be odds on to be lifting their respective league titles come May.

Croatia - Dinamo Zagreb 

Dinamo are twenty unbeaten this season
source: Pixsell/Sanjin Strukić

The Croatian powerhouse of Dinamo Zagreb will be regaining their league crown that was lost to Rijeka last season. Will they do it unbeaten? Well after twenty league games they are over halfway to reaching that milestone. With sixteen games remaining it's unlikely closest challengers and eternal rivals Hajduk Split are going to cut the twelve point lead significantly. In fact Dinamo are the only club since independence to go a season unbeaten having done so in 2014-15. 

Of the twenty games this season Dinamo have only dropped points in five of them. The transfer window saw them sign Mario Gavranović, who was instrumental in Rijeka's title win last season, to add further depth to the squad. 

The league resumes this coming weekend with Dinamo away at Osijek in a potentially tricky looking fixture.

Czech Republic - Viktoria Plzeň

Viktoria Plzeň are in absolute control of the title in the Czech Republic. Pavel Vrba's side are sixteen points clear of Slavia Praha and incredibly have only dropped two points from sixteen games. It's exactly halfway through the league season and they have pretty much wrapped up the title. 

The numbers become even more impressive when you factor in they have only conceded five goals in the league, striker Michal Krmenčík is the league's top scorer and the club remain in the Europa League in which they face FK Partizan. 

The club are enjoying a somewhat golden era with this season expected to be league title number five since 2010. Going unbeaten is not all too common in the Czech liga with Sparta Praha going the 2009-10 campaign without suffering a reverse, you have to go back to the 1943-44 for the previous unbeaten season which was also achieved by Sparta.

Gibraltar - Lincoln Red Imps

The only side on the list with a perfect unbeaten season thus far with no points dropped. Lincoln Red Imps are sailing toward reclaiming the league title that was lost to Europa FC last May. They are currently eleven points clear of the defending champions having won all ten league games to date. They are enjoying such a dominant season that they have only conceded twice in that period and with eight games of the campaign to come it's looking ominous for the rest of the league to catch them. 

Lincoln do have plenty of experience in an invincible season having done so in 2013-14 and before the league was under UEFA for four seasons in succession from 2009-10 to 2012-13.

Portugal - FC Porto

Porto have form in this category having done so in 2010-11 and 2012-13. One both occasions they won the league title but in recent years they have played second fiddle to Benfica with that 2012-13 title being their last taste of glory. This season after twenty games they are at the summit with a game in hand and two points ahead of Benfica and Sporting CP. 

The game in hand against Estoril was abandoned after one of the stands at Estoril's Estádio António Coimbra de Mota was deemed unsafe and likely to collapse, at the time Porto were trailing 1-0.

Spain - Barcelona

Despite the tumultuous summer Barcelona have taken La Liga by storm this season. Unbeaten after twenty-two games they are sailing towards another league title. Currently nine points ahead of second placed Atlético Madrid its unlikely Atlético will be able to catch the Catalans. The unbeaten run was put on the line last weekend in the derby draw with Espanyol only for a Gerard Piqué equalizer to preserve the run. Of the games remaining that look tricky, are home to Atlético ( March 4th) away to Sevilla (April 1st) and away to Celta de Vigo (April 18th). Should they go unbeaten this season Barcelona will have achieved a rare feat of an unbeaten La Liga season something which has only ever happened twice before and not since 1931-32 when Real Madrid went the eighteen games unbeaten.