The last time Real Madrid lost a La Liga match was on September 24, 2023. The Galacticos were handed a 1-3 defeat by city-rivals Atletico Madrid. Since then, Real has been on a 38-game unbeaten streak in the league.
Carlo Ancelotti’s men have effectively gone unbeaten for a full league campaign, split between last season and the start of the current season, despite some in Spanish media criticising the club’s approach.
On Monday, coach Ancelotti attributed his side’s spotless run to his team’s “many styles” of play in the league.
“For me, I don’t think it’s like that, that we play badly,” Ancelotti said at a news conference. “What stands out the most is that Real Madrid, over these years, doesn’t have one single identity, (we) have done things well, defended well in a low block, had very quick transitions, managed possession well in some games.”
“Not having a clear identity makes some think that we don’t have a style. And that’s the truth, we don’t have a style, we have many styles,” the Italian added.
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Barcelona holds the record for the longest unbeaten run in the Spanish top flight, going 43 games without defeat between April 2017 and May 2018 under Luis Enrique and mainly Ernesto Valverde.
Madrid hosts Alaves on Tuesday aiming to cut down the four-point gap on leaders Barca, in what will be Ancelotti’s 300th game at the helm across two spells in all competitions.
The coach, who guided Madrid to three Champions League titles, said there will be “some rotations” when asked if its top scorer Kylian Mbappe would start against Alaves, after Vinicius Junior started on the bench in Saturday’s 4-1 win over Espanyol.
Madrid routed the Catalans in the second half after failing to find the net before the break, which it has only managed to do once in the league this season.
“We should put more intensity in, but understanding that teams lower their intensity in the second halves and there’s more space,” noted Ancelotti.
Midfielder Jude Bellingham seemed to hurt his shoulder against Espanyol, an issue he had trouble with last season too, but Ancelotti said he will be be ready to face Alaves.s
