Real Madrid Aim For Their 20th Consecutive Victory

Real Madrid’s mesmeric winning streak continued on Wednesday evening, with a comfortable 4-0 victory over Ludogrets. For those of you counting at home, that was their 19th victory in a row.

However, Carlo Ancelotti’s side aren’t set to rest on their laurels just yet, and the Italian coach has already declared that he wants to win a 20th consecutive game on Friday.

Real Madrid are set to play Almeria at the Estadio de los Juegos Mediterraneos on Friday evening. This will be their last La Liga match of 2014 as they have to travel to Morocco next week to take part in the Club World Cup, which they enter because they are the reigning European champions.

Madrid have already claimed the European Cup and the Copa Del Rey over the past 12 months, but, according to the BBC, Ancelotti still wants to end this “fantastic year” with a 20th victory.

“It has been a fantastic year, and we want to round off our La Liga fixtures with a win. With everything the team have done in 2014, I’d give them a high mark out of ten.”

But where would another victory leave Carlo Ancelotti’s side in comparison to the other great teams who have won over a dozen consecutive games? Well, they have already usurped the Spanish record, which was set in 2005/2006 by Barcelona when they won 18 games in a row.

In fact, the world record for consecutive victories was set in 2011 by the Brazilian club Coritiba. They won 24 successive matches, and Real Madrid are now just five short of this huge total.

However, Ancelotti admitted that Almeria, who are currently just outside the relegation zone on goal difference, will prove to be a sturdy test for Madrid. This is because they only parted ways with their manager, Francisco Junior Rodriguez, on Tuesday, and these players will be looking to impress their new coach, Miguel Rivera, who is currently in caretaker control.

“Almeria will play with intensity and will be more dangerous because of this week’s change of coach,” Ancelotti explained. “Every time a club changes its coach, the players have more responsibility.”

Madrid sauntered to their victory on Wednesday evening thanks to goals from Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale. They are only the sixth team in the history of the Champions League to have finished the group stages with a 100% record, too. However, they will be hoping that their are many other accolades waiting for them come the end of the season.

[Image via Marca]