Eagles at the top of Europe

Estrela da Amadora (2-0), Gil Vicente (2-3), Vitória SC (4-0), Vizela (1-2), Portimonense (1-3), FC Porto (1-0) and, last Saturday, October 7, Estoril (0-1). Seven different opponents and as many consecutive wins in the Liga Betclic, in a sequence that illustrates Benfica's overwhelming and authoritative response to the only game in the competition in which they failed to pick up points, against Boavista on matchday 1. In the Premier League, La Liga, Serie A, Bundesliga and Ligue 1, everyone has fallen by the wayside in their quest to achieve a similar record.

The best current run in the league began on August 19 and continued until the second international break of the season. It is now on hold until the next battle for the league title: Casa Pia on matchday 9 on October 28.

The competitive hiatus invites us to take stock of the situation, and the open window to Europe shows that Roger Schmidt's team's domestic form is not for everyone. Taking into account the sample of the top 7 leagues in the UEFA rankings, only Dutch side PSV have a better run than the Reds. The Eredivisie's sole leader, the Eindhoven outfit has won eight times in the first eight rounds of the competition (Utrecht, Vitesse, RKC Waalwijk, NEC, Almere, Go Ahead Eagles, Volendam and Sparta Rotterdam) and are the only 100% winners in their league among the Old Continent's elite. And it's also the team from the Netherlands that is nipping at Benfica's heels in this separate league. With 6 consecutive wins, 1 less than the eagles, Feyenoord close the podium of the best ongoing series in the 7 main European leagues.

Manchester City (England) and surprising Girona (Spain), who have made strong starts in their respective leagues, have recently failed to extend their winning streaks to six in a row. The English and European champions were beaten 2-1 at Wolverhampton, while the Catalans lost 0-3 at home to Real Madrid on September 30.

HANDFUL WAS SYNONYMOUS WITH A FALL

To reach their 7th consecutive win, Benfica survived the "handful" syndrome that has plagued major European giants, and with triumph in the clássico at Estádio da Luz, against FC Porto (1-0). That's because Liverpool, Barcelona, Real Madrid, Inter and AZ Alkmaar were all held back as they tried to make it six wins in a row. The Reds lost 2-1 at Tottenham on matchday 7 of the Premier League, while Barcelona drew 2-2 in Mallorca and Real Madrid were beaten 3-1 in the capital derby against Atlético on matchdays 7 and 6 of La Liga, respectively. A week before hosting Benfica at San Siro, the Nerazzurri lost at home to Sassuolo (1-2) on matchday 6 of Serie A.

Finally, and again on Dutch soil, AZ Alkmaar didn't show the same resilience as Roger Schmidt's men and conceded a home draw against Heracles (1-1) in a game in hand from Matchday 3 of the Eredivisie, played on September 28.

In south-West Germany, Stuttgart made it five wins in a row after beating Wolfsburg (3-1) and will be fighting for their sixth at Union Berlin after the international break.

FRANCE IN A SEPARATE REALITY

The top tier of French soccer (Ligue 1) is characterized by great balance, and none of the 18 teams in the competition has yet enjoyed a substantial period of dominance. Currently in 2nd place, Nice have won three in a row between matchdays 4 and 6 and are, for the moment, the owners of the best run in the French league with a record some distance behind that of Benfica this season.