Real Madrid's sensational 40-game unbeaten streak was all well and good, but are the La Liga giants

REAL MADRID recently went on a sensational 40-match unbeaten run in all competitions.

Despite slumping to a 2-1 defeat at the hands of Sevilla on Sunday, Zinedine Zidane and Co can be proud of their strong start to the season.

Or can they? After all, aside from their strong position in La Liga, have the Galacticos actually had a good campaign?

Keep up to date with ALL the Real Madrid news, gossip and transfers on our club page.

We take a look at all the facts...

On the one hand, a 40-game stretch unbeaten is not only pretty astonishing, it's also a Spanish record, breaking the 39 games Barcelona put together between October 2015 and March 2016.

That season, the Catalan giants' run - including a remarkable 32 wins - saw them clinch a La Liga-Copa del Rey double.

Real's run, despite being longer, is arguably LESS impressive, with just 30 wins and ten draws, 115 goals to Barca's 120 - despite playing one game more- and conceding 39 to the Catalans' 23.

If the 2-1 away loss to Sevilla was hard to swallow, the 2-1 defeat to comparative minnows Celta Vigo at the Bernabeu just three days later was real punch to the stomach.

The defeat - thanks to goals from former Liverpool flop Iago Aspas and Jonny - sees Real on the brink of Copa del Rey elimination, in just the quarter-final stage.

But it's not just the struggles in the domestic cup, Real's Champions League campaign so far has been something of a damp squib by their lofty standards.

Going unbeaten in the group is not to be sniffed at, but slumping to three draws is mightily frustrating for a club of Madrid's size.

Ultimately the finished behind German giants Borussia Dortmund in Group F and were forced into facing a top-seeded team in the last-16 - Serie A side Napoli.

Then there's the La Liga charts. You'd think a side who go on a 40-match unbeaten run would be streets ahead, but that hasn't been the case.

In fact, Madrid - still hunting for their first win since Cristiano Ronaldo won Fifa's 'The Best' award - are only one point clear of Sevilla at the top of the league, albeit with a game in hand.

They are also a mere two points above arch-rivals Barcelona with 20 games to play.

Next up for Real sees Malaga travel to the Spanish capital on Saturday before they themselves take a trip of their own to take on Celta Vigo in the crucial second leg of the Copa del Rey quarter-final.

One thing is for certain - Zidane's Madrid need to get back on track quickly before this mini-slump turns into a season-defining run...

ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7tbTErKynZpOke7a3jqynqKqkZLOwu9ObmKWkX2eDdn6Wcm9oqpWWuW65wJ2popxdaX1us8CmnGatnpeyosDEp2SsrKKarqx5wa6rZpmimnqtrYyloKCZXZy2orrTrGSam6Sqrq242Gafmq6Zo7Rus86om2arlZbAsLqO