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What is the 'perfect season' in football & which teams have done it?

The current Barcelona Femeni side can legitimately claim to be one of the best women's football teams of all time, but one achievement has thus far eluded them: the perfect season.

It can still be done in 2021-22, but they will need to keep winning their remaining games in order to grasp it.

So what is a perfect season and who has done it? GOAL brings you everything you need to know.

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What is the 'perfect season' in football?

When a team is said to have completed a 'perfect season', it means they have gone through an entire league campaign without losing or drawing a single game; they have won every fixture.

Generally speaking, in assessing a perfect season, only the primary league competition is considered. A rare achievement, it requires a combination of supreme talent and consistency, as well as a dash of luck on occasion.

The concept of a 'perfect season' is not exclusive to football and it is a term which is also applied in other sports, including American football, Australian Rules football and so on.

The first leg of the Women's Champions League semi-final between Barcelona and Wolfsburg can be watched exclusively live on DAZN.

Which teams have done a 'perfect season'?

The number of teams that have achieved a perfect season is relatively low, particularly in the men's game.

Among the teams to achieve the feat are Scottish side Rangers (1898-99) and Hungarian outfit Ferencvaros (1931-32).

Many more teams have passed through entire campaigns undefeated, including the Arsenal Invincibles in the Premier League (2003-04). Their nickname was inspired by the Preston North End team that went an entire First Division season unbeaten in 1888-89.

Antonio Conte steered Juventus through Serie A unbeaten in 2011-12, while Brendan Rodgers masterminded Celtic's unbeaten season across multiple competitions in 2016-17. Steven Gerrard helped Rangers to an unbeaten Scottish Premiership season in 2020-21.

Legendary Romanian side Steaua Bucuresti famously went three seasons unbeaten in 1986-87, 1987-88 and 1988-89, while AC Milan achieved it in Serie A in 1991-92 under Fabio Capello.

Perfect seasons have been a more common feature of the women's game.

Juventus Women completed a perfect season in 2020-21 in a campaign which also saw them win the 2020 Supercoppa Italiana. Barcelona Women went agonisingly close to achieving it the same season, but lost once to Atletico Madrid.

Norway's Asker completed a perfect season in 1998, while PAOK managed it in Greece in 2010-11 then later in 2018-19. Lyon achieved a perfect season in 2014-15.

NSA Sofia have done it three times (2017-18, 2018-19, 2020-21), while Zytlobud-1 Kharkiv won the Ukrainian league in perfect fashion in 2018-19. Lithuania's Gintra Universitetas pulled off a perfect season in 2020 and Albania's Vllaznia did it in 2021-22.

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