Guardiola's record beaten as Barça go 29 games unbeaten
It wasn't quite a shining performance, nor was it quite the match which was expected. A Barcelona team plagued with substitutes rubber-stamped their place in the final of the Copa del Rey on a night which will be best remembered for Luis Enrique becoming the manager with the longest unbeaten streak in the club's history.
The draw at Mestalla carried Barça's run without losing to 29 games, breaking the record set by Pep Guardiola's side in the 2010-11 season (28). Until this Wednesday, the runs of Pep and Lucho's sides were identical: 23 wins and five draws. Now, Luis Enrique's side have gone one better.
After losing at the Sanchez Pizjuan on October 3, Luis Enrique's team have embarked on a magnificent run of 23 wins and six draws. That's a win rate of 79.3 percent, while they have averaged three goals a game and conceded just one per outing on average. It's data which is curiously close to the run Pep's team went on.
Due to avoiding defeat in Valencia, Barça have managed to avoid the 'trap' that Guardiola's side fell into. In 2010-11, after beating Real Betis 5-0 in the quarter-final of the Copa del Rey, they lost 3-1 at the Benito Villamarin. The result didn't matter, but it did bring the unbeaten streak to an end. At Mestalla it looked like the same would happen, but Kaptoum's strike extended the run.
The podium is completed by Martinus Michels' side, from the 1973-74 season: 27 games (20 wins, seven draws). Frank Rijkaard's team are in fourth place (20 wins, four draws) and Guardiola is also fifth and sixth (15 wins, six draws; 17 wins, three draws).
