Barcelona on track to become 8TH team in Europe's top leagues to go unbeaten

Barcelona are just four games away from achieving the remarkable feat of going an entire league campaign undefeated.

Lionely Messi bagged a hat-trick against Deportivo on Sunday night to ensure Barca's lead atop the La Liga table was taken to an unassailable 86 points.

Ernesto Valverde's men have blown the competition out of the water and are now seeking to finish their season without a blemish.

Few teams have ever gone an enitre domestic season undefeated in Europe's top five leagues, just seven, in fact, but Barca are racing towards the monumental feat.

Here, Sportsmail runs you through the lot from England, Italy, Spain, Germany and France.

Preston became known as the first 'Invincibles' following their incredible campaign in the inaugural Football League competition.

The league was comprised of just 12 teams from the Midlands and the north of England and, after 22 games they came out with a record of 18 wins and four draws.

John Goodall was the league's top scorer with 21 goals as Preston romped away with the title.

John McGrath's men completed the double that season to-boot, beating Wolves 3-0 at the Kennington Oval in the 1889 FA Cup final.

LINEUP: Robert Mills-Roberts; Bob Howarth, Bob Holmes; George Drummond, David Russell, Johnny Graham, Jack Gordon, Sam Thomson; Jimmy Ross, John Goodall, Fred Dewhurst

Bilbao were the first side to complete an undefeated season in La Liga. Just 10 teams took part but, after 18 games, Bilbao were crowned champions after notching 12 wins and six draws.

The division's highest goalscorer that season was Guillermo Gorostiza, who struck 19 times to fire his side to the title, with the help of Victor Unamuno, who netted 15.

Barcelona were defending champions having won the inaugural title the previous season, but could only finish second, seven points behind Bilbao, in the 1928-29 campaign.

LINEUP: Gregorio Blasco Sanchez; Jose Muguerza Anitua, Alfonso Gonzalez de Careaga Uriguen, Jose Maria Castellanos Ledo; Juan Garizurieta Gorrino, Roberto Echevarria Arruti; Guillermo Gorostiza Paredes, Victorio Unamuno Ibarzabal, Ignacio Maria Aguirrezabala Ibarbia, Ramon de la Fuente Leal, Jose Iraragorri Ealo

Real Madrid then matched Bilbao just two seasons later, going the entire 1931-32 season undefeated.

Bilbao actually won more games (11) than Madrid (10), but four defeats as opposed to the eight draws Los Blancos earned meant they fell three points short at the end of the campaign.

At the time, Los Blancos dropped the 'Real' from their title, owing to the Second Spanish Republic — this took place between 1931-39 under General Francisco Franco — which mean all clubs dropped any prefix which linked directly to patronage.

They also removed any imagery of crowns from the badge during the time.

LINEUP: Ricardo Zamora Martinez; Jacinto Francisco Fernández de Quincoces Lopez de Arbina, Ciriaco Errasti Suinaga; Antonio Leon Amador, Luis Regueiro Pagola, Juan Hilario Marrero Perez, Francisco Prats Guerendeain, Manuel Diaz Ateca; Jaime Lazcano Escola, Manuel Olivares Lapena, Luis Olaso Anabitarte

The first Italian outfit to go through an entire Serie A season was, somewhat surprisingly, Perugia in 1978-79.

The season was dubbed the 'Miracles of Perugia', having achieved the feat in only their fourth season in the Italian top flight.

Incredibly, however, the Griffins did not win the league. The Umbrians drew a remarkable 19 games out of 30, therefore allowing AC Milan to win their 10th title with 44 points.

Walter Speggiorin was the club's top scorer in the league, managing just nine goals.

LINEUP: In Malizia, Pierluigi Frosio, Mauro Della Martira, Paolo Dall'Oro, Antonio Ceccarini, Paolo Dal Fiume, Franco Vannini, Salvatore Bagni, Cesare Butti, Gianfranco Casarsa, Walter Speggiorin

AC Milan were fired towards the Scudetto in 1991-92 by the almost peerless Marco van Basten.

Under new coach Fabio Capello, who had taken over from Arrigo Sacchi following his appointment as Italy boss, the Rosseneri dazzled all season.

Capello built on the foundations set by Sacchi to create one of the greatest teams in Italian football history, star-studded with names like Van Basten, Franco Baresi, Paolo Maldini, Ruud Gullit, Frank Rijkaard – the list is endless.

Dutch striker Van Basten smashed home 25 goals that season as the San Siro outfit blitzed their competition to win by 12 points, accruing 22 wins and 12 draws.

LINEUP: Sebastiano Rossi; Franco Baresi, Paolo Maldini, Mauro Tassotti, Alessandro Costacurta; Frank Rijkaard, Roberto Donadoni, Ruud Gullit, Alberigo Evani; Marco van Basten, Daniele Massaro

The peak of football under the outgoing Arsene Wenger. Arsenal's revered side of 2003-04 is often branded the best of the Premier League era.

Built on a stern defence and marshalled expertly by captain Patrick Vieira, but glittered with the magic of Thierry Henry, Robert Pires and Co, the 'Invincibles' were simply unstoppable.

Arsenal beat Sir Alex Ferguson's Manchester United to regain the Premier League title and equal Preston's record of not losing a match all season, although the feat is arguably more impressive given the size of the division and a 38-game season.

Henry, regarded as one of the league's best-ever strikers, notched 30 goals in a truly remarkable season.

LINEUP: Jens Lehmann, Ashley Cole, Sol Campbell, Kolo Toure, Lauren; Robert Pires, Gilberto SIlva, Patrick Vieira, Freddie Ljungberg, Denis Bergkamp, Thierry Henry

An undefeated season based on the most rock-solid of defences. A back five which consisted of Gianluigi Buffon, Leonardo Bonucci, Giorgio Chiellini and Andrea Barzagli made Juventus' defence unbreakable back in 2011-12.

The guile of Andrea Pirlo alongside the steeliness of Arturo Vidal and Claudio Marchisio gave Antonio Conte's Juve a clinical edge.

Alessandro Matri top scored with a modest total of 10, but the title was won at the back, with Juve conceding just 20 goals all season.

LINEUP: Gianluigi Buffon; Andrea Barzagli, Giorgio Chiellini, Leonardo Bonucci; Stephan Lichsteiner, Arturo Vidal, Andrea Pirlo, Claudio Marchisio, Simone Pepe, Alessandro Matri, Mirko Vucinic