Saturday's goalless draw at home to Villarreal will have left a bitter taste for Carlo Ancelotti, yet the bigger picture shows that he is outperforming himself at the start of the campaign in comparison to previous seasons at Los Blancos.

There was a long list of candidates drawn up to replace Zinedine Zidane in the summer, but Florentino Perez opted for the reliability of the seasoned Italian, and it is a choice that is paying off.

Five victories and two draws at the start of this season is an improvement on the 2013/14 campaign when Madrid achieved five wins, one draw and one defeat in the first seven encounters.

On that occasion, it was Atletico Madrid who broke Los Blancos' undefeated streak in Ancelotti's first spell. The 2014/15 start was the Italian's worst at Madrid, with five wins and two losses.

The current campaign has also seen the best domestic start at Madrid in eleven seasons, since 2011/12 when Jose Mourinho claimed 17 points out of a possible 21.

Ancelotti's men are one of the three teams that remain undefeated in LaLiga Santander, along with Sevilla, Villarreal and Barcelona.

Furthermore, the current start combined to the conclusion of last season, where they managed 13 wins and five draws, sees Madrid on a 25 match undefeated streak.