Napoli’s 1-1 draw with Genoa on Saturday afternoon means that the Partenopei are on course to become the worst reigning Serie A Champions in close to 60 years.
Napoli ran away with the Serie A title last season, eventually winning the Scudetto by a margin of 16 points over runners-up Lazio.
The Partenopei themselves recorded a total of 90 points in 2022-23, but currently find themselves rooted in ninth place with just 36 points from their opening 24 matches. They currently sit 27 points away from league leaders Inter.
Only five times previously has a reigning Serie A champion finished the following season with a 20-point gap between them and the league leaders.
Those are Torino following the Superga disaster after the 1949-50 season (-21 point difference), Juventus in 1961-62 (-24 point difference), Bologna in 1964-65 (-20 point difference), Milan in 1996-97 (-22 point difference) and Milan again in 2022-23 (-20 point difference).
Milan are the only team to have done it in the three point era (twice).
Of the other aforementioned clubs, converted from two points per win into three, Torino would have finished with a 32-point difference in 1949-50, Juventus with a 38-point difference in 1961-62 and Bologna with a 31-point difference in 1964-65.
That means that Napoli currently ranks as the fourth-worst performing reigning Serie A Champions ever, the worst in 59 years, but concerningly, that record could become even worse if the gap between them and Inter at the top of the table opens up much further.