Serie A 2019-20: 3 underachieving clubs this season
Juventus and Inter Milan are playing their part in one of the most intriguing title-races in Europe this season. Inter have emerged as one of the favourites to land the Serie A title this season while a Ronaldo led Juventus are still pushing through despite all their inefficiencies.
Lazio have improved a lot and have now established themselves as an outside candidate for the Scudetto this season. Although Inter Milan and Lazio are mounting a title challenge to dethrone Juventus from the summit of Serie A, on the other hand, a team from Naples has drastically fallen down the table.
While the above-mentioned teams are having good seasons, there are some others Serie A sides which are having seasons to forget and are already looking forward to next season. With that in mind, let's have a look at three underachieving Serie A sides this season.
#3 Torino
Torino finished a respectful seventh in the Serie A last season but the Turin-based outfit are heavily underperforming this season. Torino are sitting 13th (27 points from 23 games) in the Serie A just 8 points above the relegation zone and are just one or two minor slip-offs away from facing a real relegation threat.
While the Turin club's attacking output has not decreased, their defense is what has let them down for most of this season as they possess a negative goal difference having conceded a whopping 42 goals in just 23 league outings this term. If Torino are to avoid getting dragged into an unwanted relegation fight, they must sort their defense quickly.
#2 AC Milan
AC Milan have gone down from being a mid-table club in recent years to a lower mid-table club this season. While Milan looked steady for the last three seasons, they are now sitting at 10th in the Serie A this season (32 points from 23 games). Although the club was on the rise trying to enter the Champions League spots for the last few years, they are now aiming to re-establish themselves as a contender for the top-four spots. The Rossoneri now find themselves in tenth place but even that doesn't show how bad they have been this season. In fact, the January arrival of Zlatan Ibrahimović has helped them to this respectful position. While Ibrahimovic's arrival has solved their goalscoring issues, their defense is still in tatters and Milan must fix it quickly and effectively.
#1 Napoli
From title-challengers to a bottom half side, this season has been a massive downfall for Napoli. The Naples-based side now sits in the bottom half of the table just a year after actually giving Juventus a run for their money. The Serie A outfit finished runners-up in the last three Serie A seasons but are now attempting to revive themselves back to their recent best.
Despite posing a host of big names including the likes of Kalidou Koulibaly, Lorenzo Insigne, and Dries Mertens in their roster, the Serie A outfit have heavily underachieved this season (30 points from 23 games). The Partenopei have lost their style, their flair and most importantly their success. Napoli have been Serie A's biggest disappointment because a squad as good as Napoli's must at least finish inside the top four spots.
Also read | Premier League 2019-20: 3 underachieving clubs this season