3) Napoli topping Serie A at the winter break
Nobody predicted the abysmal defence of the Serie A title that Juventus mounted at the start of the 2015/16 season. Having won the past four league titles, the Old Lady had won just one game in their first two months of the new season – a 2-0 win over 10-man Genoa.
Napoli also started slowly before shrugging it off and accumulating a number of wins under their belt. Juventus also took their time to get back in the mix for European positions as the league gathered steam.
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By the time the winter break rolled around, Gli Azzurri were top of the league. It was a symbolic achievement as the ‘winter champions’ had won the league in the last 12 years. The last time Napoli topped the league in December was 1990 when they went on to win the league.
But Juventus were slowly, but surely, stamping their authority on the league. From the start of October, the next 26 games saw them win 25 and draw one as they waltzed to the league title while Napoli struggled. Gianluigi Buffon had fired up his troops and almost single-handedly ensured Juventus would finish at the top, setting a new record of 973 minutes without conceding a goal.
And Napoli? Two draws and a loss (to Juventus) in February saw them lose their advantage, after which Udinese, Inter and Roma handed them three more losses. The loss against Udinese was painful with the league’s top scorer Gonzalo Higuain’s red card a turning point. The final table saw Juventus top – nine points ahead of Napoli.
