Juventus, Bayern, Man City... Europe's champions are struggling

Only two of the five reigning champions in Europe's top leagues remain leaders of their domestic competitions so far this season.

Juventus, Bayern Munich and Manchester City could be dethroned in May, as all three have experienced a drop in form in 2019/20.

Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain top their league tables, although the Blaugrana are the only team to have gathered more points than they had at this stage last season.

Guardiola's worst campaign

Many draw parallels between Pep Guardiola's current season and his last campaign at Barcelona when he registered his worst start with the Blaugrana.

In England there are already those who see symptoms of exhaustion in a Manchester City side who have won the last two Premier League titles by gathering 100 and 98 points in each.

The Sky Blues have collected 12 fewer points than what they had last season at this point, although they register the same number of defeats with four losses.

Meanwhile, Guardiola has had the worst start in his career, getting one fewer point than in 2016/17, which was his first year at Manchester City.

Leroy Sane and Aymeric Laporte's long-term injuries, along with other absences, have made his team vulnerable.

City have scored more goals than any other team in the Premier League with 44, but they have conceded 10 more goals than last season.

Fernandinho has been moved to centre-back, but Guardiola's side have had nine games without keeping a clean sheet.

Lewandowski is not enough

Bayern Munich have collected three fewer points than last season, but despite their unconvincing first stretch of the season there are reasons for optimism.

A year ago they trailed Borussia Dortmund by nine points, while they currently are seven points behind Borussia Monchengladbach.

Meanwhile, Robert Lewandowski hasn't stopped firing this season, but summer signings Philippe Coutinho and Ivan Perisic are yet to convince that they are upgrades for Arjen Robben and Franck Ribery.

Injuries for Lucas Hernandez and Niklas Sule have weakened Bayern Munich's defence and Manuel Neuer has already conceded more goals (20) than when he won the Bundesliga in 2016 (17), 2015 (18) and 2013 (18).

Tough start for Sarri

Juventus have won eight Serie A titles in a row, but Antonio Conte's Inter have emerged as a serious contender so far this season.

In defence they remain solid, but they struggled upfront in Maurizio Sarri's 4-4-2 formation.

The Old Lady have scored 26 goals in Italy so far this season, fewer than Atalanta (37), Lazio (36), Inter (31) and Cagliari (31).

Meanwhile, their summer signings, including Danilo, Gianluigi Buffon, Adrien Rabiot and Aaron Ramsey, have struggled to make an impact, although Matthijs de Ligt is a starter for Sarri.