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Every football campaign produces its own surprises and this season has proved no exception as unexpected outcomes and unprecedented events continue to take the center stage in the football world.
While there could have been many surprises which would have stolen the attention of football enthusiasts so far during the term, none of these have been as glaring as the struggling of some of Europe's elite clubs who are finding it very difficult to impress with their performances at the moment.
Considering their strengths and levels of performance during the first month of the season, no one would have expected these teams to be struggling as much as they are right now and what is most surprising is that these big clubs are all undergoing difficult runs at the same time.
Without taking much time, lets quickly take a look at four European elite outfits who have dipped in form during the past few weeks.
#4 Liverpool FC
The Merseyside outfit, Liverpool sent signals across the Premier League during the beginning of the term with their incredible performances, embarking on an amazing unbeaten run in the English top flight as well as claiming victories in their first six Premier League fixtures and prompting many to recognize them as the team to beat in the title race.
Even though they are yet to taste defeat in the division, they have failed to maintain the level of performance with which they started the domestic league campaign and their displays in other competitions have also been unimpressive.
The Reds failed to win any of their last four matches across all competitions, falling to two defeats against both Chelsea and Napoli in the Carling Cup and the UEFA Champions League respectively, while their other two fixtures produced embarrassing draws against The Blues and Manchester City.
#3 Bayern Munich
It is without doubts that Bayern Munich has been the most disappointing team in the Bundesliga since the new term began. The German champions have been a shadow of themselves in each of their last three matches in the division and their performances have raised a lot of question marks over their readiness for the campaign.
Niko Kovac's men have been quite unconvincing with their outputs in the German top flight so far, which includes an embarrassing 3-0 defeat to Borussia Monchengladbach and a 2-0 humiliation at the hands of Schalke 04 while their other fixtures have only produced four victories and one draw.
As a result of their mediocre performances so far in the campaign, the defending champions have found themselves at the 6th position on the domestic league table with just 13 points from seven games.
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#2 FC Barcelona
Catalan giants FC Barcelona were one of the European elite clubs that started the new season in an electrifying form, picking up victories in their first four LaLiga fixtures only to find themselves struggling to perform in the Spanish top flight at the moment.
The Spanish champions have embarked on a winless run in La Liga, failing to record a victory in each of their last four matches in the division - a run that produced a shocking 2-1 defeat to Leganes and embarrassing draws against the likes of Girona, Athletic Bilbao, and Valencia.
This has given a huge privilege to Basque outfit, Sevilla who have taken advantage of their slump to climb on top of the LaLiga table with 16 points in 8 matches, although the Catalans are not far away, with their 15 points setting them in the second position in the rankings.
#1 Real Madrid
Spanish giants, Real Madrid shocked the football world when they allowed Cristiano Ronaldo to join Juventus in a £88 million deal this summer and the decision to let go of the Portuguese superstar has finally started to backfire on the European champions at the moment.
Los Blancos have been a totally different team ever since the attacker departed - and even though they managed to win their first four matches across all competitions this term, that feeling didn't last long as they have started facing the consequences of losing such an influential superstar.
Julen Lopetegui's men have embarked on an embarrassing winless run in their last four matches - producing three defeats and a draw across all competitions. It becomes even more disgusting to learn that they also failed to find the back of the net in all those games - their worst run since 2007.
