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These Premier League champions have failed spectacularly in maintaining their standards after winning the title.
Winning the Premier League requires an incredible amount of consistency. Not only do teams have to come up with big performances in the big games, they have to keep up the good work all throughout the season.
There have been several teams that have successfully defender their Premier League titles. But there have also been teams that have fallen really hard after reaching the summit. It could happen due to a variety of reasons ranging from fatigue to complacency to a change in personnel among other things.
Without further ado, let's take a look at the five worst title defences in the history of the Premier League.
5 of the worst title defences in Premier League history
#5 Manchester City 2014-15
If you do a post-mortem of all the worst title defences in Premier League history, you'd stumble upon a variety of reasons. If you examine the reasons behind Manchester City capitulating in the 2014-15 season after winning the Premier League title in the season prior, you'd see that it was borne mostly out of complacency.
Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini passed on the chance to bolster the squad in the summer of 2014 after winning the title and ended up bringing in Fernando and Mangala for a combined £44 million in addition to signing Frank Lampard and Bacary Sagna as free-agents.
It was ill-advised particularly when you look at the fact that the Cityzens just about stole a march on Brendan Rodgers' Liverpool side in the 2013-14 season thanks to Steven Gerrard's infamous slip against Chelsea.
The Stamford Bridge outfit, meanwhile, added the likes of Diego Costa, Cesc Fabregas and also had Thibaut Courtois returning from a loan spell. They went to war under Jose Mourinho and lost just twice in the league on their way to winning the Premier League title.
Though Manchester City ended up finishing just eight points behind Chelsea, they were never in with a shout and was in fact 15 points off the top with six games to go. They did save themselves from embarrassment on that note but it's still one of the worst title defences of the Premier League era.
#4 Leicester City 2016-17
Leicester City dropped from 1st to 12th in the matter of a season and that's a pretty awful follow-up to their best ever season in the Premier League. However, they are only fourth on the list because it was not exactly shocking given how exceptionally improbable their title winning campaign was.
After defying the 5000-1 odds thanks to the exploits of the likes of Jamie Vardy, Riyad Mahrez and N'Golo Kante, the Foxes started off their title defence with an opening day loss against freshly promoted Hull City. Kante's departure to Chelsea proved to be a bigger blow than anyone could have imagined.
Claudio Ranieri was sacked halfway through the season after they suffered five defeated on the trots. The Foxes struggled to replicate their form from their incredible title-winning campaign and they were eventually guided to a 12th placed finish by Craig Shakespeare.
At the end of the season, they were 49 points off winners Chelsea.
#3 Blackburn 1995-96
Heavily backed by the wealth of local businessman Jack Walker, Blackburn's return to the English top-flight and eventual dramatic Premier League triumph on the final day of the 1994-95 is quite a gripping chapter in Premier League folklore.
However, their fall from the top was equally remarkable. This perhaps has a lot to do with the fact that title-winning manager Kenny Dalglish moved on to the role of Director of Football leaving his assistant Ray Harford to take over in the managerial hot seat.
They were propelled to the summit of the Premier League thanks to the exploits of a certain Alan Shearer. The striker's return to form and a haul of 31 goals did act as a saving grace as they finished seventh on the table.
They still finished 21 points short of Manchester United whom they had beaten to the title in the 1994-95 season by a point.
#2 Chelsea 2015-16
In the season where Leicester City ended up stealing the headlines, Chelsea made a decent attempt at hogging the limelight for all the wrong reasons. After winning the Premier League title in the 2014-15 season, the Stamford Bridge outfit crumbled in appalling fashion.
Chelsea lost seven of their first 12 games of the season and after several pundits and fans had tipped them to embark on yet another successful run under the returning Mourinho, the Blues fell apart in embarrassing manner.
Jose Mourinho lost his dressing room and was eventually sacked in December. Guus Hiddink was called upon to mitigate the situation but even he struggled to drag them out of the rut.
Chelsea finished 10th on the Premier League table with a meagre 50 points. Southampton, West Ham United and Stoke City finished above them as Leicester City lifted the Premier League title.
#1 Leeds United 1992/93
Leeds United won the English Football League First Division title in the 1991-92 season, finishing four points clear of second-placed Manchester United who are also bitter rivals. What happened subsequently was the worst title defence in the history of the Premier League.
Leeds United started the Premier League era as defenders of the crown. After losing their main man Eric Cantona to rivals Manchester United in November, Leeds United failed to register a single win away from home in the entirety of the 1992/93 season.
It was their good form at Elland Road that helped them survive the drop but they still finished at 17th on the Premier League table. They survived relegation by two points and that is easily the worst title defence in the history of the Premier League.
