6 champions who bombed the following year

Aston Villa – 1981/82

Leicester are not the only English champions to find the distraction of European football helped to ease their disappointment of their poor title defence.

1980/81 saw Ron Saunders’ Aston Villa win their first title for 71 years before slipping off the pace and finishing 30 points adrift the following season.

In a strange parallel, both Villa and Leicester chose to sack their respective title-winning managers in February, with their replacements stopping the slide domestically and enjoying a successful European campaign.

Villa’s run saw them win the European Cup in 1982, so perhaps Leicester’s debut Champions League campaign this season could lead to something even more remarkable than their Premier League title.