'Witches' to blame as team closes in on unwanted record
Serie A minnows Benevento could break an 87-year record on Sunday to become the first team in any of Europe's top five leagues to lose their first 13 games of the season.
The newly-promoted side have lost every single one of their 12 league games so far this season, leaving them just one away from beating Manchester United's record set during the 1930-31 season.
The minnows face Sassuolo at their Ciro Vigorito stadium on Sunday, looking to avoid claiming an unwanted place in the history books.
The Serie A table makes sorry reading for Benevento, who are adrift at the bottom having scored just five goals and conceded 31 in their 12 games to date.
The club almost claimed their first point of the season last month when Pietro Iemmello scored a 94th-minute equaliser against Cagliari, leading to delirium amongst the players and coaching staff. Those celebrations were cut short though, as Leonardo Pavoletti struck with effectively the last kick of the game to hand Cagliari the points.
Benevento almost claimed a significant scalp last time out when Amato Ciciretti gave them a shock lead against Italian champions Juventus, only for Max Allegri's side to turn things around thanks to goals form Juan Cuadrado and Gonzlo Higuain.
The club's owner, Oreste Vigortio, keen to maintain the pretty poor impression that English football fans have of Italian owners has quickly decided that the supernatural is to blame for the club's misfortune.
'The blame lies with the malignant influences which have always been associated with this city... witches. Yes it's true I'm superstitious,' he declared following the defeat to Juventus.
The city of Benevento is known as the 'City of Witches', a moniker that dates back thousands of years to when Pagan rituals were routinely performed there.
Benevento Calcio have certainly embraced their history, including a silhouette of a witch on their badge and going by the nickname 'Le Streghe'.
Will Benevento make history on Sunday? Or can they produce the piece of magic needed to get their fist win on the board? Witch will it be?