These are heady days to be a Cremonese fan. They have rarely seen the like.

For most Grigiorossi supporters, moments of collective delirium like the one they are currently experiencing have been few and far between.  

This is just the ninth time that the club has embarked on a Serie A campaign in its 122-year history, and six of the last eight ended in immediate relegation.

But an unexpectedly strong start to 2025-26 has taken everyone by surprise. Davide Nicola’s side shocked AC Milan with a 2-1 win at San Siro, Federico Bonazzoli’s dazzling overhead kick sealing a double first: a maiden Serie A opening-day victory and a historic first away league win over the Rossoneri.

Was it a fluke? Apparently not, because they followed that up with a 3-2 victory over Sassuolo to go into the international break sitting joint-top of the table in distinguished company alongside Napoli, Juventus and Roma.      

Jamie Vardy’s deadline-day arrival cranked excitement levels up to 11, with a crowd of fans – including one with a tattoo of the Leicester City legend’s face on his leg – singing ‘Jamie Vardy, portaci in Europa (take us to Europe)’ when he landed at Milan Linate Airport.  

The 38-year-old Premier League legend is one of 17 new faces to join coach Nicola at a Cremonese side that is suddenly being given more attention and respect than ever.

But despite the giddy atmosphere, Nicola’s objective remains achieving survival – something he has an unmatched reputation for. With six points from a possible six, they are off to a great start.

But how much more will they need if they are to do something they’ve only twice pulled off before – between 1992 and 1994 under Gigi Simoni? Let’s dig into the details. 

How many points do you need to avoid relegation in Serie A?

The 40-point mark is often spoken of as the survival line. Once you are over it, you will be fine. But is this myth or reality?  

We have a 20-year pool of evidence to look at since Serie A adopted its current format of 20 teams in the 2004-05 season. What we find is that over that period, the 40-point rule is not far off at all.

The team finishing 17th in Serie A has, on average, had 39.3 points over the last 20 years.

However, this statistic is slightly misleading due to a newer trend. In general, looking at relegation battles over the last two decades, it’s true that the more recent the season, the lower the points tally required to stay up.  

In the five years since 2020-21, the average total of the 17th-placed team was just 33.8 points.  

The discrepancy shows that for whatever reason, be it a less competitive group of teams at the bottom end of the table, a growing financial gap between ‘big’ and ‘small’ clubs or simply a coincidence, the 40-point line has now become a 34-point line. 

That tally would have kept teams up in four of the last five seasons – the exception being when 36 points was the bar in 2023-24.  

Either way, gone are the days of 40 points being a nailed-on requirement for survival. But there are always anomalies… 

Who was the luckiest team to avoid relegation?  

Perhaps unsurprisingly, given what we have just discovered about recent relegation battles, the joint-lowest points tallies from teams that dodged relegation have come in the last four years.  

In 2021-22, Salernitana beat the drop with just 31 points, thanks to even worse campaigns from Cagliari (30), Genoa (28) and Venezia (27).  

A year later, history repeated itself. Verona and Spezia finished level on 31 points, and a relegation play-off was required to decide who would go down. The Gialloblu prevailed 3-1 thanks to a Cyril Ngonge double at the Mapei Stadium in Reggio Emilia.

Before then, only Messina survived with 31 points, back in 2005-06. However, this was on a technicality, as the Sicilians were originally demoted and only reinstated following Juventus’ relegation in the wake of the Calciopoli scandal.

Who was the unluckiest team to go down?

Bologna suffered the most unfortunate relegation in recent Serie A history, going down in an astonishing 2004-05 season despite having accrued 42 points.

Incredibly, the final table that year had just three points between Roma in eighth and Bologna in 18th.

Fortune failed the Rossoblu, who finished level with Parma and Fiorentina to set up a relegation play-off with the Gialloblu, with La Viola avoiding it thanks to boasting the best head-to-head record between the three.

Carlo Mazzone’s side won the first leg 1-0 thanks to a goal from current Milan sporting director Igli Tare, but Parma turned the tie around at home in the second leg with a 2-0 victory that sent their Emilia-Romagna neighbours down in what was legendary referee Pierluigi Collina’s final match in Italy as an official.

It wasn’t just Bologna who were unfortunate that year, though. Brescia finished 19th with 41 points, the second-highest total for a relegated team. It remains the only time teams have gone down having passed the 40-point mark.

Chievo came very close in 2006-07, suffering relegation with 39 points as they agonisingly finished a single point behind a group of four teams – Reggina, Siena, Torino and Cagliari – in another incredibly competitive relegation fight.

For Vardy and his new team-mates, the hope is that survival specialist Nicola can avoid any such suffering and make this the first Cremonese team in more than 30 years to successfully maintain Serie A status.