Inter's league title aspirations face a significant test in a matter of a few days when they face Fiorentina away today before they take on leaders Juventus at the San Siro stadium at the weekend.

Juve's eight-point lead at the top leaves Inter with practically no choice, either they grab all six points from the two encounters or they are out of the race. Indeed, Inter's mission is all but easy.

In Juan Sebastian Veron's words, tonight's clash in Florence is perhaps more difficult than that of next Sunday with Juventus. The game against the reigning champions will become a mere formality in the event that Inter fail to beat Fiorentina.

On their count, Fiorentina are not in a position to drop points, particularly at home, because Roma, who take on Cagliari on the neutral ground of Rieti tonight, are eyeing the fourth placing as well.

Fiorentina, buoyed by a marked improvement of 24 points over the same corresponding period of last season, possess an identical home record as Inter... 11 wins and one defeat in 12 fixtures.

Only long-time leaders Juventus were strong enough to conquer the Artemio Franchi stadium this season. But if Inter are to remain in the hunt for the scudetto, they have to win in Tuscany as well. Juventus look favourites to beat Parma at home tonight thus leaving Inter with very few options but to emerge victorious from Florence.

Fiorentina have lately experienced a dip in performances. Since the turn of the new year, they laboured to beat Chievo (2-1), Messina (2-0) and Lecce (1-0) at home. Whereas their evident drop of form did not halt their winning home record, the same cannot be said of their fluctuating results on their travels.

From January to date, all they have to show from four outings are two draws, against Reggina and Udinese, and a heavy defeat to Sampdoria.

As previously stated, today's clash with Roberto Mancini's Inter will be played at the Artemio Franchi stadium implying that Fiorentina can bank on their enviable home record to keep hold on the fourth place.

In this regard, the ghosts of the past could return to haunt Inter.

The only team to deprive the Coppa Italia holders from victory in their last 12 league outings was Siena, on the 18th day, in a game played at tonight's same venue.

Inter have improved by leaps and bound over last season. Mancini's side look more consistent thanks mainly to a much-improved defensive record. No wonder that Inter have bolstered their tally over last season by a remarkable 15 points.

But the road to victory is still long and enduring because Juventus are tough opponents to beat. The Bianconeri have been undisputed leaders of the Serie A ever since Fabio Capello took over the team from Marcello Lippi.

Juventus are stronger in every department with respect to last season and their improvement of 12 points amply testifies this.

Lately, Juve have started showing signs of strain but even this fact was not enough to see them dropping points. Some key players, among whom Zlatan Ibrahimovic, have lost form.

Nonetheless, this time around Capello can call on reserves of strength, a fact which makes of Juventus a stronger outfit.

This week is the moment of truth for Inter. They have two make-or-break encounters, which they have to win at all cost.

So far, Inter have proved to be creditable runners-up, but if they are to make a quantum leap in quality and edge closer to Juventus, and possibly glory, then they have only one way to go... the side has to keep winning and winning.

Serie A statistics

0 home wins for Lazio against Milan since February 8, 1998 (2-1 in Serie A). Crisis-hit Milan continued to fall further off the pace as they could only figure in a goalless draw against Lazio. This was the first drawn result between these two since September 28, 2002 (1-1). Lazio, who like Juventus and Milan, are still unbeaten at home, have avoided defeat in their last eight league outings (two wins and six draws). Siena and Ascoli shared the spoils in a vital end-to-end clash in Tuscany. For Marco Giampaolo's Ascoli this was their first away draw after four straight defeats.

1st draw for relegation-threatened Treviso in three league visits to Sampdoria's Marassi stadium. A victory would have revived Sampdoria's ambitions to claim one of the two UEFA Cup berths. But things did not go their way particularly because they did not close the game after Vitali Kutuzov's 30th-minute opener. Treviso's third consecutive away draw coincided with Sampdoria's third successive game without a win (two draws and one defeat). An early Julio Ricardo Cruz goal paved the way for Inter's fifth straight league win. For the record, this was Inter's first home win over the Verona-based outfit since September 2002 (2-1). Also, Chievo are without an away win since beating Siena 1-0 on November 6.

5th home win on the trot for back-to-form Cagliari as the Sardinians demolished third-from-bottom Empoli 4-1. Cagliari were superior in all aspects and made sure of victory with three first-half goals. Cagliari's most recent home win over Empoli, on March 21, 1999, was also emphatic - 5-1 in Serie A. The only time these two sides shared the spoils in 10 league meetings was on October 9, 1983 (1-1 in Serie B). In a highly-contested encounter in Reggio Calabria, Reggina and Palermo shared the spoils for the first time since October 2001 (1-1 in Serie B). This was Palermo's first positive result following successive defeats at the hands of Inter and Siena. It is worth mentioning that Palermo's only win in 15 league visits to the Oreste Granillo stadium dates back to November 13, 1966 (2-0 in Serie B).

7 wins out of their last seven league outings for Roma as they handed struggling Parma their third home upset of the term. Roma's win at the Tardini stadium becomes even more significant when one considers that Mario Beretta's side were coming from successive wins over Chievo and Empoli.

12 wins out of 12 home league outings for Juventus this season as they left it late to beat Udinese 1-0. Juve were not up to scratch on Sunday but they still managed to sneak an important win that kept them eight points clear of Inter just a few days before the titanic clash at the San Siro. Juve are undefeated at home since the 0-1 defeat to Inter on April 20, 2005. As for Udinese, they have always left the Delle Alpi stadium empty-handed ever since beating Juve in November 2000 (2-1 in Serie A). Moreover, Udinese are winless in their last six outings (three draws and three defeats).

20 years had to pass for Messina to emerge undefeated from Livorno's Armando Picchi stadium as the southerners came from two goals down to salvage a precious point that kept them above the relegation zone. The result left Livorno without a success in their last five outings (four draws and one defeat). Fiorentina remained in the hunt for a Champions League berth with a narrow win over beleaguered Lecce. Fiorentina's third positive result in a row (two wins and one draw) coincided with Lecce's fifth defeat from their last six games.

23 goals were scored on the 23rd day: 13 coming from the hosts and the remaining 10 from the visitors, who managed only one win. Foreigners contributed with nine goals while there were 14 second-half goals. Total number of goals scored so far amount to 600. Fiorentina's Luca Toni still leads the scorers' list with 22 goals (two from penalties). He is followed by Juve's David Trezeguet on the 18-goal mark. Four players - Mancini (Roma), Cristiano Lucarelli (Livorno), Arturo Di Napoli (Messina) and Mauro Esposito (Cagliari) - grabbed a brace each. Alessandro Del Piero (Juventus) and Lazzaretti Gustavo (Treviso) were the only players who came on as substitutes and found the net. Di Napoli ably converted the only two penalties awarded by Serie A referees last weekend. Meanwhile, Sulley Muntari (Udinese) and Filippo Cristante (Messina) received marching orders.

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