There are 17 places between them in Serie A but Juventus coach Antonio Conte has described tomorrow’s visit of lowly Lecce as the most important match of the season.
Juve, who were stripped of the 2005 and 2006 scudettos because of their involvement in a match-fixing scandal, could claim their first title in nine years should they beat Lecce and Milan lose to Atalanta at the San Siro.
“We know how to add up,” Conte said after Sunday’s 4-0 win at Novara, which maintained their three-point lead over second-placed Milan with three matches of the season to go.
“We are ahead and are masters of our own destiny.”
Juventus, who finished outside the European places last season, are still unbeaten and have won their last eight matches, plundering 23 goals in the process to leapfrog Milan, against whom they have a better head-to-head record.
With the finish line in view in his first season as coach of the Turin giants, Conte bristled as he belatedly gets the recognition his record deserves.
“When people talk about Juventus there is always someone trying to put a spanner in the works,” he said.
“In this campaign, in which we are still unbeaten, there has always been a but. First it was the draws that were brought up, then they spoke about the lack of goals from our forwards.
“But this just gave us extra drive to succeed, which together with our day-to-day improvement as a team, is helping us achieve something extraordinary.”
Lecce visit the Juventus Stadium for the first time fighting for Serie A survival after suffering back-to-back home defeats against Napoli and Parma.
In the relegation battle, the Puglia side remain a point behind fourth-bottom Genoa, who will be looking for a first victory in 15 matches when they entertain Cagliari.
Seven points behind Lecce, Novara, who visit Fiorentina, need to win their final three matches and hope Lecce and Genoa fail to pick up more than a point from theirs to manage an unlikely escape from the drop.
Equally intriguing is the battle for the third and final Champions League (qualifying) place for next season after Udinese’s 2-0 defeat of Lazio on Sunday night left those two sides along with Napoli and Inter all sharing 55 points.
Fixtures
Today: 18.00 Chievo vs Roma. 20.45 Napoli vs Palermo.
Tomorrow: 15.00 Genoa vs Cagliari. 20.45 Milan vs Atalanta, Catania vs Bologna, Cesena vs Udinese, Fiorentina vs Novara, Juventus vs Lecce, Lazio vs Siena, Parma vs Inter.