Antonio Conte refuses to get carried away by Juventus’s 3-0 win over Napoli, which took them to within two points of Serie A leaders Milan.
Instead, the Juve coach preferred to focus on the fact his side were now 11 points clear of third place.
With eight matches remaining, and 24 points to play for, barring a spectacular collapse Juve should finish inside the top two, meaning they will qualify directly for next season’s Champions League group stage.
And having also reached the Italian Cup final, where they will play Napoli, Conte is chalking off, one by one, the objectives his side have achieved.
“In the last two games we’ve decisively beaten Inter and Napoli, two teams who began the season with more quality and a better squad,” he said following Sunday’s victory.
“With this victory we’ve hypothetically secured second place, which, added to reaching the Italian Cup final, means we’re having an amazing season.”
Although he is being coy about Juve’s chances, Conte admitted that with only two points separating his side from Milan, they are hoping to reel in the champions and overtake them.
They made up two points this weekend as Milan were held 1-1 at Catania.
“We’ll also keep an eye above us, even though we know that Milan are still favourites and will probably win the scudetto,” added Conte.
“Against Fiorentina and Inter we took to the field with a seven-point deficit (and a game in hand) and there was more tension compared to (against Napoli, when the gap was five points).
“From now until the end, we need to try to be ready if they (Milan) slip up but in any case, being so close gives us great strength for the fight.”
Conte may not be getting carried away but his players are buoyed and centre-back Leonardo Bonucci, who opened the scoring against Napoli in a fortuitous manner, says they are in great shape for the run-in.
“We played with great intensity and nastiness, keeping Napoli out of the game, crushing them from start to finish,” he said.
“It really was a great Juve. We know we had to exploit (Milan’s) slip and we were really up for it.
“We believe and we’ll fight to the end. We have to try because we’re in great physical shape and we’ve worked hard to reach this point.
“We won’t let up, we’ll keep pursuing the dream while hoping they miss a step.”