AS Roma's stunning 2-1 victory at the Santiago Bernabeu to knock Real Madrid out of the Champions League has got everyone believing that there is once again a title race in Italy.
Roma travel to Napoli tomorrow a week after their hosts did them a huge favor by becoming the first team this season to beat leaders Inter Milan and help reduce Roma's deficit at the top to six points.
With confidence high following their 4-2 Champions League aggregate victory over the Spanish champions, and with Inter in the midst of an injury crisis in defense, Roma are understandably feeling confident.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Their players even believe they can win three trophies this season, as they are also through to the Italian Cup semi-finals.
"You can not choose. It is normal that the championship and the Champions League are slightly more important objectives," midfielder Daniele De Rossi said.
"But once you get to the semi-finals of the Italian Cup it would be stupid not to go for it. We're going forward and looking to win everything because those who set their sights lower can miss out on a goal. We've got to fight for everything," he said.
Roma are riding high, but must be wary of Napoli who came flying out of the blocks against Inter and dominated from start to finish, even missing a penalty in their 1-0 win.
Having gone three league games without a win, and four games in all competitions without a success, Inter are starting to look brittle.
Inter do at least have a seemingly straight forward home match against lowly Reggina today which they will be eager to win in style.
They celebrate their centenary this weekend and boss Roberto Mancini is unlikely to rest players like he did against Napoli.
However, with their crunch Champions League second round, second leg tie against Liverpool on Tuesday, where they trail 2-0 from the first leg, Mancini will be wary of taking any unnecessary risks with players carrying knocks.
AC Milan travel to Empoli tomorrow with their season hanging in the balance.
Out of the Champions League and languishing in fifth place in the league, four points off the top four and a qualification position for Europe's premier competition next season, they simply have to find their form.
Milan are battling with Juventus, who travel to Genoa, and Fiorentina, who visit Siena, for the third and fourth places in the league, but they trail the pair by five and four points respectively.
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