Napoli coach Luciano Spalletti is plotting an offensive on two fronts in the final months of the season as he hopes to win Serie A and the Champions League.
Spalletti's side were comfortable 3-0 winners away to Spezia on Sunday, briefly increasing their lead at the summit to 16 points.
Inter had the chance to trim Napoli's lead to 13 points later in the day, as they chased victory in the Milan derby, but even that gap would appear to be unassailable given the form of the front-runners this season.
If Napoli do manage to win the domestic title, it will end a barren run that stretches back to 1990 and be their first without the inspirational influence of Diego Maradona, who was also behind their success three years earlier.
Winning Serie A would be momentous, but Napoli are also into the last 16 of the Champions League and face Eintracht Frankfurt next – the Naples side have never won Europe's premier competition, nor its predecessor, the European Cup.
Spalletti wants to put that right.
"There are moments in life when results are achieved and in those moments you either settle or try to double down," he told Sky Sport Italia.
"We have no doubts, we've decided to double down.
"We go and play the matches trying to do something for the love of the fans, for the people who were perhaps even today at home praying for us because they love us. We must be proud of that."
Napoli's key men – Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and Victor Osimhen – got the goals, with the latter netting twice.
Kvaratskhelia – who also teed up Osimhen's second – became only the fifth player across the top five European leagues to reach double figures for goals (10) and assists (12) this season.
Meanwhile, Osimhen's brace made him just the fourth Napoli player ever to score 16 times in the first 21 matches of a Serie A campaign.
But both were the targets of verbal barrages from Spalletti in the first half – that seemed to do the trick.
"It was because we need their quality, their inspiration, their imagination," Spalletti said. "When the matches flatten out, they are the ones who can make the difference and open the way.
"You have to find the first striker, play it out wide to open up the channels. Just moving it around isn't enough.
"The pitch was very difficult, dry underneath, it wasn't easy to find the rhythm we're used to, so sometimes you have to play direct to Osimhen, making the most of the fact he's really strong from a physical point of view."
Napoli are next in action in a week's time, on Sunday, February 12, when they host winless Cremonese.
Al-Ittihad 0-5 Al-Ettifaq: Ekambi scores hat-trick in five-star display
Karl Toko Ekambi netted a hat-trick as Al-Ettifaq got back to winning ways in style with a 5-0 thrashing of Al-Ittihad in the Saudi Pro League on Friday.
He scored twice in four minutes at the end of the first half to send the visitors into the break 4-0 up before getting his third just 10 minutes after the break.
Seko Fofana had already given Steven Gerrard’s side the lead five minutes into the contest, while Moussa Dembele doubled their advantage from the penalty spot.
Al-Ittihad had the chances, but they could not find the back of the net, as they stayed fifth, but are now just six points above Al-Ettifaq.
Data Debrief: Clinical finishers
Al-Ettifaq had five shots on target against Al-Ittihad, scoring with all of them while creating an xG of 3.62.
With his hat-trick against Al-Ittihad, Ekambi has now scored 11 goals for the season, netting more than once for the first time since joining the club.
Al-Akhdoud 2-3 Al-Nassr: Brozovic stunner delays Al-Hilal coronation
Marcelo Brozovic scored twice – including a fine half-volley in second-half stoppage time – as Al-Nassr beat Al-Akhdoud 3-2 to delay Al-Hilal's Saudi Pro League title coronation on Thursday.
Former Inter midfielder Brozovic fired in a seventh-minute opener from outside the area before Cristiano Ronaldo tapped into an empty net to double the visitors' lead.
Sadio Mane struck the woodwork early in the second half and Al-Nassr relinquished control of the game from there, with goals from Hassan Al Habib and Saviour Godwin making it 2-2.
However, Brozovic blasted a bouncing ball home following a goalmouth scramble in the first of seven minutes of stoppage time to hand Al-Nassr a fifth straight win and keep them within nine points of Al-Hilal, with three games still to play.
They have only delayed the inevitable though as the leaders – who have only dropped four points all season – need just one more point to secure their crown ahead of facing Al-Hazm on Saturday.
Data Debrief: Brozovic upstages Ronaldo
While it's usually Ronaldo writing the headlines for Al-Nassr, he was upstaged by Brozovic on Thursday as the Croatian found the net with both of his shots, also leading all players on the pitch for final-third passes (19) and completing 90.1 per cent of his passes overall (81/95).
Olympiacos 2-0 Aston Villa (6-2 agg): Villans fall in last four as El Kaabi strikes again
Olympiacos will face Fiorentina in the Europa Conference League final after an Ayoub El Kaabi double secured a 6-2 aggregate win over Aston Villa.
After a stunning 4-2 win at Villa Park last weekend to take the ascendancy in the semi-final tie, first-leg hat-trick hero El Kaabi struck early before netting again late on to stamp out any hopes of a Villa comeback.
After a strong start from the visitors, El Kaabi scored his fourth goal of the tie just 10 minutes into Thursday's second leg at Stadio Georgios Karaiskaki, getting on the end of Quini's low cross to turn home at the far post.
It looked an uphill battle for Villa, who dominated the possession throughout the contest in Greece but struggled to make a dent in the stubborn hosts.
Douglas Luiz saw a long-range effort saved by Kostas Tzolakis while the Olympiacos goalkeeper also denied Moussa Diaby. El Kaabi made sure late on, getting on the end of a long ball to fire past Martinez and secure Olympiacos' final berth.
The fairytale comeback never materialised for Villa, and it will be Olympiacos who take on Fiorentina at the Agia Sophia Stadium in the Greek capital of Athens on May 29, looking to utilise familiar surroundings to claim their first major European trophy.
Data debrief
El Kaabi was the hero again for Olympiacos as his two second-leg finishes took him to 10 Europa Conference League goals for the campaign, more than any other player, while his 13 strikes in major European competitions are also more than any other player when factoring in his three Europa League goals.
Villa had 73.9 per cent of the ball in the second leg, yet their 1.14 xG (expected goals) was still inferior to Olympiacos' 1.23 as the Greek Super League side's ruthlessness clinched their spot in the final.
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