Massimiliano Allegri says Juventus' primary aim is to reach 40 points and ensure their place in Serie A for next season, with their 15-point deduction appearing to dash any top-four hopes.
Juventus were considered one of the sides capable of challenging leaders Napoli before an investigation into their historic transfer dealings led to their sanction being handed down last month.
Having picked up just one point from their last three league games, Juventus now sit 13th in the table, 10 points clear of the bottom three but 15 adrift of fourth-placed Lazio.
Speaking ahead of Tuesday's trip to 16th-placed Salernitana, who would leapfrog the Bianconeri with a win, Allegri was cautious when asked about his hopes for the remainder of the campaign.
"Right now the fact is that they have taken away 15 points and we must think about reaching 40 to save ourselves," Allegri said.
"It's laughable, but we have to think about this goal first and proceed step by step. Setting ourselves goals now is unthinkable.
"Now we have to reach the teams in front of us and climb slowly. Tomorrow we have to win, because in the last three league games we have only scored one point."
Juve will again be without Paul Pogba in Salerno after a minor injury delayed his second Bianconeri debut, while Leonardo Bonucci is also sidelined after suffering from a bout of flu.
"Everyone is available apart from Bonucci who has had the flu for three days, Pogba as before, and [Leandro] Paredes has a foot injury and won't be there," he said. "All the others are present."
Juve will likely need striker Dusan Vlahovic to return to top form if they are to climb the table, as he continues to chase his first goal of 2023.
Vlahovic has failed to score in his two appearances since returning from the World Cup with a groin injury, with his last club goal coming at the home of neighbours Torino in mid-October.
The Serbia international has thus scored each of his last eight Serie A goals in Turin (seven at the Allianz stadium and one at the Olimpico Grande Torino), last netting outside the city in a win at Cagliari last April.
Asked whether the striker will start Tuesday's game, Allegri said: "I haven't decided yet, but I'll make the assessments. Physically he's fine, he's much lighter and more dynamic than when he arrived.
"Let's hope he scores tomorrow. Vlahovic has never been as good physically as he is now, not even when he arrived from Fiorentina."
Wales make history while Scotland miss out on Euro 2025
Wales reached a major women's football tournament for the first time after beating the Republic of Ireland 2-1 in the second leg of their Euro 2025 qualification play-off on Tuesday.
The match was watched by a crowd of 25,832 at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin, following a 1-1 draw in the first leg in Cardiff last Friday.
Owing to the magnitude of what was at stake, the return fixture started as a cagey affair, though the hosts had the better openings.
The match remained goalless until the fifth minute of the second half, when Hannah Cain netted a penalty to put Wales one up. Substitute Carrie Jones got another 12 minutes later to put the visitors in dreamland.
While Anna Patten's late header set up a nervy finish for Wales, they were able to hold out and create history.
Elsewhere, Norway confirmed their place at next year's tournament in Switzerland with a 7-0 aggregate victory over Northern Ireland.
Goals from Caroline Graham Hansen, Frida Maanum and Synne Jensen helped Norway to a 3-0 second-leg victory in Oslo, having won 4-0 in the reverse fixture.
Scotland, however, will miss a third successive major tournament after falling to a 2-0 defeat away to Finland in their decisive play-off match.
Pedro Martinez Losa's side had 67% of the ball and rattled off 20 attempts on goal, but were unable to find the back of the net following a goalless draw in the first leg.
Finally, Sweden thrashed Serbia 6-0 at home to complete an 8-0 aggregate victory, emphatically booking their spot at next year's European Championships.
First-half goals from Filippa Angeldal, Kosovare Asllani and a brace from Stina Blackstenius had the game over as a contest, with Hanna Bennison and Anna Anvegard adding extras in the second period.
AC Milan 6-1 Sassuolo: Chukwueze brace powers Rossoneri into Coppa Italia last eight
AC Milan made light work of Serie B side Sassuolo as Samuel Chukwueze scored twice in a 6-1 thrashing to reach the quarter-finals of the Coppa Italia on Tuesday.
The last-16 clash was already over as a contest by the 23rd minute after Chukwueze's brace, along with goals from Tijjani Reijnders and Rafael Leao handed Milan a 4-0 lead at San Siro.
Davide Calabria added their fifth 11 minutes after the interval, though Samuele Mulattieri managed a consolation three minutes later, before Tammy Abraham rounded off the win in the 61st minute.
Chukwueze opened the scoring in the 12th minute when a Reijnders ball over the top put him through one-on-one with Giacomo Satalino, and after his first effort hit the upright he tapped in the rebound.
Reijnders drilled home from outside the area five minutes later and Chukwueze netted his second in the 21st minute, curling beyond the reach of Satalino after an Abraham lay-off.
A no-look pass from Ruben Loftus-Cheek freed Leao to score two minutes later before Christian Pulisic's lofted cross bounced off the post and Calabria reacted quickest to convert in the second half.
Mulattieri's effort squirmed under Lorenzo Torriani to finally give Sassuolo something to cheer about, but Abraham finished off the rout, tucking his finish around Satalino just past the hour.
Data Debrief: Rampant Rossoneri
Milan's victory came by an impressive scoreline, though the underlying stats suggest the 6-1 win was somewhat flattering on the home side's performance.
Indeed, the home side accumulated just 1.89 expected goals (xG) from their 15 attempts, but the quality of finishing proved too much for Sassuolo to handle.
Bayern Munich 0-1 Bayer Leverkusen: Neuer off as Tella header defeats 10-man hosts
Ten-man Bayern Munich were dumped out of the DFB Pokal following a 1-0 defeat by reigning champions Bayer Leverkusen at Allianz Arena.
Nathan Tella's second-half strike proved the difference as Xabi Alonso's side booked their place in the quarter-finals.
The hosts were reduced to 10 men after just 17 minutes, when Manuel Neuer received the first red card of his career after bringing down Jeremie Frimpong just outside the box.
Despite the numerical disadvantage, Vincent Kompany's side created the better chances during the first half, with Kingsley Coman, Konrad Laimer and Leon Goretzka going close.
However, the visitors broke through against the run of play in the 69th minute, when Tella nodded in from Alex Grimaldo's cross.
Michael Olise almost snatched a dramatic equaliser with a curling effort in stoppage time, but Leverkusen survived to maintain their title defence.
Data Debrief: Nine in a row for Leverkusen and Alonso
Bayern had won each of their five previous DFB Pokal matches against the defending champions.
However, that streak ended here as they have now suffered successive eliminations after home defeats (also losing to Freiburg in April 2023) for the first time in their history.
As for Leverkusen, they have now won their last nine DFB Pokal matches and kept clean sheets in their last five - both their longest such streaks in the competition since at least 2005-06.
Meanwhile, Alonso has won all nine of his DFB Pokal matches as a coach. Only two coaches have enjoyed longer undefeated starts in the competition this millennium - Louis van Gaal and Pep Guardiola (both in the first 10).
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
