Massimiliano Allegri claims Sunday's Serie A clash between Juventus and Milan is more important for the Rossoneri despite him overseeing a miserable start to 2021-22.
Allegri is three league matches into his second spell in Turin but there has been no sign of a honeymoon period, with Juve yet to win any of those matches.
They relieved a hint of pressure with a 3-0 Champions League win on Tuesday, though the good will from that victory will only last so long given it was against Malmo.
Failure to get off the mark on Sunday will leave Juve winless across their first four Serie A matches in a single season for only the fourth time, the most recent occasion being in 1961-62.
By contrast, Milan – who this season are in the Champions League for the first time since 2013-14 – have won all three of their Serie A games in 2021-22, with Stefano Pioli's men second only to Roma on goal difference.
Despite their differing starts to the season, Allegri insists Sunday's encounter is a bigger deal for Milan than Juve, and he also wanted to stress there is no reason to panic for their title hopes if Pioli's side do leave with a positive result.
"Tomorrow's game is more important for them than for us," Allegri told reporters, though he would not openly elaborate on why he felt this way. "That's what you have to say, otherwise I will help you too much."
On the title race, he added: "I believe there is no team that can crush the championship. Maybe I'm wrong.
"You can lose points, but you can also quickly recover them. We must not think that if we lose then we will be 11 points behind, we have to work thinking about making up for the ground that we lost at the beginning.
"I have always said that, the championships are won against the smaller teams. We don't know what tomorrow's result will be because the devil invented football: you can play well and still maybe you lose or draw.
"It's not that before Malmo we had become poor drunks and now we are phenomenal again. We need balance. You have to work and have the ambition to win.
"I have to be a coach, because the team goes out on the pitch, but I also have to hammer on the psychological aspect because Juve is a team that has to play not to win games, but to win championships.
"Everyone wins matches, all teams, but the championship will only be won by one. In the end, the team that was the best will win the championship."
Allegri's return after two years away understandably conjured up memories of Juventus' remarkable streak of nine successive Scudetti, with the 54-year-old in charge for five of them.
But he feels comparisons between the two distinctly different teams and eras are unhelpful.
"I have found a Juventus with different players," he continued. "We must not think of comparing Juve today with what it was in the past.
"This team has its own identity as well as individual characteristics of the players. You need to become a team by improving many things, in terms of personality, technique and patience in playing. But it's just a different Juve."
In a potential blow for Juve, Allegri confirmed Federico Chiesa is a doubt for Sunday's game.
The Italy international has been involved in six goals against Milan in Serie A, a haul he has bettered against no other team.
He also scored his only brace with Juventus in the Italian top-flight against the Rossoneri in January.
Lukaku's profligacy frustrates Inter coach Inzaghi
Simone Inzaghi did not hide his frustration at Romelu Lukaku's struggles in front of goal after Inter lost 1-0 to Fiorentina on Saturday.
Inter's losing streak in Serie A was extended to their worst in six years as Giacomo Bonaventura's second-half header proved decisive at San Siro.
The Nerazzurri have now lost three straight top flight matches, with Bonaventura's winner coming shortly after a woeful miss from Lukaku.
Having rediscovered his goalscoring touch while on international duty with Belgium, Lukaku was unable to transfer that form across to his club side as he failed to hit the target from close range with the goal gaping.
No Inter player had more shots than his three, with Lukaku not managing to get any of them on target, despite accumulating 1.2 expected goals.
While not pinning the blame entirely on Lukaku – who is reported to have confronted Inzaghi about a lack of opportunities while he has been fit this season – Inter's coach was quick to point out the importance of those misses.
Speaking to DAZN, Inzaghi said: "If he had scored those chances, Lukaku's performance would be judged in a very different way.
"His role is to create the opportunities, make the movements that the team needs.
"He wasn't the only one who had chances today, so I wouldn't focus only on Romelu."
Inzaghi also stressed he is ultimately responsible for turning Inter's fortunes around.
"There is great disappointment, we lost two consecutive home matches," he said. "We need to work more, starting with me.
"At the moment, we need to be more determined, because we had so many chances to score and we should have done.
"I cannot ask for more in terms of effort, as the players did everything I asked of them."
Inzaghi is not wrong. While Fiorentina had more shots (19 to 16) and got the same number of attempts on target (three each), Inter finished with a 2.8 xG compared to the visitors' 1.2, suggesting the quality of opportunities that went their way was far greater.
Lukaku's glaring miss came from by far the best opportunity of the match, with Opta's model estimating the chance would be converted 92 per cent of the time (0.92 xG).
The 29-year-old's future is uncertain. He is on loan at Inter, but due to return to parent club Chelsea at the end of the season.
Before the match, Inter chief Giuseppe Marotta told DAZN: "[Lukaku's] love for the Inter jersey is 10 out of 10, we'll evaluate the prospects with Chelsea."
Kvitova triumphs in Miami Open to dash Rybakina's Sunshine Double hopes
Elena Rybakina's superb run in the United States was ended by Petra Kvitova, who won 7-6 (16-14) 6-2 to clinch the Miami Open title.
Two-time grand slam champion Kvitova, 33, became the second-oldest Miami champion, denying young gun Rybakina a Sunshine Double in the process.
Rybakina, fresh from her triumph at the Indian Wells Open, has been in stunning form but could not find her groove on Saturday.
After clinching the first set following a marathon tie-break, Kvitova took momentum into the second, cruising into a 5-2 lead before sealing the win with a break – Rybakina sending a forehand long.
Kvitova equalled Simona Halep as the players with the third-most WTA 1000 titles (nine), with only Serena Williams (13) and Victoria Azarenka (10) having won more since 2009.
"It feels unbelievable. I'm 33, and it's my 30th title, so I'm very happy," Kvitova told Amazon Prime Sport.
"I didn't think, that was the key. Elena didn't lose a tie-break [this season]. I thought, well, she has to lose at some time. I had to be a bit more aggressive, it was a bit of a struggle. I was a bit nervous, yes.
"I would have laughed [if someone told me I was going to win] but it feels great for sure. Nobody expected this, not me, not my team. I'm happy I'm injury free and, oh my God, I made it."
Kvitova is the second woman to win the singles title in Miami after turning 33, following Serena Williams in 2015.
Indeed, only Serena Williams (68), Justine Henin (42), Venus Williams (40), Kim Clijsters (40) and Maria Sharapova (36) have more WTA singles title to their name in the 21st century than the Czech.
Rybakina, meanwhile, will lament the chance of a Sunshine Double going begging.
The 23-year-old is the fourth player to fail to win the Sunshine Double in Miami's final after Serena Williams (1999), Lindsay Davenport (2000) and Sharapova (2006 and 2013).
"I want to congratulate Petra for a great two weeks here in Miami, and good luck for the rest of the year," said Rybakina. "Thank you to my team, we'll keep going."
Elche 0-4 Barcelona: Lewandowski double helps LaLiga leaders thrash rock-bottom hosts
Robert Lewandowski's latest Barcelona double helped take them another step closer to the LaLiga title with a 4-0 win over rock-bottom Elche on Saturday.
The Poland international's goals either side of an Ansu Fati finish helped the Blaugrana cruise to a comfortable victory at Estadio Manuel Martínez Valero.
Ferran Torres added a fourth as Xavi's visitors moved 15 points clear of second-placed Real Madrid in the table to further underline their domestic dominance this season.
For Sebastian Beccacece, Elche's fourth different boss of the season, it was a chastening reminder of the task at hand.
Barca pressed hard for an opener from the start and were duly rewarded 20 minutes in when Lewandowski turned in a Ronald Araujo header from Jordi Alba's free-kick.
But Lewandowski missed a golden opportunity to double the visitors' lead before the break with a flying header, as did Jules Kounde when he saw Edgar Badia save his shot.
The Blaugrana were more ruthless in the second half, though.
Fati capped off a fluent breakaway move with a cool, low finish to put Barca two up in the 56th minute
Lewandowski was then on hand 10 minutes later, latching onto a Gavi throughball and dispatching a neat finish, before Torres brought down the forward's looping pass outside the box for a fine strike of his own.
That added a last touch of gloss to a dominant performance that edges Barca closer to silverware.
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