despite winning only once in the league since November,
according to Juventus coach Massimiliano Allegri.
Juve will look to avenge a 2-1 defeat in August when they
host Roma on Sunday, the defending champions looking to
extend their 10-game winning streak in the league.
Roma – who appointed Luciano Spalletti as Rudi Garcia's
replacement earlier this month – are believed out of the
running to claim the Serie A title given they are nine points
behind leaders Napoli.
However, Allegri disagrees with the claim the Giallorossi are
no longer contenders and believes the arrival of Spalletti
makes the threat posed by this weekend's visitors even
greater.
"Roma are still Scudetto contenders because they have
quality players," he told a press conference.
"There will certainly be a reaction after changing coach and
this game is still Juve-Roma, so that means it will be a
difficult and important game.
"They have the squad capable of putting together a positive
streak of results. I don't believe any of the top five are ruled
out of the title race.
"Don't forget when we were 10 to 12 points off the leaders,
we were in a different psychological state to right now, but
in football it's quick for things to turn around.
"Therefore we have to focus not on what we've done, but
what we still need to do. We've had a few wins, but have
achieved nothing yet other than to reach March in all three
competitions.
"There is a long way to go."
Sunday's clash kickstarts a crucial part of the campaign for
Juve, with a Champions League round of 16 tie against
Bayern Munich coming up.
A showdown with Inter in the Coppa Italia semi-finals
alongside the fight for a fifth successive league title also
beckons, and Allegri has no doubts about the importance of
his side's upcoming fixtures.
"Over the next two months we have the most important
games of the season – Bayern twice, Inter twice, Napoli and
tomorrow Roma," he concluded.
"We'll end that run with the derby on March 20 and then it's
the final strait."
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