Ranieri desperate to halt Juve slide

Only last week Juventus enjoyed a brief share of the Serie A lead with FC Internazionale Milano in the 24 hours between their win over ACF Fiorentina and the Nerazzurri's success against UC Sampdoria, but eight days on Claudio Ranieri's men find themselves a punishing seven points off the pace. Consecutive defeats by Udinese Calcio and Cagliari Calcio have left the club's championship tilt in disarray, despite Inter's 1-1 draw with struggling Torino FC on Sunday.

Damaging losses
The slide began on Wednesday, with Juve succumbing 2-1 to an Udinese team who had not celebrated a Serie A win since October, and on Saturday they were beaten again as this season's surprise package came out on top in Turin. After starting the campaign with five consecutive defeats, Cagliari are now seventh and edged a 3-2 victory thanks to goals from Davide Biondini, Jeda and Alessandro Matri, with Mohamed Sissoko and Pavel Nedvěd on target for the hosts.

Cagliari counterattacks
"We knew we were facing a strong side," said Ranieri, who coached the Sardinian outfit between 1988 and 1991. "They know what they want and they know how to get it. They surprised us by taking the lead but when we equalised we started to play well and scored again. Unfortunately, we conceded two goals on the counterattack and lost the game. It was a bad mistake to give them chances to counter when we were leading.

'We have to react'
"We have to be more focused on the pitch," added the 57-year-old, who must have been relieved his team did not fall nine points behind Inter before the weekend was out. "We have to learn from our mistakes and respond immediately by continuing to work as we've been doing so far. We have to focus on ourselves without watching everyone else; that's how we managed to catch up with Inter last week. Now we are trailing again but we have to react."

Del Piero faith
Meanwhile, Juve captain Alessandro Del Piero, whose side will face Chelsea FC in the UEFA Champions League first knockout round later this month, is still confident he and his team-mates can clinch the domestic title. "We still believe we can do it, even if a week ago it was easier to say that," he explained. "We had a bad week but that can happen to other teams as well. I'm not worried; we have everything we need to solve our problems." More trouble could be on the way, however, with midfielder Cristiano Zanetti and defender Giorgio Chiellini both suffering injuries against Cagliari and due to undergo tests on Monday.