Juventus vs US Sassuolo Calcio - Juventus taking it one game at a time

Massimiliano Allegri has urged his Juventus players to focus on the here and now as they prepare to run a gauntlet of three decisive matches.

The reigning Serie A champions must first bid to protect and extend their lead by beating Sassuolo at Juventus Stadium on Friday night, and then follows a daunting Champions League trip to Munich.

Juve, who reached the Berlin final last year, have every chance of progressing to the quarter-finals after holding Bayern to a 2-2 draw in Turin last month.

The small matter of a city derby with Torino looms large at the end of a difficult 10-day period and Allegri knows it will not be easy to reach April unscathed.

"The next 10 days are key for us," he told juventus.com "The matches against Sassuolo and Torino are going to be very important in terms of our title hopes.

"We face a (Sassuolo) side that are playing very well and are just below the Europa League places in the table. They've beaten all the big teams this season so it'll be a tough test for us.

"We can't be obsessed about Bayern. I've said that before and I'll say it again now.

"For us the Champions League should be an achievable dream and we will focus on it starting from Saturday morning.

"Our objective is to win our fifth Scudetto in a row - that would be extraordinary.

"The only way we're going to do it is by taking one step at a time, without allowing ourselves to be distracted by other people's opinions.

"The league is a sprint right now. After tomorrow there'll be nine matches left so we're into the descent but the descent can be more dangerous than the ascent.

"We need to be extra alert, because you can slip up on the descent."

Friday's match also offers Gianluigi Buffon the opportunity to make history. The veteran goalkeeper has not conceded a league goal in 836 minutes and can surpass Dino Zoff's record of 903 with another shut-out against the Neroverde. Sebastian Rossi holds the all-time record with 929 minutes.

Seventh-placed Sassuolo go into the game on the back of an impressive home win over AC Milan and boss Eusebio Di Francesco is determined to see Buffon's unbeaten stand brought to an end.

"We'll try to put on a great show tomorrow," he said. "It would be really satisfying to get a result against the league's form team, who have such a strong winning mentality.

"I want my boys to approach the match with the desire to hurt a team who have not conceded a goal for a very long time."