Napoli face challenge against impressive Lazio defence
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By Tommy Lund
(Reuters) -Runaway leaders Napoli will look to extend their eight-match winning run in Serie A when they host Lazio on Friday but face a stern test against the second-best defence in the league.
Lazio climbed back into the fourth and the final Champions League spot after beating visiting Sampdoria 1-0 on Monday but they will not find it easy against a Napoli side who have kept four consecutive clean sheets while scoring 10 goals.
Napoli have one hand on the title with an 18-point lead over second-placed Inter Milan and manager Luciano Spalletti has nothing but praise for his team as they look to end a 33-year wait for the Serie A title with 14 games left.
"Everyone we face seems to be playing for their lives and if we're where we are at this stage of the season it means I have a group of lads who know how to handle every game the right way," he said.
"(They are) displaying the mindset and the spirit you need as a squad if you want to come out on top in every game."
Juventus are on the rise again after a 15-point deduction related to the club's transfer dealings saw them plunge from third to 10th place. Four wins in a row have lifted them to seventh in the table ahead of their visit to Roma on Sunday.
Massimiliano Allegri's side are six points behind sixth-placed Atalanta, who occupy the last European slot, and have been boosted by the return from injury of Paul Pogba.
The France midifelder came off the bench to make his first appearance in his second stint since his return to Juve in Tuesday's 4-2 home win over Torino.
Roma will be without manager Jose Mourinho after the Portuguese coach was banned for two games and fined 10,000 euros ($10,628) for his explosive reaction to being sent off in his side's 2-1 defeat at relegation-threatened Cremonese.
IBRAHIMOVIC RETURNReigning champions AC Milan bounced back from four straight losses in all competitions to win four on the trot without conceding and Stefano Pioli's side can move up to second place with another win if Inter drop points at home to Lecce.
Swede Zlatan Ibrahimovic is back in the Milan squad after a lengthy injury layoff and the striker might even make his first start of the season on Saturday at Fiorentina, against whom he has scored 11 times in Serie A.
If he finds the net, the 41-year-old will set the record as the oldest scorer in the history of the competition, overtaking former Milan player Alessandro Costacurta.
Udinese visit Atalanta on Saturday and will attempt to break the home side's 10-match unbeaten run against them in Serie A.
Inter have won each of their last eight home games against Lecce in Serie A, but manager Simone Inzaghi has warned about the impact of their unforgiving schedule.
"We can’t seem to maintain the same level of concentration and determination playing every two and a half days," he said after Sunday's 1-0 loss at Bologna.
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(Reporting by Tommy Lund in Gdansk; Editing by Ken Ferris)