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League title remains the target for Juventus, says Pirlo

Serie A - Juventus v Bologna

(Reuters) - Andrea Pirlo said Juventus still believe they can retain the Serie A title despite falling 10 points behind leaders Inter Milan at the weekend.

The Turin club, winners of the last nine Italian championships, could only draw 1-1 at Hellas Verona on Saturday, leaving them third in the standings, behind Inter and AC Milan.

Pirlo, though, believes there is still time to catch Inter, who have played one game more.

“Our objective hasn’t changed. We are far from the top for now, because Inter and Milan won yesterday,” Pirlo told a news conference ahead of Juve’s league game against Spezia on Tuesday.

“But we’re not changing our objectives and we must think about winning game after game.

“We’re not looking at who is above us or beneath us in the standings, we’re only thinking about ourselves.

“There are a lot of games left to play and as long as there is time to catch up, we will be up there.”

Juventus had to settle for a draw in Verona after surrendering the lead for the fourth time in Serie A this season.

“We know that we have been caught in four games, each of them different,” Pirlo said.

“The other night we conceded a goal at a moment when there was no sign of danger from Verona, and that hurts even more.

“When this happens, there are always a lot of errors within the action, so we analysed it well and will definitely look to avoid that.”

Pirlo demanded a reaction from his players against Spezia, who have impressed since their promotion from Serie B last season and sit 15th in the standings.

"It will be a difficult match and is important for us, because we must win back the two points we lost in Verona and continue to fight for the Scudetto," he said.

"We need to play an intense match with good tempo from the first minute, because we know we will face a strong team."

(Reporting by Alasdair Mackenzie; editing by Clare Fallon)