Juventus on Thursday sought to boost the Turin giant's sagging morale by firmly backing coach Claudio Ranieri ahead of this weekend's visit to bottom club Reggina.
Speculation on Ranieri's future was revived after Juve's loss to Lazio in Wednesday night's Italian Cup semi-final which saw the Bianconeri booed for the third game running.
The Cup was Juve's remaining season target after elimination from the Champions League by Chelsea and falling too far behind Serie A champions Inter Milan for any realistic chance of landing the scudetto: ten points to make up in six games.
On Thursday Juve issued a statement saying rumours he would be replaced by Roma coach Luciano Spalletti were ''wholly groundless''.
It said the club's position ''has been reaffirmed time and again, including after the Lazio match''.
Ranieri, a former boss of Chelsea, took over at Juve after it won quick promotion from Serie B, put there because of Italy's match-fixing scandal.
Spalletti's Roma has finished runners up to Inter in the last two years and has won plaudits for its Champions League play.
Juve will be seeking to hold onto second spot at Reggina who they beat 4-0 earlier in the season.
A recent poor run has allowed AC Milan to join them in second place.
Milan entertain 7th-placed Palermo, which received a knock Thursday after it was revealed central defender Moris Carrozzieri failed a cocaine test earlier this month.
Milan will be confident after last week's 5-1 win over season surprise package Genoa which allowed 5th-placed Fiorentina to close on the 4th-placed Genoese.
Genoa, two points above Fiorentina, will be fairly confident of rebounding at 18th-placed Bologna but could be caught if they slip up and Fiorentina beat resurgent 6th-placed Roma in Florence Saturday night.
If the other results go their way, Jose' Mourinho's Inter could clinch the club's fifth straight title at 14th-placed Napoli on Sunday night.
Ninth-placed Lazio host 11th-placed Atalanta in a bid to boost its Europa League (ex-UEFA Cup) bid after redeeming ex-Birmingham City Argentinian striker Mauro Zarate from Qatari club Al-Sadd.
