Inter Milan coach Roberto Mancini says that breaking his club's record for consecutive league wins will not distract his men from their ultimate goal - the scudetto.
Sunday's 2-0 victory over Messina took Inter's winning streak to nine games.
That is one more than the tally notched up by legendary coaches Giovanni Trapattoni, Helenio Herrera and Tony Cargnelli during title-winning campaigns in 1988-89, 1964-65 and 1939-40.
"Our target is the championship, it's the only thing we are interested in," said Mancini.
"Winning nine games will go down in the statistics, but apart from that, it's not so important".
Inter set club history thanks to a spectacular goal from an overhead kick by Italy defender Marco Materazzi and a strike by Sweden forward Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
Mancini's men can equal the Serie A consecutive wins record of 11, set last season by AS Roma, if they beat Lazio and Atalanta in the two games before the Christmas break.
But the Inter coach was keen to stress this will "not be easy".
"Lazio and Atalanta are two of the most in-form sides at the moment," he explained.
Mancini was wise to strike a cautious note, as second-placed AS Roma kept up the pressure Sunday night by thrashing the other scudetto challenger, Palermo (3rd), 4-0.
Roma captain Francesco Totti produced another man-of-the-match performance and hit the net twice to take sole command of the league marksmen's standings with 11 goals.
Brazilian winger Alessandro Mancini also scored twice, as Roma gave their Sicilian rivals a lesson in fluid interplay in midfield and ruthlessness in the penalty area.
Roma coach Luciano Spalletti praised the way his men bounced back from last weekend's 3-0 defeat to Lazio in the derby.
"We were perfect. It will be difficult to improve on a performance like this," he said.
Inter lead Serie A with 42 points from 16 games, which gives them a seven-point advantage over Roma.
"We'll continue down the road we are on and there is every chance we can nibble into Inter's lead as the championship is so long," added Spalletti.
Torino (8th) came back from a visit to bottom club Ascoli with a 0-2 victory.
Sampdoria (9th) won away too, beating Reggina (19th) 1-0.
Livorno (7th) - Lazio (5th) and Siena (12th) - Atalanta (6th) both ended 1-1, while Parma (18th) and Chievo Verona (17th) drew 2-2.
On Saturday evening AC Milan came back from behind to salvage a point at Fiorentina (16th) and move one place up the standings to 14th.
But the six-time European champions are still far from their best and will be hoping to rediscover their shine during the Christmas break.
Udinese (10th) beat Cagliari (13th) 3-1 in Saturday's other game.
Sunday afternoon's clash between Catania (4th) and Empoli (11th) was postponed due to a waterlogged pitch.
