Juventus has no intention of easing AC Milan's quest for its first home win of the season, Gianluigi Buffon warned ahead of Saturday's big match.
''I know they'd really love to break the jinx but we certainly aren't going to be the sacrificial lambs,'' the Italy keeper said.
Milan go into the clash on the back of qualification for the knock-out stage of the European Champions League, clinched with a 1-1 draw against Benfica Wednesday night.
But the European champions' domestic form has fallen well short of their so-far successful hunt to retain the title they won last May against Liverpool.
Carlo Ancelotti's men are stuck in mid-table, 11 points behind Serie A leaders and champs Inter.
That doesn't make them any less dangerous, Buffon believes.
''Milan is the European champ and could soon be sitting on top of the world,'' he said, referring to the FIFA Club World Cup (formerly World Club Championship) against Boca Juniors and five other teams in Japan next month.
''That just shows how tough a challenge this match is,'' Buffon said.
''But we have a lot of faith in our abilities, as long as we keep working with the same humility and spirit of sacrifice that have marked the first part of the championship''.
Buffon disagreed with the growing number of pundits that see Juve as a title contender.
''There are three teams that are stronger than us, Milan, Inter and Roma. They all have Champions League duty, it's true, but for us to win the scudetto the whole of their squads would have to get injured''.
Alessandro Del Piero is looking forward to the Milan game as another chance to give Italy coach Roberto Donadoni further proof that he should be back in the international squad.
Injury to Ronaldo has robbed him of a chance to be compared to the one-time Phenomenon but pundits will still be gauging his performance against that of Italy striker Alberto Gilardino - himself a recent reappearance on Donadoni's roster.
''I'm determined to show Donadoni I deserve to be called back into the set-up,'' said the 34-year-old Del Piero.
The Juve icon came off the bench again last time out to score twice in Juve's 5-0 pummelling of Palermo, bringing his club record goal tally to 222.
''There's a lot of turnover between strikers and I hope to prove I should be allowed into the frame,'' said Del Piero, who was left out of Italy's last few qualifiers for Euro 2008.
Inter kept rolling over the opposition last weekend with a 2-1 win against Atalanta to stay three points clear of Juve, Roma and Udinese - though the Milanese and Romans have a game in hand.
Fiorentina fell back into fifth with a goalless draw at lowly Reggina and face a visit from the leaders on Sunday.
Inter crushed Fenerbahce 3-0 at the San Siro Tuesday to secure early qualification for the Champions knock-out stages, with Zlatan Ibrahimovic stroking another classy finish.
On Sunday in Florence, the Swede will be looking to narrow the four-goal gap that separates him from Juve's David Trezeguet at the top of the marksmen's standings.
Roma, still without injured captain Francesco Totti, face Udinese on a high from their Champions League qualification against Dynamo Kiev in mid-week.
Montenegrin striker Mirko Vucinic struck twice as the Giallorossi waltzed to a 4-1 win in Kiev, and some have cheekily suggested that Totti - holder of the Golden Ball for last year's top scorer in Europe - might find it hard to get back into the side.
