Serie A leaders Inter Milan are sailing through a crop of injuries that would have crippled lesser clubs.
Inter's midfield is currently missing stars like Patrick Veira, Dejan Stankovic, Luis Figo and Olivier Dacourt.
But the champs cruised to a 3-0 home win against Lazio Wednesday night thanks to the squad's great strength in depth.
Coach Roberto Mancini was able to bring in quality replacements in the shape of Brazilian defender Maxwell, Argentina defender Nicolas Burdisso and Portuguese midfield talent Pele'.
All three had a great game as the Inter midfield and defence kept Lazio strikers Goran Pandev and Tommaso Rocchi at bay.
Inter have great self-belief at the moment and appear to approach each game in the same way, knocking the ball around until one of their front stars makes a breakthrough.
Usually it comes from open play, with Zlatan Ibrahimovic setting up goals or scoring himself.
Against Lazio it came courtesy of the fourth official, who saw a dubious jersey-pull on Burdisso and told the ref to award a penalty.
Ibrahimovic stepped up to take care of business - his eighth goal of the season - and there was no way back for Lazio.
The victory followed Sunday's 2-0 away defeat of Fiorentina, a potential scudetto rival.
Despite Inter's seemingly unstoppable drive, Ibrahimovic urged his team-mates to keep their focus on Thursday.
''It's not over yet, not by a long chalk. We have to stay concentrated,'' the Sweden star said.
Roma beat Cagliari 2-0 thanks to a brace from Brazilian striker Rodrigo Taddei, with captain Francesco Totti back after a six-week absence through injury.
Wearing a special boot, Totti soon showed his trademark flicks and touches as the Roma attack switched into an even higher gear.
With Inter and Roma on their present form, their Sunday opponents Torino (12th place) and Livorno (16th) will have to pull out all the stops to prevent the breakaway pair staying clear of the bunch.
Juventus leads that pack in third place on 26 points, five behind Roma and eight behind Inter.
The Turin giants entertain Atalanta on Sunday.
Atalanta is sixth, three points behind Fiorentina, but has a game in hand.
The Bergamo side is buoyant at the moment, having hammered Napoli 5-1 last time out.
Juve appear set to opt for the two-pronged attack of David Trezeguet and Vincenzo Iaquinta again.
Captain Alessandro Del Piero is even more likely to be benched until late in the game since he will start Juve's Italian Cup game against Empoli on Thursday night.
Fiorentina, in fifth, travel to Palermo (11th) for Saturday's late match.
Former Fiorentina and Juve striker Fabrizio Miccoli is expected to be back for the Sicilians, who recently rehired Francesco Guidolin for his fourth spell as coach.
Lazio (15th) host Catania (10th) earlier in the day.
AC Milan's game at Reggina has been put off because of next week's Club World Cup in Japan.
The European champs join six teams from around the world in a new format that replaces the old Intercontinental Cup between the champions of Europe and South America.
But they have been seeded to meet Argentinian giants Boca Juniors in the final.
