AC Milan's general manager Marco Fassone has forecast a bright future for the Serie A club following a transformation he admits not even he thought was possible.
Milan travel to Turin on Saturday evening to face Juventus with a high level of confidence Fassone says has been established due to the excellent work of coach Gennaro Gattuso and sporting director Massimiliano Mirabelli, and as such they can even contemplate winning.
The Rossoneri still have a deficit of five points to make up on city rivals Inter Milan in the fourth and final qualifying berth for next season's Champions League but Fassone believes that aim is starting to look increasingly realistic.
"If I only remember back to the situation at Christmas, when we'd had a few painful defeats like the ones with Verona and Atalanta and we'd gone a few games without really playing well, objectively at the time we felt like we were under a train and unable to look to the future with optimism," Fassone told Sky Sport Italia.
"We've got to pay a great deal of credit to Gattuso and to Mirabelli, who gave me the courage to make that choice [firing Vincenzo Montella and appointing Gattuso] at the time. The results have been surprising.
"The climate around the team has transformed and there is now optimism. We have belief, so it's great to come into such an extraordinary game with Juventus in these conditions. At the moment, we know that each game is one in which we must give our utmost and try to get results so we don't lose any ground.
"This recovery seemed impossible, but today it looks more believable so we've got to give it our best. We know what it means to play at the Juventus Stadium and we know how difficult it can be, and that the Bianconeri are still a cut above, but we'll try to play the way we have been of late and keep the momentum going."
Milan are unbeaten in ten, including eight wins, and they face city rivals Inter in a rearranged derby on Wednesday evening.
The Nerazzurri host Hellas Verona earlier in the day and have the opportunity to widen the gap between the two sides to eight points, but a stumble could allow Milan to narrow the gap and potentially put themselves in a position to catch or overtake Inter in midweek.
Gattuso deserves much of the credit for that, according to Fassone, who must soon decide whether he warrants a full-time contract to replace the part-time one he is on until the end of the season, following his promotion from coaching the youth team.
"He may be surprising some, but not so much others," Fassone said. "I was able to see and appreciate the work he did with the youth team, where he did a great job, and then from mid-November onwards when he was put in charge of the first team.
"He's done really well to turn around a situation which, in particular in terms of our morale levels, was far from ideal. He's worked hard on the physical condition and had courage, and been able to talk to all the players.
"He's transformed a group who were blatantly suffering into a motivated group of lads who play well and have reached the final of the Coppa Italia. We're very happy with him."
However, Gattuso may have to do without full-back Andrea Conti for the remainder of the season after the summer signing from Atalanta sprained the knee he seriously injured back in September.
"The diagnostic tests and medical examination, carried out by Professor Herbert Schoenhuber, excluded a rupture of the reconstructed anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) but they have shown a severe sprain to the lateral knee compartment, which will be further evaluated in the coming days," read a statement on acmilan.com.
Conti has appeared only five times in a Milan shirt this season, making three outings in the Europa League qualifiers and two Serie A appearances before rupturing his cruciate ligaments.