Inter Milan coach Frank de Boer says he has no fears of Juventus as he sets his sights on at least a top-three Serie A finish this season.
De Boer, 46, took the reins at Inter just under a fortnight ago and says it will take four months before he has the team playing the way he wants them to.
However, the former Ajax boss believes that if the gap at the top of the table is not so big come the winter, there is no reason why his side cannot mount a bid for the title.
"Our aim is [to qualify for] the Champions League, there are no two ways about it," De Boer told Gazzetta dello Sport. "We'll have to see what else we can do, but we'll give it a go. With good organisation and the right mentality, you can achieve anything in football.
"It's going to be hard on all fronts, though, because Roma, Napoli, Lazio, Fiorentina and AC Milan are great sides and warrant respect."
Juve are favourites to win a sixth straight Scudetto, having signed last season's Serie A top scorer Gonzalo Higuain from Napoli, though De Boer is not totally convinced they are a better team than last season.
"They're a great side and they have an exceptional squad," De Boer said. "They've added Higuain, but at the same time they've lost [Paul] Pogba. We'll have to see how they will play in midfield and it's not so certain that they will be better than last season.
"Yes, they have big names, but we don't yet know if they will be able to be a team. We'll see my Inter in four months, which is normal. We'll know who we really are in January."
De Boer is not going to try to rush things either, saying that Jurgen Klopp's experience at Liverpool confirms that is not the right way to go about business.
"We've got to be careful with the intensity of our training because our philosophy has changed," he said. "If you don't manage the physical side of things, then we could have a lot of injuries in the next few months.
"Remember Klopp -- he arrived at Liverpool in October and he tried to impose an energetic workload on the team immediately, like he had Borussia Dortmund playing. The result was plenty of injuries -- nine of them. Sometimes it's better just to take things slowly."
Mauro Icardi will be a fundamental player, as he was last season, and De Boer is expecting great things from the club captain, though he says he will have to work hard for the team too.
"Mauro's only 23 and he's already scored lots of goals, but he knows it's not all his merit but also down to the whole of Inter," De Boer said. "Each day, he has to arrive here wanting to become a better player, on and off the field, taking care of his nutrition and every other thing which can raise the bar.
"That is the right mentality. Even [Lionel] Messi never stops trying to improve. The day you feel you've reached the top is the day when your career is over. Icardi's movements are already fantastic, but sometimes maybe he needs to realise when it's better to protect the ball and play it simple, for the good of the team.
"In any case, I've seen a lot of energy from him in training and in the game against Celtic. I liked the assist he gave for [Antonio] Candreva. Of course he wants to score, but he can make the difference in many ways. But come on, I'm really happy with Mauro -- he's our captain and he knows he has to work for the team and he will score lots of goals."