Gianluigi Buffon says Juventus need to wake up after Sunday's 2-2 draw with Cesena, telling Sky Italia: "If Juve want to win the scudetto and be acknowledged for it by everybody without any controversy, they need to win it by 15 points."
With Roma being held to a 0-0 draw at home by bottom-placed Parma on Sunday afternoon, Juve travelled to second-bottom Cesena later on Sunday knowing a win would have extended their lead at the top of the table to nine points and taken them a step closer to a fourth successive Serie A title.
Instead, they were held to a fifth draw in their last 10 games and maintained a seven-point advantage that, according to Buffon, is not enough.
"The distance to Roma has remained unchanged, which is how we had hoped it would be, but it goes without saying that we've thrown away an opportunity," the Juventus and Italy goalkeeper said in quotes reported by La Gazzetta dello Sport.
"If Juve want to win the scudetto and be acknowledged for it by everybody without any controversy, they need to win it by 15 points over second place. Instead, we've been misguided into thinking we've done the hard work against the big clubs, but we had not taken into account what these [Cesena] lads could do.
"They did a great job and fully deserved the draw. Probably our approach to the game was influenced by Roma's failure to win, but those are the kind of mistakes you make only when you are not used to being at the top."
Juve, though, are used to leading the way, having done so for the best part of three-and-a-half years, and Buffon admits he, as the captain and the most experienced player, must take responsibility.
"In instances like this, the captain is also to blame," he said. "He's the one who has got to keep everybody on their toes. Let's say that a lot of the blame is mine in this performance. Chances like these are too big to be wasted."
Juve boss Massimiliano Allegri, though, blamed his attacking players for failing to increase their advantage.
"When we were 2-1 up, we only looked to control the game rather than looking to finish them off," he said. "And then we conceded an equaliser. It was an ugly game and it's a shame because it could have been decisive for the scudetto."