Massimiliano Allegri was remaining calm after a disastrous week that saw his side crash out of the Champions League and fall off the summit of Serie A.
But the AC Milan coach says he is now looking for a reaction from his players as they face seven matches to try to secure the only piece of silverware still available to them: the league title.
On Saturday Milan lost the league leadership as they were stunned 2-1 at home by struggling Fiorentina, who had been in freefall.
That came a week after a 1-1 draw at Catania with the 3-1 defeat at the Camp Nou and Champions League elminiation at the hands of Barcelona sandwiched in between.
Having led Juventus by four points 10 days ago, the champions are now a point behind.
"There are still 21 points up for grabs and from a character and physical point of view we hope to bounce back immediately and play a great match against Chievo on Tuesday," said Allegri.
"We lost but we have to remain calm. No-one expected this blip, not even us, but now we need character.
"In the remaing games we can still get a full house (21 points) so we have to keep working calmly, and in fact with even more fire. There's still a long way to go, we can win it."
Juventus, on the other hand, have put together a run of four straight wins, having previously been struggling.
They had been well ahead of Milan but six draws in seven games saw their lead disappear and turn into a deficit.
But they have found their stride at just the right time, scoring 12 goals in their last four wins, conceding none and beating the likes of Inter Milan and Napoli.
They're unbeaten in 35 games in league and cup this season and coach Antonio Conte is urging his players to keep the pedal to the metal in the final month of the season.
"We've acquired knowledge, our self-confidence has increased and we're improving day by day," he said.
"As I told the lads: we wanted a bicycle so now let's keep pedalling right to the end. We've got seven matches left, we're a point ahead of Milan and we're still unbeaten.
"I'm delighted about that unbeaten run because it shows that hard work pays dividends."
Juve face a tough match against Lazio on Wednesday in one of their hardest remaining fixtures.
Lazio cemented their grip on third place and the final Champions League qualification berth with a 3-1 win over Napoli on Saturday.
It means they lead Udinese by three points in that race with Napoli six points back and city rivals Roma seven points behind.
Roma host Udinese on Thursday and have one last chance to try to thrust themselves into the race for third.
Napoli, who have lost two games in a row to Juve and Lazio, need to bounce back as they host mid-table Atalanta.
Even Inter Milan are not completely out of the running for third, although they trail Lazio by nine points.
More realistically, the nerazzurri are chasing Roma for sixth and the final Europa League spot and if they beat Siena they could even overtake the giallorossi.
Down at the bottom, Cesena could become the first team to be relegated, due to Serie A's head-to-head ruling.
If Parma beat Novara and Genoa beat Cesena by at least three goals, then Cesena will be mathematically relegated, although if not on Wednesday, their descent into Serie B is surely only a matter of time.
Fixtures (all 1845 GMT):
Tuesday
Chievo v AC Milan
Wednesday
Catania v Lecce, Fiorentina v Palermo, Genoa v Cesena, Inter Milan v Siena, Juventus v Lazio, Napoli v Atalanta, Parma v Novara, Roma v Udinese
Thursday
Bologna v Cagliari
Source: AFP
