'I never thought that we could catch Juventus and now we need to keep an eye on those who are behind us and close to us and try to keep a distance between them and second place,' said the Milan coach.

The runners-up spot in Serie A brings an automatic place in next season's Champions League while the teams finishing third and fourth have to qualify for the group stage.

'It's a bit like that for us at the moment,' said Ancelotti, 'We aren't putting the chances away.

'I don't think it's about motivation. We were motivated for this game and I don't think it's a psychological issue either,' he said.

'We are just in a moment when things aren't going for us. On Tuesday we will be fired up for the return game with Lyon and the team will be quite different,' he added.