- Penrith Panthers win fourth straight NRL title after downing Storm
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- Pakistan's Masood warns England still a force without Stokes
- Madrid's Carvajal to miss several months after serious knee injury
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- Two elephants die in flash flooding in northern Thailand
- Sabalenka targets world number one and Wuhan hat-trick
- Toddler among 4 dead in migrant Channel crossings
- Tunisia votes with Saied set for re-election
- Bagnaia sets 'example' with Japan MotoGP win to cut gap on Martin
- Intense Israeli bombing rocks Beirut ahead of war anniversary
- Mozambique vote: no suspense but some disillusion
- Austrian rapper channels anti-racist rage in Romani hip-hop songs
- Ohtani magic powers Dodgers over Padres in MLB playoff thriller
- Five of the best: Pakistan-England Test thrillers
- Man sets arm on fire as marches across US mark Gaza war anniversary
- Vietnam's young coffee entrepreneurs brew up a revolution
- Trump rallies at site of failed assassination: 'Never quit'
- Too hot by day, Dubai's floodlit beaches are packed at night
- Is music finally reckoning with #MeToo?
- Fans hail Trump's 'guts' as he returns to site of rally shooting
- Lebanon state media says 'very violent' Israeli strikes hit south Beirut
- Guardians maul Tigers, miracle Mets rally in MLB series openers
- Lebanon state media says Israeli strikes hit south Beirut
- Miami on track for MLS record points after win in Toronto
- Madrid beat Villarreal but Carvajal suffers knee injury
- Madrid beat Villarreal to move level with Liga leaders Barcelona
- Monaco take top spot in Ligue 1 with win at Rennes
- French rugby player on rape charge whistled but 'serene' on return
- Madrid beat Villarreal to level Liga leaders Barca
- Thuram treble fires Inter past Torino and up to second
- 'Fight': defiant Trump jets in to site of rally shooting
- Toddler among 3 dead in migrant Channel crossings
- Mexico City's new mayor sworn in with pledges on water, housing
- Israel on alert ahead of Hamas attack anniversary
- Guardians maul Tigers in MLB playoff series opener
- Macron criticises Israel on Gaza, Lebanon operations
- French rugby player whistled but 'serene' on return amid ongoing rape case
- Kovacic stars as Man City sink Fulham to get title bid back on track
- Retegui hat-trick fires five-star Atalanta to hammering of Genoa
- Heavyweights Australia, England off to World Cup winning starts
- Visiting UN refugee agency chief decries 'terrible crisis' in Lebanon
- Spinners come to party as England defeat Bangladesh at T20 World Cup
- Search continues for missing in deadly Bosnia floods
- Man City sink Fulham to get title bid back on track
- France's Auradou whistled on Pau return in Perpignan loss amid ongoing rape case
- A 'forgotten' valley in storm-hit North Carolina, desperate for help
- Arsenal hit back in style after Southampton scare
- Thousands march for Palestinians ahead of Oct 7 anniversary
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Juve-Inter showdown marks end of Italy's Covid emergency
Inter Milan and Juventus face off on Sunday with their title hopes in the balance as Italy fully opens its doors to supporters for the first time in two years and fans focus on domestic concerns following the national team's World Cup flop.
The so-called 'Derby of Italy' in Turin will be one of the first matches to be played in front of a full house after also being one of the first to be played behind closed doors back in March 2020, and the return to 100 percent capacity grounds comes for a match which could be crucial in deciding who claims the Scudetto.
With eight matches remaining, Inter's grip on the their league crown has slipped after a collapse in form which leaves them third, six points behind leaders and local rivals AC Milan, who have a chance to slip further ahead when they host Bologna on Monday.
Juve, who at the start of February were 11 points behind Inter -- then four points clear at the top -- have surged to within a point of their old rivals thanks to a 16-match unbeaten run which has almost guaranteed them a place in the Champions League and also made them dark horses for the run-in.
Since losing at home to Atalanta in late November Juve have picked up 38 points from a possible 48 despite never really performing to the standards coach Massimiliano Allegri set during his first spell at the Allianz Stadium.
Allegri, who has been heavily criticised for his team's often turgid style of football, revealed in an interview with magazine GQ that he went back on an agreement with Florentino Perez to succeed Zinedine Zidane at Real Madrid to rejoin his old team.
"I'd already signed an agreement with Real Madrid, but in the morning I called the president and I told him that I wasn't going to Madrid because I'd chosen Juventus," Allegri said.
"I've not had any doubts at all ever since Juve called me in May."
Italy might have ended its Covid-19 state of emergency but the virus still looms over the league as on Thursday the Italian Football Federation said Napoli, chairman Aurelio De Laurentiis and the club doctor have been referred to its tribunal over three players not being kept in quarantine for the match with Juve in January.
Meanwhile the five matches stopped by the winter spike in cases have all been rescheduled, with Inter's unplayed January fixture at Bologna now to be played on April 27 -- just four weeks from the end of the season.
Napoli are having a difficult week ahead of their trip to Atalanta, as suspensions and a raft of injury doubts leave Milan's closest rivals without a host of key players.
Star striker Victor Osimhen and starting centre-back Amir Rrahmani are both suspended while Osimhen's replacement Andrea Petagna, Italy right-back Giovanni Di Lorenzo and goalkeeper Alex Meret will all be absent with injury.
And coach Luciano Spalletti, whose side are three points off top spot, is also sweating on midfielders Andre Franck Zambo Anguissa, Fabian Ruiz, Adam Ounas and Piotr Zielinski.
Working in their favour is Atalanta's abysmal home record this season, with just four home wins and 18 points collected from their 14 matches at the Gewiss Stadium.
Player to watch - Gianluca Scamacca
Italy's shock World Cup play-off defeat to North Macedonia has led to coach Roberto Mancini taking a look at a younger crop of players in view of the next European Championship in two years' time.
Sassuolo striker Scamacca is the number one candidate to replace striker Ciro Immobile -- who has been heavily criticised for the massive gap between his form for Lazio and the national team -- and is set to face off against the league's leading scorer at the Stadio Olimpico on Saturday.
Key stats
10 - The points swing between Juve and Inter in the last two months
1 - Inter have fallen off their perch thanks to just one win in that time.
Fixtures (times GMT)
Saturday
Spezia v Venezia (1300), Lazio v Sassuolo (1600), Salernitana v Torino (1845)
Sunday
Fiorentina v Empoli (1030), Atalanta v Napoli, Udinese v Cagliari (both 1300), Sampdoria v Roma (1600), Juventus v Inter (1845)
Monday
Verona v Genoa (1630), AC Milan v Bologna (1845)
D.Kaufman--AMWN