Victory on Saturday (Apr 29) would move Luciano Spalletti's side to 81 points and they will become the first team to win the title with six matches remaining unless Lazio earn their first win away to Inter in more than four years on Sunday. Spalletti urged his Napoli players not to get ahead of themselves despite being tantalisingly close to ending the city's 33-year wait for the Serie A title since Diego Maradona led the team to two championships in 1987 and 1990.
* A goal from Marcus Tavernier secured Bournemouth a 1-0 win over Southampton and piled more misery on interim boss Ruben Selles, whose side remain rock bottom in the Premier League. Gary O'Neil's squad leapfrogged West Ham United into 14th place with 36 points from 33 games, seven points clear of the drop zone.
* Callum Wilson scored twice as Newcastle United tightened their grip on a Champions League qualification place with a thumping 4-1 Premier League victory at second-bottom Everton on Thursday, deepening the relegation crisis at the Goodison Park club. Newcastle are in third place with 62 points from 32 games and well on course for a first Champions League place since 2002.
* Reluctant Fiorentina were held to a goalless draw by Cremonese in the second leg of their Coppa Italia semi-final on Thursday and they will face Inter Milan in the final following a 2-0 aggregate win. Fiorentina will meet Inter in the final on May 24 at the Stadio Olimpico, after Simone Inzaghi's side beat Juventus 1-0 on Wednesday to secure a 2-1 aggregate victory.
* A second-half goal by Barcelona winger Caroline Graham Hansen earned a 1-1 home draw with Chelsea on Thursday in their women's Champions League semi-final, second leg for a 2-1 aggregate win and a third straight appearance in the showpiece match. Barca had edged Chelsea 1-0 in the first leg after Graham Hansen's early strike and in the final on June 3 will face either Arsenal or VfL Wolfsburg, who drew 2-2 in the first leg in Germany and play the second leg in London on Monday.
* Former world number one Simona Halep has called on the International Tennis Federation (ITF) to give her the chance to clear her name after she was provisionally suspended in October for failing a drugs test. The Romanian former Wimbledon and French Open champion was tested during last year's US Open and both her A and B samples confirmed the presence of banned blood-booster roxadustat.
* Ferrari's Charles Leclerc denied on Thursday he was talking to rivals Mercedes after a nightmare start to the Formula One season, but his 'not yet' comment was unlikely to dampen speculation. Leclerc has scored only six points from three races so far, retiring twice.
* In a campaign to raise awareness for cornea donation, Brazilian club ABC FC will launch a new tactile fabric uniform with the names of their famous footballers in braille, the club said on Thursday. As part of the Alvinegras Legends project and awareness campaign for people with disabilities with former Uruguayan international Danilo Menezes, the shirt will feature the names of players such as Marinho Chagas, Jorginho Tavares, Sergio Alves, Ricardo Oliveira and Wallyson, among others.
* Goalkeeper Timo Horn will leave FC Cologne at the end of the season after 21 years, the Bundesliga club said on Thursday. The 29-year-old's contract, which expires at the end of the season, has not been renewed after Horn expressed a desire to be first-choice again, with Cologne having Marvin Schwabe as their main keeper since last season.
* Borussia Dortmund captain Marco Reus has signed a one-year contract extension to 2024, the Bundesliga club said on Thursday. The 33-year-old, a Dortmund youth player who joined the senior team in 2012 from Borussia Moenchengladbach, has become their talismanic leader despite an injury-plagued career. With 161 goals in all competitions in his Dortmund career he is just 16 shy of the club's record.
* Algeria head a list of four bids to host the 2027 African Cup of Nations, which the Confederation of African Football announced on Thursday, but Morocco are a surprise omission suggesting a compromise over the 2025 edition has been struck. A statement said CAF had received bids from Algeria, Botswana, Egypt and a joint candidacy from Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda for the 2027 tournament after the expiry of the deadline for declarations of interest.
* The 2024 Olympic triathlon courses will start and finish on the Pont Alexandre III bridge in the centre of Paris, Games organisers announced as they unveiled the routes on Thursday. During the individual triathlon events, athletes will swim 1.5km in the Seine river from a floating pontoon near the base of the bridge, then climb 32 steps to the transition zone on Pont Alexandre III, a first for the Olympics.
* Slovakian tennis player Andrej Martin has been suspended for 14 months for failing a doping test, the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) said on Thursday. The 33-year-old Martin, who reached a career-high ATP singles ranking of 93 in 2020, tested positive for an anabolic agent at the Bratislava Open in June.
