Take Two! Naples Gears up Again for Huge Title Party

Football - Serie A - Napoli v Salernitana - Naples, Italy - April 30, 2023 General view of a Napoli banner hung from an apartment building before the match. (Reuters)
Football - Serie A - Napoli v Salernitana - Naples, Italy - April 30, 2023 General view of a Napoli banner hung from an apartment building before the match. (Reuters)
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Take Two! Naples Gears up Again for Huge Title Party

Football - Serie A - Napoli v Salernitana - Naples, Italy - April 30, 2023 General view of a Napoli banner hung from an apartment building before the match. (Reuters)
Football - Serie A - Napoli v Salernitana - Naples, Italy - April 30, 2023 General view of a Napoli banner hung from an apartment building before the match. (Reuters)

Napoli will open up the Diego Armando Maradona stadium on Thursday night for a live screening of their away game with Udinese when they hope to clinch the league title, local authorities said on Tuesday.

Napoli also expect as many as 10,000 fans to make the long trek to northeast Italy for a match when a point will be enough to claim their first league title since Maradona was in his pomp in 1990.

Extra police will be on duty in Udine for the game, with Napoli supporters taking up around half of the capacity of the Stadio Friuli.

The result may even be academic: Napoli could be crowned champions the previous night if Lazio fail to win their Wednesday home match with Sassuolo. Lazio, who are in second spot, trail Napoli by 18 points with six games to play.

Hundreds of thousands of Napoli fans had flooded into the center of the southern Italian port city on Sunday expecting their team to beat local rivals Salernitana and secure the Serie A championship for only the third time in their history.

But a late equalizer by the visitors put one of the largest street parties Italy has seen in years on hold for a few days.



Bayern's Neuer Sidelined After Costly Celebration

Munich's goalkeeper Manuel Neuer, center, receives treatment during the Champions League round of 16 first leg soccer match between FC Bayern Munich and Bayer 04 Leverkusen in Munich, Germany, Wednesday, March 5, 2025. (Sven Hoppe/dpa via AP)
Munich's goalkeeper Manuel Neuer, center, receives treatment during the Champions League round of 16 first leg soccer match between FC Bayern Munich and Bayer 04 Leverkusen in Munich, Germany, Wednesday, March 5, 2025. (Sven Hoppe/dpa via AP)
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Bayern's Neuer Sidelined After Costly Celebration

Munich's goalkeeper Manuel Neuer, center, receives treatment during the Champions League round of 16 first leg soccer match between FC Bayern Munich and Bayer 04 Leverkusen in Munich, Germany, Wednesday, March 5, 2025. (Sven Hoppe/dpa via AP)
Munich's goalkeeper Manuel Neuer, center, receives treatment during the Champions League round of 16 first leg soccer match between FC Bayern Munich and Bayer 04 Leverkusen in Munich, Germany, Wednesday, March 5, 2025. (Sven Hoppe/dpa via AP)

Bayern Munich captain Manuel Neuer is set for a stint on the sidelines after tearing his calf muscle during a celebration in Wednesday's 3-0 Champions League win over Bayer Leverkusen.

Neuer was seen limping and was subbed out in the second half of the last 16 first leg tie just after Jamal Musiala put Bayern 2-0 up.

Neuer's substitution brought debutant Jonas Urbig from the bench.

According to AFP, Bayern issued a statement on Thursday confirming the 38-year-old's injury, saying Neuer "would be out for the time being".

"It happened while celebrating," Bayern coach Vincent Kompany said after the match, adding "that's a shame for us".

The veteran goalkeeper, who recently extended his deal at Bayern until 2025, missed almost a full year with a broken leg from a skiing accident from December 2022 until October 2023.

Urbig, 21, arrived from Cologne in the winter. Despite making his debut on the big stage on Wednesday, Urbig was largely untested as Bayern dominated the first leg against the defending German champions.

Bayern, who sit eight points clear in the league with 10 games remaining, travel to Leverkusen for the return Champions League leg next week in a dominant position.