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Black Day for Juventus with Points Penalty and Loss at Empoli 

Juventus' players, Adrien Rabiot, from left, Moise Kean, and Leandro Paredes, are disappointed after Empoli's goal of 4-1, during the Italian Serie A match between Empoli and Juventus, at the Carlo Castellani stadium in Empoli, Italy, Monday, May 22, 2023. (AP)
Juventus' players, Adrien Rabiot, from left, Moise Kean, and Leandro Paredes, are disappointed after Empoli's goal of 4-1, during the Italian Serie A match between Empoli and Juventus, at the Carlo Castellani stadium in Empoli, Italy, Monday, May 22, 2023. (AP)
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Black Day for Juventus with Points Penalty and Loss at Empoli 

Juventus' players, Adrien Rabiot, from left, Moise Kean, and Leandro Paredes, are disappointed after Empoli's goal of 4-1, during the Italian Serie A match between Empoli and Juventus, at the Carlo Castellani stadium in Empoli, Italy, Monday, May 22, 2023. (AP)
Juventus' players, Adrien Rabiot, from left, Moise Kean, and Leandro Paredes, are disappointed after Empoli's goal of 4-1, during the Italian Serie A match between Empoli and Juventus, at the Carlo Castellani stadium in Empoli, Italy, Monday, May 22, 2023. (AP)

A bad day for Juventus turned worse when a 4-1 loss at Empoli on Monday saw its hopes of qualifying for the Champions League implode.

Before kickoff, Juventus was hit by a 10-point penalty for false accounting. That dropped the club to seventh in Serie A, five points behind fourth-placed AC Milan. Juve hosts Milan next weekend in one of its final two matches.

“It was a mental collapse which is normal after a surreal season,” Juventus coach Massimiliano Allegri said. “At this point it’s enough, it’s one thing after the other. They (league organizers) need to decide once and for all where we are.

“The guys did their best. It’s not an excuse, but finding yourself with 10 points less, a quarter of an hour before the match is at least mitigating circumstances. It’s been a really tiring year, always going back and forth. And on the field, we’re second.”

Another route into the Champions League ended last week in a loss to Sevilla after extra time in their Europa League semifinal.

Despite the points penalty — which it could still appeal — Juventus knew a win at Empoli would still leave its chances of a Serie A top-four finish in its own hands.

Juventus thought it took an early lead when Arkadiusz Milik headed a corner off the crossbar and Federico Gatti bundled in the rebound but it was ruled out for a foul by Bremer on the goalkeeper.

Instead, Empoli went in front from a Francesco Caputo penalty in the 18th minute after Milik had fouled Nicolò Cambiaghi.

Sebastiano Luperto doubled Empoli’s lead three minutes later, tapping in the rebound after Juventus goalkeeper Wojciech Szczęsny brilliantly parried Jean-Daniel Akpa Akpro at close range.

After the break, Akpa Akpro stole the ball off Bianconeri defender Alex Sandro and bore down on goal before rolling across for Caputo to dink it over Szczęsny.

The only good news for Juventus came late when Federico Chiesa scored his first league goal in more than a year. Chiesa was out for 10 months last year with a knee injury.

There was still time for Roberto Piccoli to cap a brilliant night for Empoli.

Roma held

Roma was held at home by Salernitana to 2-2 but had its Champions League hopes boosted.

Salernitana twice took the lead through Antonio Candreva and Boulaye Dia but was twice pegged back by goals from Stephan El Shaarawy and Nemanja Matić.

Roma started the day seven points off then fourth-placed Inter Milan but, despite dropping points, moved to within four points of the top four following Juve’s punishment.

Roma can also qualify for the Champions League if it beats Sevilla in the Europa League final on May 31.

Roma was on a five-match winless run and got off to a miserable start at the Stadio Olimpico when Salernitana took the lead in impressive fashion in the 12th minute. Lassana Coulibaly floated a long ball over the top and Candreva sprung the offside trap, waited for it to dip, before sticking his leg out to volley it into the top right corner.

José Mourinho made a triple change at the break and had an immediate impact. Two minutes after the restart, one of those substitutes, Lorenzo Pellegrini, saw his free kick saved and El Shaarawy fire home the rebound.

Salernitana restored its advantage seven minutes later with another classy finish. Krzysztof Piątek’s shot came off Roma defender Chris Smalling and into the path of Dia, who flicked it in with the back of his heel.

Matić — another one of the halftime substitutes — rescued a point for Roma seven minutes from time.

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Flotilla on Seine, Rain and Celine Dion Mark Start of Paris Olympics

Members of delegations are seen during the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in Paris on July 26, 2024. (AFP)
Members of delegations are seen during the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in Paris on July 26, 2024. (AFP)
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Flotilla on Seine, Rain and Celine Dion Mark Start of Paris Olympics

Members of delegations are seen during the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in Paris on July 26, 2024. (AFP)
Members of delegations are seen during the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in Paris on July 26, 2024. (AFP)

French President Emmanuel Macron declared the Olympic Games open on Friday after a soaking wet ceremony in which athletes were cheered by the crowd along the Seine, dancers took to the roofs of Paris and Lady Gaga sang a French cabaret song.

France's three-time Olympic gold medalists Marie-Jose Perec and Teddy Riner then lit the Olympic cauldron, suspended on a hot-air balloon, before Canada's Celine Dion sang Edith Piaf's "Hymn to Love", in her first public performance in years, drawing huge cheers from the crowd.

The 30-meter (98 ft) high balloon carrying a 7-meter diameter ring of fire took to the air and was hovering dozens of meters above the ground.

It will be in the air from sunset until 2 am local time every day, organizers said.

"We are so proud of this show, I'm so proud that sport and culture were celebrated in such a fantastic manner tonight, it was a first and the result was fantastic despite the rain," Paris 2024 organizing president Tony Estanguet told reporters.

A fleet of barges took the competitors on a 6 km-stretch of the river alongside some of the French capital's most famous landmarks, as performers recreated some of the sports to be showcased in the Games on floating platforms.

It was the first time that an opening ceremony has taken place outside a stadium, adding to the headaches for a vast security operation, just hours after a sabotage attack on the high-speed TGV rail network caused travel chaos across France.

"I invite everybody: dream with us. Like the Olympic athletes, be inspired with the joy that only sport can give us. Let us celebrate this Olympic spirit of living in peace," International Olympics Committee President Thomas Bach said as the ceremony came to an end at the foot of the Eiffel Tower.

More than 10,500 athletes will compete at the Olympics, 100 years since Paris last staged the Games. Competition started on Wednesday and the first of the 329 gold medals will be awarded on Saturday.

As the show started four hours earlier, a giant plume of blue, white and red smoke, resembling the French flag, was sent high above a bridge over the Seine as part of a show that included many postcard-like depictions of France, including a huge cancan line performed by Moulin Rouge dancers on the banks.

A more modern image of the country was on display when French-Malian pop star Aya Nakamura, the most-listened to French female singer in the world, sang some of her biggest hits, accompanied by the French Republican Guard's army choir.

Nakamura's performance drew some of the ceremony's biggest cheers. Rumors of her inclusion had sparked a row over French identity, with supporters saying she represented the vibrancy of modern-day France while her detractors said her music owes more to foreign influences than French.

POURING RAIN

While the celebration of French culture, fashion and history was warmly cheered by many of the 300,000 spectators lining the river, hundreds were seen leaving early as the rain fell.

"It was good other than the rain, it was nice, it was different, instead of being in a stadium being on the river, so that's always a good thing - interesting, unique," said Avid Pureval, 34, who came to the Games from Ohio.

"Once you're wet, it's fine," he said. Still, he was heading back to his hotel after the French boat passed, long before the ceremony ended.

"It would have been better with sun," said Josephine, from Paris, sitting beside her 9-year-old daughter and who paid 1,600 euros ($1,736) for her seat.

With many world leaders and VIPs present, the ceremony was protected by snipers on rooftops. The Seine's riverbed was swept for bombs, and Paris' airspace was closed.

Some 45,000 police and thousands of soldiers were deployed in a huge security operation in Paris for the ceremony. Armed police patrolled along the river in inflatable boats as the armada made its passage along the Seine.

WELCOMED IN TAHITI

A mix of French and international stars, including soccer great Zinedine Zidane, 14-times French Open champion Rafa Nadal, 23-times Grand Slam champion Serena Williams and three paralympic athletes were among the last torchbearers before the cauldron was lit.

It will blaze until the closing ceremony on Aug. 11.

At the start of the parade, applause erupted for the Greek boat - the first delegation, by tradition - and there were even bigger cheers for the boat that followed, carrying the refugees' team. The French, US and Ukrainian delegations also got loud cheers.

The two most decorated athletes in the Games' history, Michael Phelps and Martin Fourcade, unveiled the gold, silver and bronze medals.

At one point, there was a live crossover to the early morning welcome ceremony at the surfing venue, 16,000 km away in the Pacific island of Tahiti.

ISRAEL DELEGATION

France is at its highest level of security, though officials have repeatedly said there was no specific threat to the opening ceremony or the Games.

But since the last Games - the Winter Olympics held in Beijing in 2022 - wars have erupted in Ukraine and Gaza, providing a tense international backdrop.

Israeli competitors are being escorted by elite tactical units to and from events and are given 24-hour protection throughout the Olympics due to the war in Gaza, officials say.

The Israel delegation got some boos, but also a lot of cheers, as it sailed by spectators, Reuters reporters saw. Chants of "Palestine! Palestine! Palestine!" rose from the crowd as the boat passed.

Macron, who won a second mandate two years ago, had hoped the Olympics would cement his legacy. But his failed bet on a snap legislative election has weakened him and cast a shadow over his moment on the international stage.