World Sports News in Brief

Napoli beat Juventus on penalties to win Coppa Italia

Napoli stunned Juventus 4-2 on penalties after a 0-0 draw to claim the Coppa Italia on Wednesday and bring their fiery coach Gennaro Gattuso the first major trophy of his managerial career.

Napoli celebrate after defeating Juventus on penalties to lift the Coppa Italia. (Photo: Reuters)
Napoli celebrate after defeating Juventus on penalties to lift the Coppa Italia. (Photo: Reuters)

* Aston Villa and Sheffield United drew 0-0 on Wednesday as the Premier League returned to action after a 100-day hiatus due to COVID-19 with strong anti-racism statements and immediate controversy.

* Raheem Sterling scored the first goal of the Premier League's return to action after the coronavirus lockdown as Manchester City defeated Arsenal 3-0 behind closed doors at the Etihad stadium on Wednesday.

* David Wagner's Schalke continued their record-breaking run of bad form on Wednesday (Jun 17), notching up a 14th successive game without a win in a 2-1 away defeat to fellow European hopefuls Eintracht Frankfurt.

* Mainz 05 scored either side of the break through Jonathan Burkhardt and Jean-Philippe Mateta to stun hosts Borussia Dortmund 2-0 on Wednesday and take a big step towards remaining in the Bundesliga for another season.

* Atletico Madrid hammered Osasuna 5-0 away from home in La Liga on Wednesday (Jun 17) to secure their biggest win of the season and give a huge boost to their chances of qualifying for the Champions League.

* Benfica joined Porto at top of the Primeira Liga standings when goals by Haris Seferovic and Julian Weigl secured a 2-1 win at nine-man Rio Ave on Wednesday.

* Video technology played a key role as Eibar drew 2-2 at home with Athletic Bilbao in a La Liga Basque derby played behind closed doors on Wednesday.

* The head of the German football association (DFB) hopes a crowd of up to 1,000 fans could be allowed to watch the national cup final live in July, which would make it the first match in Germany to welcome back spectators.

* FC Rostov, a Russian Premier League club, said on Wednesday that the whole team would self-isolate for two weeks after six of their players were diagnosed with COVID-19.

* The re-scheduled French Open will begin a week later on Sept. 27 following a qualifying draw, organisers confirmed on Wednesday after the ATP and WTA Tours announced their revised calendars.

* Racing Point became the first Formula One team to get their 2020 car on track after the COVID-19 shutdown when Lance Stroll took part in a limited-mileage private test at Silverstone on Wednesday.

* Manchester United striker Marcus Rashford has emerged as the bookmakers' joint-favourite to win Britain's sports personality of the year award after his successful campaign for school food vouchers to be provided over the summer holidays.

* VfL Wolfsburg's Joelle Wedemayer opened the scoring and Pernille Harder also netted as they beat SC Freiburg 2-0 to win their fourth straight Frauen-Bundesliga title on Wednesday.

* UEFA announced on Wednesday (Jun 17) that it was planning to keep the same pan-continental format for the postponed Euro 2020 after president Aleksander Ceferin recently hinted that the number of host cities could be reduced.

Reuters