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The Six Nations has confirmed the dates for the outstanding fixtures from the 2020 men’s and women’s championships.

Both competitions were suspended in March amid the coronavirus pandemic with four matches in the men’s event to be completed and six in the women’s.

Ireland will face Italy at the Aviva Stadium on 24 October to resume the men’s tournament.

The last round of the competition, involving all six teams, will take place on 31 October.

Wales will face Scotland at a venue yet to be confirmed, Italy will host England at the Stadio Olimpico and France will play Ireland at the Stade de France.

England are top of the standings in the men’s competition with 13 points, ahead of France on points difference. The women’s competition will resume with Scotland facing France and Ireland taking on Italy on 24 October.

On 31 October, Wales play Scotland, Italy host England and France face Ireland.

The remaining fixture between Italy and Scotland will be played on 5 December.

England also lead the women’s competition, eight points ahead of France, who have a game in hand.

Six Nations said it had prioritised “the health and safety of players, associated staff and supporters” in rescheduling the matches.

“We remain in close contact with all relevant authorities across the respective jurisdictions to ensure these matches take place in a safe environment and we will announce further details of health and safety protocols and guidance on spectator attendance in due course,” it added.

Wales will have to host their home fixtures away from the Principality Stadium after chief executive Martyn Phillips confirmed there will be no more international matches at the ground this year because it is being used as a temporary hospital during the coronavirus pandemic.

World Rugby approved a new temporary international window to allow the Six Nations to be completed.

The 2020 men’s Autumn Tests are set to be replaced by an eight-team tournament in which the Six Nations sides will be joined by Japan and Fiji, which will begin on 14 November.

Inter Milan have completed the permanent signing of Manchester United forward Alexis Sanchez on a three-year deal.

The Chile international, 31, joined the Serie A side on a season-long loan in August 2019.

He scored four goals in 29 appearances in all competitions.

Inter expect to have him available for the Europa League ‘final eight’ in Germany after beating Getafe on Wednesday.

“We have agreed [the deal],” United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer told BT Sport on Wednesday after his side also reached the quarter-finals with a win over LASK.

“He has enjoyed his time there. He is a top player but for whatever reason we didn’t see the best of him. He is a top professional and we wish him all the best.”

The precise terms of the deal are unknown but is almost certain to have involved United taking a significant financial hit.

Sanchez played 45 games for United after joining from Arsenal in 2018, scoring just five goals.

He becomes the third player to join Inter from United in the past 12 months, with striker Romelu Lukaku and midfielder Ashley Young having made similar switches.

Arsenal plan to make 55 staff redundant because of the financial impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

The Gunners’ first-team players and head coach Mikel Arteta agreed a 12.5% pay cut in April.

Arsenal’s executive team also agreed to waive more than a third of their salaries over the next 12 months.

However, the club say they now face “more significant and longer-lasting reductions in our revenue than we all hoped”.

Arsenal added they did not take the decision to propose redundancies “lightly” and had looked at “every aspect of the club and our expenditure before reaching this point”.

“We know this is upsetting and difficult for our dedicated staff and our focus is on managing this as sensitively as possible,” the club concluded in a statement.

The redundancies are in the football, commercial and administration departments, with the majority coming in the latter two.

There will also be cuts to staff benefits, capital projects and discretionary projects, but investments will continue to be made in the playing staff and Arsenal’s transfer plans are unaffected.

The Arsenal Supporters’ Trust (AST) told BBC Sport it is looking for more information from the club to explain the plans.

In a statement, AST said it had hoped the players’ wages cuts “would be used to ensure all Arsenal staff are looked after in these difficult times”.

It added that it would be contacting the club to make sure that the staff let go “are given as much support as possible”.

Arsenal, who won a record 14th FA Cup against Chelsea on Saturday, cited the loss of revenue from fans likely not being able to return to Emirates Stadium for the start of the 2020-21 season and only in limited numbers after that.

They said revenue from broadcasters, matchday and commercial activities had all been “hit severely” and that the club are facing one of the “most challenging periods” in their history.

The statement said agreed wage cuts and investment from owner Stan Kroenke had helped “reduce the impact of the pandemic on the club” and “maintain investment in the team”.

However, they added: “It is now clear that we must reduce our costs further to ensure we are operating in a sustainable and responsible way, and to enable us to continue to invest in the team.”

The proposals will now enter a 30-day consultation period.

Juventus have to overturn a 1-0 deficit as they host Lyon in the UEFA Champions League round of 16 second leg on Friday.

Juventus won their ninth straight Serie A title despite a very inconsistent end to the season. The Old Lady won two of their final eight matches, losing three of their last four. Maurizio Sarri’s side beat Lazio 2-1 before a 2-1 defeat at Udinese.

They responded with a 2-0 win against Sampdoria before losing 2-0 at Cagliari and 3-1 against Roma at home. Gonzalo Higuain opened the scoring in the 5th minute but it was a deserved defeat.

Argentine attacker Paulo Dybala is doubtful but could recover in time to feature which will be a big boost for the Italian champions. Maurizio Sarri is likely to bring centre-back Matthijs de Ligt, left-back Alex Sandro, midfielders Miralem Pjanic and Rodrigo Bentancur, winger Juan Cuadrado and Ronaldo back into the starting side here. 

Olympique Lyon on the other hand finished 4th and were knocked out of the Coupe de France semi-finals after a 5-1 defeat against PSG before returning to league action with a 1-0 defeat at Lille. 

Lyon played four friendlies after the break. They beat Nice 1-0, lost 2-0 against Rangers, beat Celtic 2-1 and defeated Gent 3-2. Lyon battled hard against PSG in the French League Cup final on Friday. The match went to a penalty shootout after a 0-0 draw following extra time, Bertrand Traoré’s effort saved and PSG scoring all six spot kicks.

Lyon left-back Youssouf Kone is injured with right-back Kenny Tete and centre-back Marcelo doubtful. Midfielder Lucas Tousart scored in the first leg but has been sold to Hertha Berlin. Rudi Garcia has been playing with three at the back which could continue here.

Juventus ran out of steam in Serie A but won another title.. The Old Lady have had six days to rest for this match which should see the side refreshed and ready to fight for the Champions League. Lyon had a solid workout against PSG which should provide confidence for the trip to Italy. They have to find a balance with the 1-0 advantage surely on their minds.

Premier League clubs involved in the latter stages of European cup competitions will be given a delayed start to the 2020-21 season.

Precise details around the calendar for next season will not be decided until later this month.

But it has already been decided in principle that all clubs should be given a minimum amount of time off.

Manchester City and Chelsea are in the Champions League with Manchester United and Wolves in the Europa League.

A 30-day period has generally been accepted, which would mean any club involved in the ‘Final Eight’ stages of the Champions League or Europa League will not start their campaigns on 12 September when the new Premier League will begin.

Manchester City take a 2-1 lead over Real Madrid into their Champions League last-16 second leg tie at Etihad Stadium on Friday. Should they reach the final in Lisbon on 23 August, they will miss the first two weekends of the new campaign.

The same is also true for either Manchester United or Wolves, if either were to reach the Europa League final in Cologne on 21 August.

United and Wolves play their last-16 Europa League second-leg ties on Wednesday and Thursday this week. United lead Austrian side LASK 5-0 while Wolves drew 1-1 with Olympiakos in March.

A decision still needs to be made about a delayed start for the teams who get knocked out in last-16 ties this week. This could include Chelsea, who are 3-0 down after the home leg of their tie against Bayern Munich.

While those clubs would have 30 days between their final game and the opening weekend of the season, given the restart comes immediately after an international break, it would severely limit the number of friendlies those clubs could arrange before their first competitive match.

Speaking on Tuesday United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer said “Hopefully we will get some help if we go through to the end.

“I’ll look after the players, we’ll give the players time off to recharge, maybe a couple of weeks.”