Coronavirus leaves Serie A's big two facing off in empty stadium

A ghostly atmosphere awaits the biggest game of the Serie A season on Sunday as Juventus and Inter Milan prepare for a title tussle behind closed doors while Italy grapples with the deadly coronavirus outbreak.

Just 500 people will witness Antonio Conte return to Juve, where he won three Serie A titles as a coach and the Champions League as a player.

The loudest noise at a game that would have attracted a raucous sell-out 40,000 crowd at the Allianz Stadium in Turin will be the voices of screaming players as the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo and Romelu Lukaku battle it out for Italy's two best-supported clubs.

The coronavirus has now killed 148 people in Italy, the highest number of deaths in any European country.

Serie A on Friday listed a host of new rules that clubs must abide by, including the installation of scanners to check the temperature of the restricted number of authorised people entering the stadium.

Journalists at games will have to keep at least two metres apart, while on Sunday there will be no mixed zone or press conferences before or after the match.

- Inter anger -
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"What we all want is to protect people's health but also ensure the season progresses."
- Eerie atmosphere -
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