Soccer-Britos off for head-butt as Napoli's Champions League hopes fade

MILAN, May 23 (Reuters) - Defender Miguel Britos was sent off for head-butting an opponent as Napoli lost 3-1 at champions Juventus on Saturday, all but extinguishing their hopes of Champions League football next season. Napoli can now only qualify if Lazio lose to AS Roma in their derby on Monday and Napoli then beat Lazio in their final game. Their defeat also meant that second-placed Roma qualify at least for the Champions League preliminary rounds. With Napoli trailing 2-1 in stoppage time, Britos lost his temper and head-butted Juventus striker Alvaro Morata in an off-the-ball incident. The Uruguayan was shown a straight red card and also conceded a penalty, which was converted by substitute Simone Pepe. Champions League finalists Juventus rested several regular players, including topscorer Carlos Tevez, but still went ahead in the 13th minute when Kingsley Coman dinked the ball over the defence and Roberto Pereyra fired past Mariano Andujar. Frustrated Napoli coach Rafael Benitez took off misfiring forward Gonzalo Higuain at halftime and his side equalised five minutes after the re-start. Napoli were awarded a penalty for handball and, although Lorenzo Insigne saw his effort saved by Gianluigi Buffon, David Lopez followed to fire home the equaliser. Buffon then made two decisive saves as he tipped a long-range Lopez shot over the bar and blocked Marek Hamsik's header at the near post. Stefano Sturaro gave Juve the lead in the 77th minute, turning neatly past his marker and placing the ball beyond Andujar for his first goal for the club. Napoli were left with 63 points in fourth place while Roma, in second, have 67 and Lazio have 66. The team finishing second goes straight into the Champions League group stage and third place earns a place in the final qualifying round. (Writing by Brian Homewood in Berne, editing by Pritha Sarkar)