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Spurs dealt Doherty blow

Tottenham full-back Matt Doherty will not feature again this season after suffering a medial collateral ligament injury.

The Irishman, 30, will be sidelined for around 12 weeks after limping off during the first half of Spurs’ 4-0 win at Aston Villa on Saturday.

It comes as a bitter blow to ex-Wolves man Doherty, who has enjoyed an impressive run of form since the arrival of Antonio Conte in North London last November.

The 52-year-old had initially been hopeful of a quick recovery for the defender, saying in his post-match comments: "Matt tried to continue to stay on the pitch. This showed his resilience, his desire to continue to play. 

"I hope it’s nothing serious, because we need him. Now, we have to wait one day, two days, and the doctors have to check him."

Conte will now turn to alternatives for Spurs’ final seven fixtures, with Sergio Reguilon likely to step in at wing-back in Doherty’s absence.

Atletico hit with UEFA punishment

UEFA have ordered Atletico Madrid to partially close their stadium for Wednesday’s Champions League quarter-final second-leg tie with Manchester City.

The ruling comes as a result of discriminatory behaviour from a small section of the club’s supporters in the reverse fixture at the Etihad last week, which City won 1-0.

At least 5,000 seats are to be closed off to home fans in the Wanda Metropolitano, while Atleti have also been told to display a #NoToRacism banner prior to kick off.

It is not the first incident to involve supporters of the reigning LaLiga champions on English soil this term, with two arrests also made during their clash with Manchester United last month.

Mahrez feels the love

Pep Guardiola still has plenty of love for Riyad Mahrez despite the Algerian’s last-minute miss in the Citizens' thrilling 2-2 draw with Liverpool.

The Premier League’s top two could not be split at the Etihad, leaving the title race wide open with seven games to play — though things could have been very different.

Mahrez, 31, spurned a glorious chance to put City four points clear at the summit, lofting his effort tamely over the crossbar when trying to lob Alisson.

But Guardiola only had positive things to say about his winger, who initially was forced to settle for a spot on the bench.

He said: "I'm in love with Riyad [Mahrez]. He is an incredible player and person. Today, we thought we needed a different quality up front. We will need him until the end of the season."

Kevin De Bruyne, who opened the scoring for City early in the first half, also had sympathy for his team-mate.

The Belgian said: "He chose to chip the keeper. If it goes in, it’s a wondergoal, but it didn’t go in and that can happen."

Defeat a wake-up call for Eagles

Crystal Palace’s 2-1 loss to Leicester on Sunday has given the Londoners a much needed wake-up call according to Jordan Ayew.

Patrick Vieira’s Eagles face Chelsea in a tasty FA Cup semi-final on Sunday afternoon but were not at the races at the King Power Stadium yesterday when comfortably beaten by Brendan Rodgers’ hosts.

And experienced forward Ayew, 30, believes the poor performance will prompt a reaction out of Palace at Wembley.

Ayew told Palace’s website: "It’s a wake-up call for us. To know the importance to have a really good start of the game and to build on that.

"The most important thing is it happened now and not against Chelsea. Now we have one week to prepare for Chelsea and we’ll do the best we can.

"That’s the message from the manager and it was quite simple and short: it’s a good wake-up call and we prepare ourselves for the next game the best we can."

Already underdogs for the clash, Palace have been dealt a further blow by Chelsea’s refusal to let loan star Conor Gallagher line-up against his parent club — a decision Vieira has lambasted.

Blues must dare to dream

Thomas Tuchel wants his Chelsea players to dream of staging a memorable Champions League comeback against Real Madrid on Tuesday night.

The Blues head to the Bernabeu with a mammoth task on their hands having fallen to a 3-1 defeat at Stamford Bridge last week in their quarter-final first leg.

But the German coach, 48, wants his players to head to the Spanish capital in a positive frame of mind.

Speaking at his pre-match press conference, Tuchel said: "It is sometimes important to imagine things and to dream about it. But it will not shift the focus from the fact that we need to deliver and we need to be ready.

"We will arrive and try everything because it's worth trying. From there we see and, hopefully, we have a match where belief grows within the match by our actions and, hopefully, we can fulfil our dream, live up to our dream.

"But realistically, we have to invest a lot and be at our very top level."

Chelsea must become the first English team in history to win in the Bernabeu by more than a solitary goal if they are to progress.