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• Premier League clubs agree in principle to new spending cap

  Premier League clubs have voted in favour of the competition potentially creating a spending cap, according to widespread reports.

  The Premier League will now work on the studies and legal analysis required to possibly introduce a cap model from the start of the 2025-26 season onwards.

  This would replace the current Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR), under which Everton and Nottingham Forest have both been deducted points this season, while Leicester City have been charged with a breach.

  At a meeting on Monday, 16 clubs voted in favour of the Premier League performing the required analysis. The model will then be presented to club's at the annual general meeting in June, for another vote.

  According to reports, Manchester United, Manchester City and Aston Villa voted against the introduction of a spending cap, which would be tied to a multiple of whatever the lowest-earning side receives via the league's centralised broadcast and commercial deals. Chelsea were said to have abstained.

  The cap would form part of the Premier League's "squad cost" rules, which will eventually replace the PSR.

  While Everton have secured their safety despite suffering two points deductions worth eight points, Nottingham Forest remain in a relegation battle having been docked four points.

  Forest will soon find out the result of their appeal, while Everton were set to have their appeal against the second of their deductions heard in the coming weeks.

  Leicester, who have been promoted from the Championship, could face a points deduction next season, having been charged with a breach of the Premier League's regulations during the 2022-23 campaign.

  Chelsea, meanwhile, seemingly got around the rules due to their ownership selling two Stamford Bridge hotels to another company within their group.

• 'We need tactics, but also luck' – Tuchel says Bayern up against Madrid 'aura'

  Thomas Tuchel has warned his Bayern Munich team they will not only be facing Real Madrid in the Champions League semi-finals, but also going up against Los Blancos' European "aura".

  While Tuchel will leave the Allianz Arena having suffered the ignominy of overseeing Bayern's first failure to win the Bundesliga title since 2012, he could yet bring Europe's top prize to Bavaria.

  Bayern reached the last four with a 3-2 aggregate triumph over Arsenal, but they face a daunting task against the team that eliminated holders Manchester City in the last round.

  Bayern are winless in their last seven games against Madrid, losing six and drawing one, and Los Blancos have won on their last three trips to the Allianz Arena – the longest winning streak ever recorded by a visiting team at Bayern in European Cup/Champions League history.

  Coming up against Madrid in a competition they regard as their own, Tuchel believes, presents an additional challenge. 

  "When you're playing against Real Madrid, you're also up against the aura and the legend that surrounds them," Tuchel said at Monday's pre-match press conference.  

  "Obviously we need tactics, but also some luck. You can achieve a lot with tactics. The approach is the car, and the players drive it.

  "We need to find a good balance and moments where we have solutions. The players also need freedom to bring it to life. 

  "But obviously we also need some luck in the game. We need to coax out that luck a bit as well."

  Bayern versus Madrid is already the most played fixture in European Cup/Champions League history, taking place 26 times with 24 of those coming in the knockout stages.

  Tuchel believes the tie would have been a fitting final, adding: "The semi-final already feels a bit like the final. My approach is to line up like a final. 

  "We won't approach it with the background that there's still a game to play. We want to play the game in isolation. We have the freedom, we'll put everything in tomorrow and then we'll see."

• Al-Khaleej 0-1 Al-Nassr: Ronaldo misfires on return as Laporte nets winner

  Cristiano Ronaldo returned from suspension but failed to find the net as Al-Nassr secured a 1-0 win over Al-Khaleej on Saturday, with Aymeric Laporte coming up with the decisive goal. 

  Ronaldo was in action for the first time since being sent off for an elbow in a 2-1 Saudi Super Cup loss to Al-Hilal earlier this month, with his initial two-match ban being reduced to one on appeal.

  He missed three good chances as Al-Nassr threatened to fall further behind runaway Saudi Pro League leaders Al-Hilal, but former Manchester City defender Laporte spared his blushes by nodding Marcelo Brozovic's deep free-kick into the bottom-left corner with 68 minutes gone.

  Al-Nassr remain nine points adrift of Al-Hilal at the summit in spite of their win, with Jorge Jesus' team unbeaten through 28 games this season as they close in on a record-extending 18th title.

  Data Debrief: Ronaldo misfires on return

  Ronaldo was presented with the Saudi Pro League's Player of the Month award for March ahead of kick-off, having scored four goals in three league appearances last month.

  However, his sights were off on Saturday as he failed to net despite three of the visitors' four big chances, as defined by Opta, falling his way. He led all players on the pitch for expected goals (1.27 xG), shots (five), shots on target (three) and touches in the area (nine) without reward.