Max Rushden is joined by Barry Glendenning , Nicky Bandini , Will Unwin and Sid Lowe after two belting Champions League quarter-finals first legs

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On the podcast today; Real Madrid and Manchester City scored lots of very good goals in a game that finished 3-3, and the panel debate whether it’s notable that Erling Haaland didn’t get one of them.

• Midfielder makes claim after 3-3 thriller with Real Madrid
• ‘It’s something we are planning’ he says as schedule intensifies

Rodri has pleaded for a rest and admitted Manchester City are fatigued after drawing 3-3 with Real Madrid in Tuesday’s Champions League quarter-final first leg at Santiago Bernabéu, with the midfielder suggesting players may get a break in the coming weeks in order to combat the situation.

City are in the midst of an intense phase of the campaign as they remain on course to repeat last season’s treble. On Saturday they host Luton Town at the Etihad Stadium, with Pep Guardiola’s men third in the Premier League on 70 points, one behind Liverpool and Arsenal. They then host Real in next Wednesday’s quarter-final second leg before travelling to Wembley three days later to face Chelsea in the FA Cup semi-final.

• Spain to deploy 2,000 officers at Real Madrid v Manchester City
• French interior minister says IS ‘specifically targeted’ stadiums

Police in Madrid and Paris have stepped up security before this week’s Champions League quarter-finals following an apparent threat from Islamic State (IS).

Although Spain’s interior ministry stressed the country’s terror alert remained at level four of five, it said 2,000 officers from the National Police and Guardia Civil forces would be deployed to help municipal police patrol Real Madrid v Manchester City on Tuesday and Atlético Madrid v Borussia Dortmund on Wednesday, which will both be played in the capital.

• Club’s request granted after referee holds talks with Uefa
• Bernabéu roof was also closed for Champions League last-16 tie

Real Madrid have been granted their wish by Uefa to have the Santiago Bernabéu’s roof closed when playing Manchester City in the Champions League on Tuesday night to ensure as vocal an atmosphere as possible.

At a meeting in the Spanish capital on Tuesday of the Uefa match delegates and the referee, François Letexier, it was decided that Madrid would be allowed to have the stadium sealed. Four weeks ago, the governing body granted the same request for the club’s last-16 second leg against RB Leipzig, which ended 1-1 .

• Manager says teams similar level despite City’s 5-1 win last year
• Hosts ask permission to close stadium roof for vocal atmosphere

Pep Guardiola wants Manchester City to “hurt and punish” Real Madrid in Tuesday’s Champions League quarter-final first leg at the Santiago Bernabéu, with the hosts asking Uefa’s permission to close the stadium roof to ensure as vocal an atmosphere as possible.

City knocked Real out of last year’s semi-finals 5-1 on aggregate, which included a 4-0 hammering of Carlo Ancelotti’s team in the second leg at the Etihad Stadium. Guardiola believes that despite the result City and Real are at a similar level. On Tuesday night he wants the holders to take the initiative.

• Clubs clash in Champions League quarter-final at Bernabéu
• Fourth time in five seasons pair have met in competition

This is Carlo Ancelotti’s 200th Champions League game as a coach, his 1,331st over a wildly successful career stretching back 30 years at the most high-pressure clubs on earth, and still he is nervous. He has seen it all and won this competition four times, more than anyone else ever, including the manager he faces on Tuesday night, but he still can’t help it. Before games, he admits, there’s a moment when the heart rate increases and the sweats start; after them, the best he can hope for is relief.

“Defeat is suffering. Victory is … happiness?” Ancelotti said, as Real Madrid, who consider this trophy their own, prepared to meet Manchester City, who hold it. “No. Unfortunately, that’s not true. It’s a relief. There’s happiness if you win a title, but in individual games [only] relief: for a few days, you’re calmer. But then suffering is part of your work, it’s what keeps you alive: the pressure, the stress.”

Real Madrid loanee is playing his best football but spells in cold and snowy England provided tranquility needed for the top level

Real Madrid’s No 14 has a familiar face and a very familiar name. He does according to Jude Bellingham, anyway. Bellingham calls him Peter Crouch, in his passport he’s José Luis Mato Sanmartín, and his shirt reads Joselu. Yes, that Joselu. “That’s me,” he says smiling as he settles into a sofa at the Spanish national team training base: the former Stoke and Newcastle striker who has a better goals ratio than anyone in the selección and is banging them in for the biggest club on the planet.

Already the scorer of more in one season in Madrid than the three he had in the Premier League, Joselu has experienced a long journey and says he is better for it, though it might not always have felt that way. He is living moments now that are more special for those lived before, his success an example of perseverance, never losing hope. Besides, he insists, England was fun.

The same old teams in the same old patterns – which is why last eight must not be yet other procession for Europe’s elite

This time, nobody can blame the draw. The last 16 of this season’s Champions League was a drab, largely unimpressive thing, salvaged to an extent by its final week as Arsenal came through a fraught second leg against Porto and Atlético Madrid came from 2-0 down on aggregate to eliminate Internazionale on penalties. But for the most part it was a plod of the predictable and the uninspired.

To an extent that was simply a function of the ties, a mixture of mismatches and clashes between sides who for one reason or another have been out of sorts this season. Even the meeting of the Spanish and Italian champions felt weirdly insignificant given how disappointing Barcelona and Napoli have been.

Real Madrid star Vinícius Júnior’s tearful comments prompt questions over why racist fans can still act with impunity

Antiracism campaigners in Spain have called on the country’s institutions to do more to crack down on racism in football, after Real Madrid winger Vinícius Júnior laid bare the personal toll exacted by years of racist insults.

Breaking down in tears as he spoke of the systematic barrage of abuse he had faced at more than 10 Spanish grounds, the Brazilian player told reporters on Monday that the situation had “gotten worse” during his time on the pitch.