LONDON: Declan Rice admitted his brilliant free-kick double in Arsenal’s stunning 3-0 win over Champions League holders Real Madrid was years in the making.
Rice scored with two sublime free-kicks in the second half of the quarter-final first leg at the Emirates Stadium on Tuesday (April 8).
The England midfielder’s long-range rockets were followed by a Mikel Merino goal as Arsenal moved to the brink of reaching the Champions League semi-finals for the first time since 2009.
It was an incredible result, made all the more remarkable by the fact Rice had never scored a free-kick in his career until the first of his set-piece blasts flashed past Real keeper Thibaut Courtois.
“It’s been in the locker, but I’ve hit the wall too many times or it’s gone over the bar,“ Rice said.
“Originally we were going to cross it and then I’ve just seen the wall and the goalkeeper’s position. So I thought just go for it.
“The second one I had the confidence. I hit it. I’m excited, I’m happy, I’m over the moon. But in a few years time this will really hit me that what I’ve done tonight was really special.”
Throughout his career with West Ham and now Arsenal, Rice has been known more as a defensive midfielder than a creative force.
But he has been determined to add more goals to his game, with some prompting from team-mates and Gunners boss Mikel Arteta.
“Even at West Ham and ever since I’ve been here, everyone’s been telling me to shoot more,“ he said.
“It’s these little things and you’ve got to be in that mindset to score goals. I do have the ability to do it, but it’s a confidence thing.
“I’m always going to have critics, I’m always going to have doubters — that’s football. But as long as I can keep producing on the pitch and doing well, that’s the main thing.”
While Arsenal’s shock victory was just reward for a composed, mature display that took advantage of injury-hit Real, who were blown away by the Gunners’ intensity in the second half.
– ‘We want to win this competition’ –
But although Arsenal, who have never won the Champions League, are in pole position to make the last four, Rice has no intention of underestimating the 15-time European champions.
“As a group we were really convinced we needed to score in the second half,“ he said.
“It’s not going to hit me yet because there’s another leg to go. The Bernabeu, what it’s like to play there. We need to be ready.
“We want to win this competition. But we have to take it one game at a time.”
Real midfielder Jude Bellingham conceded the Spanish giants deserved nothing from their disjointed display.
“We were nowhere near it. That’s the fact and Arsenal were really good. I know two of their goals were free-kicks but they could have had way more,“ he said.
“They’re two great pieces of individual quality and if it wasn’t for them, they still have other chances. We got punished and that happens at top-level football.”
England star Bellingham is clinging to the hope that Real can call on their long history of Champions League success to produce a remarkable escape act in the second leg.
“There is a second leg and that’s what we’re holding on to. We’re still alive,“ he said.
“We need something really special, something crazy really, but one place where crazy things happen is our house. Ninety more minutes at home to pull something out of the bag.”
