Declan Rice gamble pays off in stunning fashion as Arsenal rout Real Madrid in Champions League

LONDON – Arsenal’s Declan Rice pulled rank on his captain and the club’s set-piece coach and it proved an inspired decision, as he struck two sublime free kicks to help secure a 3-0 win over Real Madrid in the Champions League quarter-final first leg on April 8.

When Arsenal winger Bukayo Saka was fouled in a central position 30 metres from goal just before the hour mark at the Emirates with the score 0-0, Rice consulted with skipper Martin Odegaard, who told him to chip in a cross.

That was also the message coming from coach Nicolas Jover on the touchline and, considering Rice had never scored a direct free kick in well over 300 senior career games, it seemed like good advice in a game of such high stakes.

But the 26-year-old Rice had other ideas and dispatched a right-footed shot that curled around the wall and back inside the post to beat goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois – an effort that the watching Brazilian great Roberto Carlos would have been proud of.

Twelve minutes later, from a similar position, Rice was at it again, dipping another unstoppable effort into the top corner to become the first player to score two direct free kicks in the knockout rounds of the Champions League.

“I’m a bit speechless to be honest with you. I’m so happy that I’ve scored those two goals for the club and to beat Real Madrid, such a historic club in this competition, it’s such a big night for us,” Rice said in a pitch-side interview.

Asked what was being said in the huddle before his first goal, Rice said the original plan was to cross the ball into the danger area, as he is so adept at doing.

“We lined up with three at the back (post) for a reverse cross but Bukayo said if you feel it, and I thought ‘you know what I’m going to take this’, and when it went in it was the best feeling in the world.

“It didn’t make sense from that angle to cross the ball, it would have had to have been such a delicate pass, so I just thought go for it.

“(Jover’s) claiming it but he’s told me to cross it! You have to make the most of these moments in games. I’m happy I took it because it was a magic moment.

“Then after the first one I just had the confidence (for the second one) and had nothing to lose.”

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta also looked stunned when Rice’s first sizzler struck the net.

“That’s the beauty of whoever invented this sport. We hadn’t scored a (direct) free kick since September 2021. And tonight, against Real Madrid at home in the Champions League, we scored two in 13 minutes,” the Spaniard said.

“If there’s a player who can do it, how clean he strikes it, it’s Declan.”

The third goal by Mikel Merino means Arsenal have one foot in the semi-finals for the first time since 2009 but Rice says nothing is decided yet against the record 15-time winners.

“Even though we’re 3-0 up, the individual quality that they have and what they can produce is scary. And also it’s the Bernabeu and, in the Champions League, special things happen there for them. We’re ready to go there and give it everything.”

The result meant the English Premier League will be guaranteed at least five teams in the 2025-26 Champions League.

The English top flight needed just one win from its clubs in any of the three European competitions to secure one of two extra berths – on top of the four granted to the top four in the table – awarded to the highest-ranked countries in the Uefa coefficient ranking.

Meanwhile, Real coach Carlo Ancelotti admitted his side’s chances of reaching the semi-finals were low but warned that the defending champions could still produce some magic at home.

“Normally this team raise their game towards the end of games,” he said. “It was disappointing, it was poor. We have to be critical of ourselves here and do everything we can next week to recover...

“The possibilities (of qualifying) are quite low, but we have to try 100 per cent. We have to do all we can, it’s an opportunity to show a response to a poor game.” REUTERS