Courtesy: UEFA/X
On Tuesday, April 8, Declan Rice, the Arsenal midfielder, put on a show at the Emirates Stadium, scoring two breathtaking goals off free-kicks, to help Arsenal defeat Real Madrid 3-0 in the UEFA Champions League (UCL) 2024-25 quarter-finals first leg. After a one-sided win, the 26-year-old, who has proven to be one of the best acquisitions during the Mikel Arteta era at Arsenal, remarked that it is a historic night for the club.
Notably, Arsenal were in the ascendancy for the better part of an hour at home against Real Madrid, but they were unable to break the deadlock. But then, Declan Rice, who had never scored a free-kick in his 338 matches as a professional footballer, took just 12 minutes to score twice on either side of the hour mark in front of a despairing Thibaut Courtois in goal, to put Arsenal in a strong position in the UCL quarter-finals first leg.
Watch the video here:
I don't think it's going to hit me, what I've done tonight. It's a historic night: Declan Rice
Mikel Merino tripled the Arsenal lead in the 75th minute, and they kept the 3-0 scoreline till the end of the contest, which also had Eduardo Camavinga getting sent off in the second half injury time. The performance of Declan Rice on the night was special not only because he hadn’t scored on a free-kick prior to taking on Real Madrid, but also due to him taking just 12 free-kicks in his professional career to that point.
After the conclusion of the match, Arsenal midfielder Declan Rice spoke to Amazon Prime about his brace against Real Madrid, as quoted by BBC Sport, “I don't know whether it will ever sink in.. I've gone back to my phone then and it's gone crazy. To score my first free-kick in a game is a special one. And then when I got the second one... I just had the confidence. I'm speechless really.”
“I don't think it's going to hit me, what I've done tonight. It's a historic night,” added Declan Rice as he will be looking forward to putting together a similar performance in eight nights at the Santiago Bernabeu in the second leg of the UCL quarter-finals vs Real Madrid.
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