LONDON — Declan Rice said his free kick “magic” against Real Madrid left him speechless but insisted Arsenal are targeting Champions League glory after taking control of their quarterfinal tie with the holders.
Arsenal stunned Madrid with a 3-0 win in Tuesday’s first leg at Emirates Stadium as Rice scored the first direct free kicks of his 339-game club career to stun Carlo Ancelotti’s side.
After a goalless first half in which Kylian Mbappé wasted Madrid’s best chances, Rice curled home a 58th-minute free kick before producing an even better effort 12 minutes later, finally beating Real goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois, who had earlier made a string of fine saves.
Mikel Merino added a third five minutes later before Eduardo Camavinga was sent off in stoppage time after picking up a second yellow card for dissent.
“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,” Rice told Amazon Prime.
“To beat Real Madrid in this competition. It’s a big night for us. When you score a goal, it’s the best feeling in the world. It didn’t make sense from that angle to cross the ball. It would have to be a delicate pass. And when I saw the wall, it didn’t make sense to cross. You know what, I’m happy I took it because it was magic.
“I don’t think it’s going to hit me what I’ve done tonight. It’s a historical night, and to score two goals against Real Madrid. We want to win this competition. But we have to take it one game at a time.”
Arteta revealed his players and staff had discussed the last time they scored from a direct free kick — coming almost four years ago.
“[Rice] has been very determined [to take them] because we have talked in the last few months, we haven’t scored a direct free kick since September 2021, Burnley away, Martin Ødegaard,” Arteta said.
“So it’s been a long time, and to score two goals in 12 minutes of that magnitude of that quality from the same player, a player that has never scored a free kick before in his career, I mean, what are the odds?
“Tonight we have one step in the right direction for sure. And now we have to go to the Bernabéu. We’re going to have to elevate the level again to be the team that we want to be there and to prepare the game to win it.”
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