Declan Rice left Arsenal fans lost for words with his amazing performance against Real Madrid, but even the man himself revealed that he could not really believe what he had done after the match.
Rice scored two sensational free kicks against Real Madrid, before Mikel Merino’s cherry on top stated a 3-0 victory against the holders of the Champions League in a breathtaking evening for Arsenal.
Few would have predicted the result, and despite certain credit times sometimes, the Gunners spent the first step with a significant margin to defend during the second meeting in Madrid next week.
Rice, however, was the star of a show featuring an embarrassment of household names, controlling the game for Arsenal and leading the midfielder against his teammate in England Jude Bellingham.
Naturally, he was still in shock, unable to fully treat what he had done after the match, and in a perceptive interview with the legend of the Thierry Henry club, revealed that it was the best moment of his career so far.
“I can’t describe it, I don’t think it’s going to hit me what I did tonight,” he told CBS Sports Golazo. “Two free kicks in the quarter -final against Real Madrid at home, it’s so special. I’m so happy, probably the best time in my career for sure.
Declan Rice presented an amazing display while Arsenal beat Real Madrid 3-0 in the Champions League
The midfielder marked two sensational free kicks to break through in the first step
Rice then told Thierry Henry that he still couldn’t believe what he had done at night
“In these big games, I always try to intensify, and I thought:” Go there and don’t be afraid-what should you lose? It’s a football game against Real Madrid, if you are afraid that good things will not happen! “”
“We really believed as a team that we could win tonight. Whenever we had the ball that we were trying to be a threat, I tried to run with as much as possible, constantly trying to be a threat, should probably have two.
“I went there and I was intrepid and I was ready as you said, to prove a point, and we did it.
Arsenal challenged the chances of exploding Real Madrid outside the field in the Emirates, recording 11 shots on the target in the match, the highest level of any team has ever succeeded against Los Blancos in the Ko.
And as you can imagine, social media was flooded with praise and tribute to the maestro of the Arsenal midfielder after his magnificent display.
“One of the best things about Declan Rice is that he is so earth-to-terre and relatable,” wrote an X user. “Has marked two Worldies against Real Madrid and he always appears so humble in the interviews. The kind of player and leader that anyone would like in his team.
Another added: “Declan was simply in the area tonight … He couldn’t hurt.”
A fan nicknamed Rice “ Special ”, while another praised his interview with CBS as “Brilliant”, before a simple message but touching Rice of a fifth fan.
Rice and her longtime girlfriend, Lauren Fryer, have a young child together after meeting when the Arsenal star was only 17 years old
Fans were quick to go to social networks to praise Rice’s heroism on the Emirates field
“Lots of love Rice you have made proud,” they wrote.
The match of the match Rice has now written his name on the history books, becoming the first player to mark two direct free kicks in a direct elimination match of the Champions League.
In fact, he is only the fifth player to do so in any match of the Champions League, joining Rivaldo, Cristiano Ronaldo and Neymar in a really exclusive club. Curiously, however, this hardly happened.
“Before that occurred our coach of the play (Nicolas Jover), we had planned to cross it, he wanted us to cross him,” then admitted Henry.
“I was held with Bukayo (Saka) and I said that he did not feel good to cross it here, and I looked at the wall then courteous and I saw the space outside the wall. Bukayo said, “If you feel it, take it” and I said, “You know what, I go for that” and if you do not take the risk, you do not mark. As soon as he left my foot, I knew he had a chance, and it is one of the historical moments.
“This part of my game is questioned, my abilities with goals that shake balls and notation. I know that I can produce these moments, it is simply a question of doing it more and more. As soon as it left my foot, I just knew and I had the confidence of the first.
“ When I practice free kicks, when I establish the contact and look (to see where the ball is gone) quickly, it is not the shot that I want, but when I look at the ball, focus on the ball and know the place I want to put it, I tend to have more consistency with.
“Obviously, that’s one in I don’t know the moment I just did, I practiced it and it turned out. To mark two, to be honest with you, that will not hit me what I did today.
Rice revealed a conversation with Bukayo Saka saw him go against the wish of the coach of the play
The Gunners now have a foot in the semi-finals but will have to remain suspicious in the second stage
Jamie Carragher raised the subject of the objectives, and how, as a player who cost Arsenal north of 100 million pounds sterling, there is a certain expectation which may not have been leveled to the great field circles of yesteryear.
Rice had never scored a free kick before, and to date have scored 14 goals and 18 assists for the club in 94 appearances.
“As I get older, when I was younger, it played a little in my mind, but as I am older, I realized that none of this is important. It’s about me, go there and always play well and I just tried to do it again and again.
“I’m always going to have my criticism and my skeptics, it’s football. But as long as I produce on the field, playing well and well for this club, that’s the essential.
Rice is a very popular figure in the arsenal and England camps, and was loved fans after he and his childhood darling endured a lagging fishing test targeting his partner Lauren Fryer, whom he met at the age of 17. The couple have a young child, Jude.
