Rice 'knew' Arsenal would dethrone Real Madrid
Rice played a pivotal role in both legs, with his two stunning free-kicks in the first leg setting the stage for Arsenal's triumph over the defending European champions.
Declan Rice believes Arsenal are on the verge of achieving something "special" after helping his side secure a 2-1 victory over Real Madrid in the second leg at the Santiago Bernabéu, advancing to the Champions League semi-finals with a 5-1 aggregate win.
Rice played a pivotal role in both legs, with his two stunning free-kicks in the first leg setting the stage for Arsenal's triumph over the defending European champions. The England international was named man of the match in the second leg, as goals from Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli sealed a famous win in Spain.
"This is a special night for the club, a historic night for the club," Rice told TNT Sports after the match. "We have an objective in this competition, we want to play against the best teams, and we want to win it."
Keep updated, follow The Business Standard's Google news channel
"We knew they could come back, they've done it so many times before. But from the first leg, we had so much belief and confidence that we could come here and win the game. We knew we would suffer at times, but we knew we would win."
Arsenal will face Paris Saint-Germain in their first Champions League semi-final since 2009. The London club has never won European football's top prize, and their last Premier League title came in the unbeaten 2003/04 season. But Rice, who joined from West Ham for a club-record £105 million in 2023, believes that major trophies are just around the corner for Mikel Arteta's side.
"It's massive," said Rice. "I sensed before I signed that the club was on an upwards trajectory. This club is going to do special things in the coming years. We all believe in it and we have full trust in the manager – he's unbelievable!"
Despite dominating for much of the tie, Arsenal did face a scare in the first half when Rice was initially penalised for a foul on Kylian Mbappé inside the penalty area. After a lengthy VAR review, the penalty decision was overturned, and the yellow card that would have ruled Rice out of the semi-final first leg was rescinded.
"I knew it wasn't a penalty," Rice said. "He just fell to the floor."
