Declan Rice reveals original plan for astonishing free kicks against Real Madrid | OneFootball

Declan Rice admitted he did not initially plan on shooting the first of his two free kick goals as Arsenal beat Real Madrid 3-0 in the first leg of the Champions League quarter-final tie.

The England midfielder sent the dead ball flying past Thibaut Courtois to open the scoring in the 58th minute, before following it up with an even more stunning free kick just 12 minutes later.

Mikel Merino put the cherry on top of a special night for the Gunners with a superb finish to give them a commanding lead heading into the second leg in the Spanish capital.

Declan Rice reveals original plan for astonishing free kicks

In the days leading up to the encounter Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta told his players to ignore the opponent’s history in the Champions League and believe they could win, and it clearly did the trick.

“That’s been the message from the manager,” Rice told Amazon Prime Video. “That was the message since the weekend. We need to be super convinced we can come and win this game. As a group we were really convinced. We needed to score in the second half.”

Rice had never scored from a direct free kick in his career but, like London buses, two came along at once. However, the 26-year-old says he originally wanted to cross the ball for the first one, but changed his mind due to the position of the wall and Courtois.

“It’s been in the locker, but I’ve hit the wall too many times or it’s gone over the bar. Originally we were going to cross it and then I’ve just seen the wall and the goalkeeper’s position. So I thought just go for it. And Bukayo [Saka] said to just feel it.

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“The second one I had the confidence. I hit it. It’s not going to hit me now because there’s another leg to go. I’m excited, I’m happy, I’m over the moon. But in a few years time this will really hit me that what I’ve done tonight was really special.”

On the second free kick, Rice revealed that Odegaard was initially meant to touch the ball toward him, but he changed his mind again.

“It looks far out, you don’t even realise,” he said. “Do you know what, we were going to touch and set it, me and Martin. But Mbappe was kind of stuck too close. But then I thought I’ve got the keeper’s side, I practice this so much, I was going to go for it. I had the confidence from the first one. If it went over the bar it wouldn’t matter.

Rice also praised Bukayo Saka after the winger made his first start for Arsenal since recovering from surgery on a hamstring injury.

“Look, to come back in the time he has done is unbelievable,” he said. “He’s a top guy. We need to be ready for next week. The Bernabeu, what it’s like to play there. We need to be ready.”

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