Arsenal midfielder Declan Rice said he initially intended to cross his first free-kick against Real Madrid before being convinced to shoot by a conversation with Bukayo Saka.
The 26-year-old scored two free-kicks in the space of 12 minutes at the Emirates as Arsenal beat Real Madrid 3-0 in the first leg of the Champions League quarter-finals.
Before his first goal from over 30 yards out, Rice said captain Martin Odegaard and Arsenal set piece coach Nicolas Jover had suggested crossing the ball, but the positioning of the Madrid wall and goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois persuaded him to shoot.
“It’s been in the locker but I’ve hit the wall too many times or it’s gone over the bar,” Rice told Prime Video. “Originally we was gonna cross it and then I just saw the wall and the goalkeeper’s position for the first one and I thought: just go for it. Bukayo said to feel it. And I see the outside of the wall and it went in.”
Rice continued: “Originally we were gonna cross it, like reverse cross. But Bukayo said, ‘If you feel it’. And I said, ‘I’m gonna take this’. And as soon as it went in… I don’t know, it’s just one of those moments.
“It didn’t make sense from that angle to cross the ball. And they were on a high line, to chip that it would have to be such a delicate pass. I just thought go for it.”
Declan Rice scores one of the most memorable goals at the Emirates.
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Rice added a second goal on 70 minutes, finding the top corner from 28 yards out. Having never scored a direct free-kick in his professional career before Tuesday evening, he became the fifth player in Champions League history to score two in the same game, and admitted it would take him a while to appreciate that what he had achieved was “really special”.
“The second one I just had the confidence and I hit it,” Rice added. “It’s not going to hit me yet because there’s another leg to go. I’m excited, I’m happy, I’m over the moon. In a few years time I think this will hit me that what I’ve done tonight is really special.”
Mikel Merino added a third goal for Arsenal with 15 minutes remaining to ensure they will take a 3-0 advantage into the second leg at the Bernabeu on April 16.
(Adrian Dennis/AFP via Getty Images)