{"id":1791,"date":"2025-04-08T22:01:11","date_gmt":"2025-04-08T14:01:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/84news.top\/?p=1791"},"modified":"2025-04-08T22:01:11","modified_gmt":"2025-04-08T14:01:11","slug":"free","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cloudfclub.com\/index.php\/2025\/04\/08\/free\/","title":{"rendered":"Free"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Rice scored with two sublime free-kicks in the second half of the quarter-final first leg at the Emirates Stadium on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

The England midfielder’s long-range rockets were followed by a Mikel Merino goal as Arsenal moved to the brink of reaching the Champions League semi-finals for the first time since 2009.<\/p>\n

It was an incredible result, made all the more remarkable by the fact Rice had never scored a free-kick in his career until the first of his set-piece blasts flashed past Real keeper Thibaut Courtois.<\/p>\n

“It’s been in the locker, but I’ve hit the wall too many times or it’s gone over the bar,” Rice said.<\/p>\n

“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.<\/p>\n

“The second one I had the confidence. I hit it. 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.”<\/p>\n

Throughout his career with West Ham and now Arsenal, Rice has been known more as a defensive midfielder than a creative force.<\/p>\n

But he has been determined to add more goals to his game, with some prompting from team-mates and Gunners boss Mikel Arteta.<\/p>\n

“Even at West Ham and ever since I’ve been here, everyone’s been telling me to shoot more,” he said. <\/p>\n

“It’s these little things and you’ve got to be in that mindset to score goals. I do have the ability to do it, but it’s a confidence thing.<\/p>\n

“I’m always going to have critics, I’m always going to have doubters — that’s football. But as long as I can keep producing on the pitch and doing well, that’s the main thing.”<\/p>\n

While Arsenal’s shock victory was just reward for a composed, mature display that took advantage of injury-hit Real, who were blown away by the Gunners’ intensity in the second half.<\/p>\n

‘We want to win this competition’<\/p>\n

But although Arsenal, who have never won the Champions League, are in pole position to make the last four, Rice has no intention of underestimating the 15-time European champions.<\/p>\n

“As a group we were really convinced we needed to score in the second half,” he said.<\/p>\n

“It’s not going to hit me yet because there’s another leg to go. The Bernabeu, what it’s like to play there. We need to be ready.<\/p>\n

“We want to win this competition. But we have to take it one game at a time.”<\/p>\n

Real midfielder Jude Bellingham conceded the Spanish giants deserved nothing from their disjointed display.<\/p>\n

“We were nowhere near it. That’s the fact and Arsenal were really good. I know two of their goals were free-kicks but they could have had way more,” he said.<\/p>\n

“They’re two great pieces of individual quality and if it wasn’t for them, they still have other chances. We got punished and that happens at top-level football.”<\/p>\n

England star Bellingham is clinging to the hope that Real can call on their long history of Champions League success to produce a remarkable escape act in the second leg.<\/p>\n

“There is a second leg and that’s what we’re holding on to. We’re still alive,” he said. <\/p>\n

“We need something really special, something crazy really, but one place where crazy things happen is our house. Ninety more minutes at home to pull something out of the bag.”<\/p>\n

\u00a9 2025 AFP<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

London (AFP) \u2013 <\/span> Declan Rice admitted his brilliant free-kick double in Arsenal’s stunning 3-0 win over Champions League holders Real Madrid was years in the making. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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Issued on: 09\/04\/2025 – 00:01<\/span><\/p>\n

\n <\/span> 3 min<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
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