Arsenal wallops highly rated Real Madrid 3- 0 in explosive Championship League quarter final match

Declan Rice stunned Real Madrid with two brilliant free-kick goals to help Arsenal build a commanding 3-0 win in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final tie.

Rice stepped up in the 58th minute to whip a fine bending strike past Thibaut Courtois. Then, 12 minutes later, he fired another into the top corner to put Mikel Arteta’s men in full control before the return game at the Bernabeu next Wednesday.

Mikel Merino applied the finishing touches to a statement Emirates Stadium win in the 75th minute and Eduardo Camavinga’s late second yellow card summed up a torrid evening for Carlo Ancelotti’s defending European champions. So, which free kick was more sweetly struck? And just how bad were Madrid on the night?

Arteta has asked his team to create their own history at the Emirates on Tuesday night. He has pleaded for his players to produce “magic moments”. Before kick-off, he told his players that belief would not be enough, that it was about mentality and every individual being convinced that they would be the difference maker.

When Bukayo Saka won a free kick in the 58th minute, it looked a tad too far out to trouble one of the best goalkeepers in the world with a direct shot.

But Rice stood over it with the conviction Arteta had been demanding. No decoys, no alternative takers — just him alone visualising that ball curling around the wall, from nearly 30 yards out.

The ball flew around the outside of Federico Valverde and was beyond Courtois before he got near the post. The Belgian positioned his wall a little too centrally, and Rice took full advantage. The way the ball swerved out before curling back in was scarcely believable, as the below stills show.