Declan Rice revealed Arsenal had no doubts that they "were going to win" over Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu to seal a semi-final berth.
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- Arsenal stunned Real at the Bernabeu
- Beat them 2-1 to douse hopes of a comeback
- Rice was confident about accomplishing the job
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WHAT HAPPENED?
The Gunners, already holding a 3-0 advantage from the first leg of their quarter-final tie, held firm in hostile territory to secure a 2-1 win on the night and a 5-1 triumph on aggregate. Rice once again took centre stage, repeating his man-of-the-match performance from the first leg and leading the team to a landmark result in club history.
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THE BIGGER PICTURE
Despite Madrid’s reputation for staging dramatic turnarounds in European competitions, Arsenal’s players entered the return fixture with confidence and purpose. Speaking after the match, Rice revealed that the belief within the squad was unwavering, regardless of the intimidating environment at the Bernabeu.
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WHAT RICE SAID
In a post-match interview with , Rice said: "I just think it’s such a special night for this club, a historic night for this club. We have an objective in this competition. We want to play the best teams, and we want to win this competition. There was a lot of talk coming here about them coming back, because they have done it so many times before. But we had so much belief and confidence from that first leg that we had enough to come here and win the game. We knew we were going to suffer. But we knew we were going to win. We did it in my mind, and then we did it in real life. What a night for the club.”
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DID YOU KNOW?
While Arsenal have not lifted a Premier League title in over two decades, their run in the Champions League has injected fresh optimism into a fanbase hungry for silverware. The significance of toppling the defending European champions away from home hasn’t been lost on anyone associated with the club.
Rice added: “I sensed it before I signed for the club that we were on an upward trajectory. I felt it, with the players we’ve got. It’s been tough in the Premier League this year. We lost out last year on a point, and this year it’s slipped away from us. But in this competition, we’ve done amazingly well. This club is going to do special things over the next few years. We all fully believe it. We all have full trust in this manager, he’s unbelievable, and we’ve got players like [Myles Lewis-Skelly] and Ethan [Nwaneri] coming through who really want it."
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