Two spectacular second-half free-kicks from Declan Rice propelled Arsenal to a stunning 3-0 victory over Real Madrid in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final at the Emirates Stadium on Tuesday night. Mikel Merino added a third goal as the Gunners took a commanding advantage into next week’s second leg.
Responding to manager Mikel Arteta’s call for an intense atmosphere, Arsenal started brightly, putting the Real Madrid defence under pressure with dangerous crosses. The visitors offered little threat early on, with Vinícius Jr. curling their best chance wide in the 20th minute.
Despite Arsenal’s dominance, the breakthrough didn’t arrive until the 58th minute. Rice stepped up and curled a superb free-kick around the Real Madrid wall and past goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois into the corner of the net.
Just 12 minutes later, Rice repeated the feat with another moment of brilliance, bending a second long-range free-kick into the top right-hand corner, leaving the 14-time European champions stunned.
Mikel Merino compounded Madrid’s misery in the 75th minute, curling a shot into the bottom corner from inside the area to make it 3-0.
Real Madrid’s difficult night was capped off in stoppage time when midfielder Eduardo Camavinga was sent off after receiving a second yellow card.
The victory puts Arsenal in a formidable position to reach their first Champions League semi-final since the 2008-09 season. Real Madrid face a monumental task to overturn the three-goal deficit in the return leg at the Santiago Bernabéu next week.
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