Jack Grealish praised Arsenal‘s Declan Rice for his standout performance in the Gunners’ 2-1 victory over Real Madrid in the Champions League quarter-final second-leg. Rice, who dazzled with two superb free-kicks in the first leg, continued to impress with another top-notch display in Spain, earning him the Player of the Match accolade once again as he expertly controlled Mikel Arteta’s midfield on Wednesday.
Despite Bukayo Saka having his penalty saved by Thibaut Courtois in the first half, he redeemed himself with a delicate lob over the Madrid keeper to put the away side 1-0 up. Vinicius Junior levelled the score following a rare error from William Saliba.
But Gabriel Martinelli’s late breakaway goal ensured Arsenal’s triumph on the night and a 5-1 win on aggregate. Post-match, Rice and Myles Lewis-Skelly were interviewed by TNT Sports.
Rice shared his elation, reports football.london, saying: “It’s such a special night for this club. It’s a historical 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’ve 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.”
Grealish, who saw his Champions League dreams dashed by Madrid with City in the knockout phase play-offs, took to social media to heap praise on his England team-mate.
Capturing a snap of Rice on his TV screen during an interview with TNT Sports, Grealish gushed: “What a player man *clapping hands emoji*.”
The Gunners will take their place in their first Champions League semi-final since 2009 later this month when they take on French champions Paris Saint-Germain.
Should they find a way past Luis Enrique’s men across the two legs, a second-ever final in Europe’s premier competition against the winner of Barcelona vs Inter Milan will await the Premier League outfit.
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