UCL: Rice’s double free-kicks sink Real Madrid at Arsenal as Inter defeat Bayern

Declan Rice scored the two free kicks for Arsenal in their 3-0 UEFA Champions League quarter-final first-leg win against ten-man Real Madrid at the Emirates stadium, London, on Tuesday.

The England midfielder’s surprise efforts from dead-ball situations made the difference against Real, 15-time UCL champions, who were second best on the night and needed Thibaut Courtois’ heroics in goal to keep the scoreline respectable.

Arsenal had the upper hand in the early exchanges and threatened Real on several occasions, their best chance was a double chance that was saved by Courtois who denied Rice before saving Martinelli’s rebound as both sides went into the break level.

However, two inspirational moments from Rice gunned down Real Madrid’s aim of finishing off the match in Spain in the second leg.

With all eyes on Bukayo to strike the ball, Courtois and the porous defensive wall was surprised when Rice hit a rocket with precision into the top corner in the 58th minute for 1-0.

He repeated the trick in the 70th minute. This time, he bent into the top corner for 2-0. Merino finished off Carlo Ancelotti’s lacklustre side with a well-timed low shot into the bottom corner for 3-0 in 75th minutes.

Eduardo Camavinga summed up a poor night for Real Madrid with a red card in added time following a second yellow card for hammering the ball away in frustration.

The victory extended Arsenal’s unbeaten run against Real Madrid to three matches in the UCL and made the Gunners the firm favourites for a first semi-final appearance in 16 years.

It is, however, the first time in nine matches that Real Madrid, who ran out of luck, would lose the quarter-final first leg in the UCL. The second leg is set for Santiago Bernabeu next week on Wednesday.

In the other match of the night, Lautaro Martinez’s exquisite strike and Davide Frattesi’s late winner helped Inter Milan to a 2-1 first leg win over Bayern Munich at the Allianz Arena in Germany, handing the advantage to Simeone Inzaghi’s Nerazzurri going into next week’s second leg in Italy.