Declan Rice stole the show as Arsenal cruised to a 3-0 victory over Real Madrid on Tuesday night to put themselves in control of the Champions League quarter-final tie. The England international produced two incredible free-kicks to put the Gunners in complete control of their quarter-final tie.
Rice whipped a glorious strike around the towering Madrid and beyond Thibaut Courtois to send the Emirates Stadium into a frenzy after 58 minutes. He then produced an even better strike just 12 minutes later when smashing a fierce effort into the top corner.
Mikel Merino then put the game to bed in the 75th minute when curling a neat finish into the bottom corner whilst on the turn. Here is how Express Sport rated the Arsenal players…
Arsenal player ratings vs Real Madrid (4-3-3)
David Raya – 7
Made a routine stop to deny Kylian Mbappe in the first half and answered every question that was asked of him, especially in possession.
Jurrien Timber – 8 (90′, White)
Strong display to prevent Vinicius Jr from leaving any sort of mark on the match. Was smart in his offensive play too, drifting inside to leave Bukayo Saka one-on-one against his man.
William Saliba – 8
Monstrous performance from the centre-back. Marshalled his backline well and stepped in to read the danger on several occasions when Madrid threatened on the counter.
Jakub Kiwior – 7
Stepped up well in the absence of Gabriel and coped well with the pace and energy of the Madrid frontline.
Myles Lewis-Skelly – 9
Did well to minimise the threat of Rodrygo and made some smart passes forward to pick out teammates in the final third. The 18-year-old showed maturity beyond his years to make an impact at both ends of the pitch, bagging an assist for Merino’s goal with a neat pass.
Thomas Partey – 7
Made several key challenges but lost his man on the counter on occasions in the first half which could have proved more costly on another night. Covered a lot of ground to allow Rice and Odegaard to push forward and pin Madrid inside their own half. Booked.
Martin Odegaard – 6
A quiet performance from the skipper. Favoured simple passes out wide over looking to unpick the Madrid backline himself, ultimately preventing Arsenal from creating chances centrally. Capable of a lot more and will be fortunate that his teammates stepped up around him.
Declan Rice – 9 (80’, Tierney)
A great performance from the England international, with his goal, of course, being the highlight. The midfielder drifted wide well to cause problems down the left, and he was unfortunate not to have opened the scoring sooner with a smart header which was clawed away by Courtois.
Bukayo Saka – 9 (74’, Trossard)
The England international produced a performance which David Alaba will have nightmares about for a very long time. Saka weaved his way to the byline on countless occasions to deliver dangerous crosses, and he may feel unfortunate not to have registered at least one assist on the night.
Mikel Merino – 7
Although his lack of a striker’s instinct saw several crosses go astray in the first half, the Spaniard produced a smart finish to put the game to bed and dropped into midfield well to create overloads.
Gabriel Martinelli – 8
The Brazil international did well to cause Federico Valverde problems out wide, and his defensive performance cannot be understated either, tracking back well to double up on Rodrygo with Lewis-Skelly.
Substitutes
Leandro Trossard – 7, linked up play nicely and provided the energy Arteta demanded to press the Madrid defence late on.
Kieran Tierney – 6, added some defensive stability in the closing stages, as well as another voice to lead the Gunners to a clean sheet.
Ben White – N/A
