Arizona Tribune - Free-kick hero Rice revels in Arsenal's 'special' win over Real

Rice scored with two sublime free-kicks in the second half of the quarter-final first leg at the Emirates Stadium on Tuesday.

The England midfielder's long-range rockets were followed by a Mikel Merino goal as Arsenal moved to the brink of reaching the Champions League semi-finals for the first time since 2009.

It was an incredible result, made all the more remarkable by the fact Rice had never scored a free-kick in his career until the first of his set-piece blasts flashed past Real keeper Thibaut Courtois.

"It's been in the locker, but I've hit the wall too many times or it's gone over the bar," Rice said.

"Originally we were going to cross it and then I've just seen the wall and the goalkeeper's position. So I thought just go for it.

"The second one I had the confidence. I hit it. I'm excited, I'm happy, I'm over the moon. But in a few years time this will really hit me that what I've done tonight was really special."

While Arsenal's shock victory was just reward for a composed, mature display that took advantage of injury-hit Real, who were blown away by the Gunners' intensity in the second half.

But although Arsenal, who have never won the Champions League, are in pole position to make the last four, Rice has no intention of underestimating the 15-time European champions.

"We need to be super convinced we can come and win this game. As a group we were really convinced. We needed to score in the second half," he said.

"It's not going to hit me yet because there's another leg to go.

"We need to be ready for next week. The Bernabeu, what it's like to play there. We need to be ready."

M.Robinson--AT