Rice, who had never previously scored from a free-kick in his professional career, delivered two brilliant strikes within a 12-minute stretch during the second half, electrifying the crowd at the Emirates Stadium. ..Continue Reading
The England midfielder curled the first goal around the wall and past Courtois from 25 yards, then followed it up with an equally stunning effort that soared into the top corner.
With that performance, Rice joined an elite group—becoming only the fifth player to net two direct free-kicks in a single Champions League match. His display earned widespread acclaim.
Despite the praise for Rice, two Real Madrid legends pointed fingers at Courtois, suggesting the Belgian goalkeeper should have done better to prevent both long-range goals.
Although he said the “wall wasn’t positioned properly for the first goal”, on Ziggo Sport Wesley Sneijder said Courtois’ positioning was wrong for the second goal where Rice found the top bins – noticing he took “a step to the right”.
Meanwhile, Clarence Seedorf, a three-time Champions League champion, also criticized Courtois, suggesting the goalkeeper created a weak defensive setup that gave Rice the confidence to attempt the free-kick.
Courtois admitted ahead of the match that he was aware of Arsenal’s strength from set-pieces. Reflecting on the first goal, he acknowledged that he should have added an extra player to the wall to better shield the goal and make it more difficult for Rice to score.
Although he accepted some blame, Courtois also pointed out that Real Madrid made poor decisions, particularly committing “unnecessary fouls” in dangerous positions, which contributed to the goals.
“I thought I’d positioned the wall well,” Courtois told Movistar, as per The Mirror.
“I usually put an extra man in. I take responsibility for that, I could have put an extra man in, but I thought [Rice] wouldn’t get as much curl on it.
“And the second goal is a great goal. They were unnecessary fouls, when there was no danger. Perhaps we shouldn’t make those fouls.”
Declan Rice became the 11th Englishman to score from a free-kick in the Champions League, defying the advice of both captain Martin Odegaard and set-piece coach Nicolas Jover, who had instructed him to deliver a cross.
Instead, Rice trusted his instincts—after a quick nod of approval from Bukayo Saka—and opted to shoot. His bold decision proved to be the right one.
Mikel Merino later added a superb goal to make it 3-0, giving Arsenal a strong advantage heading into the second leg of the quarter-final at the Santiago Bernabeu next week.
