Declan Rice believes Arsenal are destined for “special things” after their emphatic 2-1 victory over Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu, securing a 5-1 aggregate win to reach the Champions League semi-finals

Declan Rice believes Arsenal are on the cusp of achieving “special things” after their dominant 2-1 victory over Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu on Wednesday, which sealed a comprehensive 5-1 aggregate triumph and booked their place in the Champions League semi-finals.

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Rice’s two stunning free-kicks in the first leg laid the foundation for Arsenal’s success in dethroning the reigning European champions.

The England international also earned the man-of-the-match award in the second leg, as goals from Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli secured a famous victory in Spain.

“It’s such a special night for this club, it’s a historic 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,” Rice told TNT Sports, brimming with pride.

He acknowledged the pre-match anticipation of a Real Madrid comeback, stating, “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 could come here and win the game. We knew we were going to suffer but we knew we were going to win.”

Arsenal’s victory propels them into their first Champions League semi-final since 2009, where they will face Paris Saint-Germain. The London club is yet to lift European football’s most prestigious trophy and last tasted Premier League success back in 2003/04.

However, Rice, who made a club-record £105 million move from West Ham in 2023, is confident that major silverware is within reach for Mikel Arteta’s side.

“It’s massive. I sensed before I signed for the club that we were on an upwards trajectory,” he added. “This club is going to do special things in the coming years. We all fully believe in it, we have full trust in this manger – he’s unbelievable! Semi-finals is massive for us and we want to take tonight in.”

Despite Madrid’s reputation for comebacks at the Bernabeu, they rarely threatened to overturn the first-leg deficit. Rice and Arsenal did have a moment of concern when he was initially penalised for a foul on Kylian Mbappe in the first half.

However, after a lengthy VAR review, the spot-kick was overturned, and the yellow card issued to Rice, which would have ruled him out of the first leg of the semi-final, was rescinded.

“I knew it wasn’t a penalty,” Rice stated confidently. “He just fell to the floor.”