UEFA Champions League: Rice bends it with finesse as Arsenal beats Madrid 3-0
Mikel Arteta had asked the Arsenal fans to arrive early to create an impressive atmosphere inside the stadium, and the team responded by starting the game quickly with a number of dangerous crosses into the Madrid penalty area
LONDON: Declan Rice stunned Real Madrid with two brilliant free kicks - the first scored in his career - as Arsenal took a commanding 3-0 first leg lead in their Champions League quarter-final.
Mikel Arteta had asked the Arsenal fans to arrive early to create an impressive atmosphere inside the stadium, and the team responded by starting the game quickly with a number of dangerous crosses into the Madrid penalty area.
It took until the 20th minute for Madrid to have their first real chance, when Vinicius Jr curled an effort wide.
But Rice took control of the tie for Arsenal in the second half.
The Gunners were the better side all evening and took the lead in the 58th minute, when Rice curled the first of two excellent free-kicks round the Real Madrid wall into the corner of the net past Thibaut Courtois.
Rice scored his second of the night with a free-kick of equal quality 12 minutes later, bending another long-range effort into the top right-hand corner to leave Madrid stunned.
Mikel Merino then made sure it was a memorable night for Arsenal when he curled a shot into the bottom corner from inside the area just five minutes later.
Things only got worse for Madrid when Eduardo Camavinga was sent off in stoppage time for picking up a second yellow card.
Arsenal have not reached the semi-finals stage of the Champions League since the 2008-09 season, but they have given themselves a huge chance of progressing to the last four with this result.
Frattesi scores late to help Inter beat Bayern 2-1
Inter Milan's treble chances are still very much on after it won 2-1 at Bayern Munich in the first leg of the Champions League quarter-final to inflict the German team's first home defeat in the competition in almost exactly four years.
Lautaro Martinez scored in the first half, shortly after Harry Kane had hit the woodwork for Bayern in an uncharacteristic miss that had the England forward clutching his face in disbelief.
Substitute Thomas Muller, who announced on Saturday that he was leaving the German club at the end of the season, appeared to have rescued a 1-1 draw for Bayern with the equalizer five minutes from time but Davide Frattesi scored the winner three minutes later.
The result ended Bayern's 22-match unbeaten home run in Europe — a streak stretching back to April 7, 2021, against Paris Saint-Germain — and kept up Inter's hopes of returning to the same stadium for the Champions League final on May 31.
