Arsenal has one foot in the semi-final of the Champions League after their incredible 3-0 win over Real Madrid, where the Gunners are now preparing for a home game against Brentford for that crucial second stage in the Bernabeuu
Arsenal fans are on Cloud Nine after their incredible 3-0 win over Real Madrid in the first stage of the Champions League quarterfinals. The Gunners have an incredible opportunity to reach the semi -final after a pounding victory over the ruling European champions.
The men of Mikel Arteta had raced in a 2-0 lead by two beautiful free kicks from Declan Rice – the first two dead balls he had scored in his entire football career – before Mikel Merino added a third. They will now make a fantastic advantage for the Bernabeu next week.
Arsenal has a home game against Brentford on Saturday, sandwiched in the middle of their crucial road, but the Gunners will certainly have one eye on their journey to the Spanish capital.
Prior to the next two games of Arsenal, Mirror Football took a look at the largest Arsenal news and gossip.
Rice explains the Free-Trap Technology Change
Some supporters scratch their heads about how Rice managed to send two beautifully taken free kicks against such quality institution when he had never scored one in his entire career.
The midfielder of England took both efforts with so much confidence and precision – the second better than the first when it flew past the handle of Thibaut Courtois in the upper right corner.
Rice was asked about his free kicking technique after the game by club legend Thierry Henry and the player said he had decided to keep looking at the ball, instead of looking up after he took it.
With Rice, Henry said: “But you know what I like with the technology, is that you have hit it so hard and that you did not let your foot go, if you know what I mean, you held it.”
Rice replied: “I feel that when I practice these free kicks, what I tend to notice when I make contact and I look up quickly, it's not the strike I want.
“If I look down on the ball and just concentrate on the ball and know that I want to put it on the spot, I tend to have more consistency with it and of course that is one in A, I don't know what time. I practiced it and it happened and to score two, it will not touch me what I did.”
How Arsenal Mbappe stopped
Apart from the free kicks, Arsenal has submitted an excellent defensive shift to keep a clean slate and to keep Madrid's biggest attacking threats, with people like Kylian Mbappe, Vinicius JR and Jude Bellingham all with a quiet night.
It was even more impressive given that Arsenal had lost their top defender Gabriel Magalhaes to injury before the game, with Back-up Jakub Kiwior who stepped in perfectly to help the team retain their rigid shape.
Mbappe in particular hardly existed, because he missed a big chance in the first half before he was missing in the second, and Kiwior said that Arsenal had done their homework about Madrid's big batters in the structure.
“We analyze a lot for the game. We also know these players very well. We know what their strengths are and that they are very fast.
“You cannot fully prepare for this during the training, only mentally. You have to prepare for the fact that there is a lot of running, running very fast. You have to prepare for this before the game and realize it during the game.”
He added: “It was an important match for us. We felt it especially today. But when we arrived in the stadium, we did not put pressure on ourselves in the dressing room. We knew very well against whom we played, but we held a cool head and scored a goal. And from that moment we checked the course of the game.”
Bellingham's warning
While Arsenal is in a great position to eliminate the ruling champions and qualify for the semi -final, Madrid -Baas Carlo Ancelotti has driven out that the draw is not nearly over – insisting that “the comeback tonight” – and his midfielder Jude Bellingham has repeated that.
Bellingham was subjected in the night, like many of his teammates, and admitted that Madrid's performance was not good enough – even claiming that Arsenal could have scored more than she did.
However, he shot a warning on Arsenal by pointing out that the Bernebeu is “where crazy things happen”, as he said that Madrid was still alive. “
“We were nowhere in the neighborhood,” Bellingham told Amazon Prime. “That is the fact and Arsenal was really good. I know that two of their goals were free kicks, but they could have had much more.
“There is a second stage and that is what we hold. We need something very special, something crazy, but one place where crazy things happen is our house. 90 more minutes at home to pull something out of the bag.
“They are two great pieces of individual quality and if they were not there, they still have different opportunities. We are punished and that happens at the highest level at the highest level. In these games you have to create more.
“Very rarely do you get one goal in a place like this score and take your lead back home. They responded very well to the transition. We have not done enough on the ball to threaten. We still live, we have 90 minutes of football and everything can happen at the Bernabeu.”
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