Declan Rice revealed that he defied Arsenal’s set-piece coach Nicolas Jover when opting to shoot from the first of his two stunning free-kicks against Real Madrid.
After a well-balanced, goalless first half in the pair’s Champions League quarter-final first leg, Bukayo Saka won a free-kick almost 30 yards from goal shortly before the hour mark. Rice bent a sumptuous effort around Madrid’s grey shirts to break the deadlock with the first direct free-kick of his professional career.
Yet, had Jover gotten his way, Rice’s piece of history would never have happened.
“He [Jover] is telling me to cross,” Rice told Amazon Prime after the 3-0 victory. “It didn’t make sense. I’m happy I took it. Bukayo said: ‘If you feel it, go for it.’ I looked at the wall and the keeper and thought: ‘I can bend this around the outside.’
“It’s been in the locker, but I’ve hit the wall too many times or it’s gone over the bar. Originally we were going to cross it and I’ve just seen the wall and goalkeeper’s position. So I thought just go for it.”
https://x.com/90min_Football/status/1909725571627594099
