Kolkata: In 402 matches for club and country, Declan Rice had never scored from a direct free-kick. Yet, there he was, alone. This was between Rice, the Real Madrid ‘wall’ and Thibaut Courtois in goal 30 yards away. Rice’s shot arced past Federico Valverde into the inky night before curling into goal. “As soon as it left my foot, I knew it had a chance,” he said. Didn’t think he could bend it like this, said Courtois.
Champions League has seen some stirring second-leg comebacks. Barcelona did it against Paris St-Germain and were done in by Liverpool. Real have never beaten Arsenal but “in football everything can happen,” said Carlo Ancelotti after Tuesday’s 0-3 defeat in London. Few know that better than the defending champions and record 15-time winners.
Mikel Arteta had asked Arsenal to “make it happen”, a slogan where each player had to be convinced that he could be the differentiator. The knee slide, the nod and the finger on the badge showed that Rice believed he could be one. Believed enough to ignore the advice of set-piece coach Nikolas Jover, responsible for most of their 21 goals from dead ball situations this term, to put in a cross. This was Arsenal’s first goal from a direct free-kick since September 2021.
The belief was so nice that Rice did it twice. From 25 yards, he fired a shot that swerved in at the top corner. Even 10 goalies would have had no chance, Thierry Henry said on Paramount +. The goals, in the 58th and 70th minutes on the biggest night at Emirates since Arsenal moved in 2006, put Rice in a club of five that has Rivaldo, Cristiano Ronaldo, Neymar Jr and Hakim Ziyech: players who have scored twice from direct free-kicks in a Champions League match.
With 32 direct free-kicks, since 2018-19, the most at Arsenal as per “The Athletic”, Odegaard is their designated free-kick taker. Not on Tuesday. Rice also contributed to Mikel Merino’s goal in the 75th minute and could have got a hat-trick.
Real Madrid had arrived at north London seeking a measured away performance; absorb the pressure and look to use the speed and skill of the most recent version of galacticos. Maybe, things would have been different had Kylian Mbappe not shot to David Raya after Jude Bellingham found him in the 30th. Or, if he had not hit the side-netting in the 50th.
It ended up being a night where Real were playing on reputation and Arsenal on form. Arsenal pushed Real to wide areas and denied them space to run in behind. They made 24 high presses as opposed to 11 from Real, had 11 shots on target from 12 attempted. They did not have Gabriel Magalhaes’s solidity in defence and Kai Havertz in front, both out of the season with hamstring injuries, but up stepped Jakub Kiwior and Merino.
There’s more. Bukayo Saka, who won both free-kicks for Rice to show his shooting abilities, looked fit, his partnership with Martin Odegaard revived and left-back Myles Lewis-Skelly again showed that he could stay 18 forever if he can play like this on big nights. “The individual performances were of the standard that is required to beat this incredible team,” said Arteta.
But for Courtois’s double-saves twice, David Alaba helping him out once and Bellingham pushing a Rice drive from the goalline, this would have been a rout. Eduardo Camavinga’s second booking in the 90+4 minute for kicking the ball away summed up Real’s 11th defeat in all competitions this term, already nine more than last season.
Time was when Cristiano Ronaldo scored seven in one season (2010-11) and six in two (2011-12 and 2013-14) but goals from direct free-kicks are rare now. So, chances of Rice converting both was 0.23%, according to Opta. Only 10 have been scored in the Premier League this term and 11 in all of last season. There have been 13 in La Liga but there were none in the last European Championship and one in the edition prior.
According to Opta, one in 12 direct free kicks would be converted in 1998-99, in 2023 it was one in 83. A combination of fewer direct attempts due to emphasis on data such expected goals, fewer fouls in the final third due to the presence of VAR and a player defending on the floor behind the wall has led to this.
It is unlikely that after channelling his inner Beckham, Juninho Pernambucano and Roberto Carlos, Rice will lead a revival of this art. Of greater possibility is this match marking a significant moment in Arsenal’s uptick. One that has put them on course for their first semi-final since 2009.