Six key points from our masterclass against Madrid

Arsenal 3 Real Madrid 0. It is a scoreline that will send shockwaves around European football, and one that all Gooners will never tire of reading over and over again.

Declan Rice wrote himself into Arsenal folklore with a pair of fabulous free-kicks, while Mikel Merino added the gloss to the scoreline to hand us a huge advantage to take to Spain next week as we aim to reach the semi-finals of the Champions League for the first time since 2009.

Here are some things you might have missed from a historic night, and where we stand heading into the second leg:

Worth the wait

Whatever happens in his career, Rice will look back on this night as one where he produced two of his best-ever kicks of a football. His first goal was reminiscent of Roberto Carlos’ wondergoal for Brazil against France in 1997 - the former Madrid left-back was in attendance at Emirates Stadium, and he would have been the first to appreciate the technique on show.

It was the second direct free-kick we’ve netted in the Champions League this term when Bukayo Saka saw his cross evade everyone against Paris Saint-Germain, but the first from a shot in any competition since Martin Odegaard netted against Burnley back in September 2021. More importantly, it was Rice’s first-ever successful free-kick in his career in 339 games, but better was still to come.

Smelling blood

Rice’s rocket left Real rocking, and we began to batter our opponents. Initially, the visitors hung on through a combination of Courtois’ saves and goalline clearances from David Alaba and Jude Bellingham. If Real had returned home just one goal behind, we could have been looking back at this period as a turning point in the tie, but Rice stepped up to the plate once again and hit another home run.

If his first free-kick was a thing of beauty, his second was pure destruction. Madrid could have had every player on the goalline this time and they wouldn’t have stopped it, as Rice hammered the ball into the top corner, marginally evading both post and bar as it whistled into the postage stamp. It was Rice’s first-ever brace, as he became the first player in Champions League history to score two direct free kick goals in a knockout stage match, while only Cristiano Ronaldo, Hakim Ziyech, Neymar and Rivaldo have ever managed two in any game in the competition. Not a bad club to be a part of!

Merino outguns Mbappe

Riding the crest of a wave of noise inside our home, we continued to pummel our opponents. Real were on the ropes, and Merino rewarded that bravery with his fifth goal in his last nine outings for club and country.

Many non-Arsenal supporters had scoffed pre-match that Real boasted arguably the best striker in the world while we were playing a holding midfielder in the same position, but it was Merino who got his name on the scoresheet once again with a finish that Mbappe would appreciate, arrowing a first-time strike from the edge of the box perfectly into the bottom corner. That was his eighth goal of the campaign, matching his previous best-ever tally which came at Real Sociedad last term.

A perfect partnership

When Gabriel went down against Fulham, many Gooners would have been concerned about his pairing with William Saliba being split up for the visit of the 15-time winners. Jakob Kiwior came on in that game and after he also started against Everton to get the nod tonight, he played his part in us taking a clean sheet to Spain next week.

The Pole and Saliba have a tremendous record when playing together, as we have not lost whenever they have started together at centre-back, with this memorable victory taking their tally to five wins and three draws, with five clean sheets.

Home sweet home

The special Emirates Stadium atmosphere on nights like this do seem to bring the best out of Mikel Arteta’s side. Los Blancos made their first-ever competitive appearance here, and it was a trip they’ll not want to remember. The 15-time winners have beaten 111 teams in the competition’s history, but after three meetings following on from our 2006 classics, we are still not one of them.

Madrid have been added to a list of 11 teams who have visited our home for a Champions League showdown since our return to the competition last term, including Bayern Munich, PSG and Porto. But no team has beaten us in north London in that time, while we have kept nine clean sheets in that time.

Is three enough?

Unfortunately the next leg can’t also be played in N5, and while every Gooner will bask in the glory of one of our greatest European nights ever, the closer we get to the second leg, the most pessimistic supporters will be wondering if a 3-0 lead is enough when we take to the field at the Bernabeu.

If you’re of that disposition, here is something to give you a little more hope. This was the 12th time an English side have won by 3+ goals in the first leg of a Champions League knockout stage tie, with each of the 11 previous instances seeing that team progress to the next round. With Madrid having won 33 of the previous 39 quarter-final ties, including all of the last 12, a response is sure to come, but if anything was proved tonight, it was that we have plenty of quality ourselves to test Europe’s best.