Declan Rice on overturning PSG lead: We proved in Madrid we can handle big situations

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Declan Rice says Arsenal’s win at Real Madrid demonstrated they can handle pressure situations as they bid to “make a statement” against Paris Saint-Germain and reach the Champions League final.

Ousmane Dembele’s early goal at the Emirates means PSG lead 1-0 going into the home match on Wednesday, and only two teams in Champions League history have come back from losing a semi-final first-leg at home.

But Rice, whose two free-kicks inspired Arsenal to victory over Madrid in the quarter-final, says Arsenal have full belief that they can beat Luis Enrique’s side.

“100 per cent. We’re sure we can do it,” he said. “When we went to the Bernabeu the other week, there were a lot of questions on whether we could rise to that occasion. We obviously had a 3-0 lead, but there was still so much talk about them obviously coming back and playing at the Bernabeu. We might have experienced that before, but I think as a group we handled that amazingly well.

“The atmosphere tomorrow night is going to be incredible as well, but we’ve proved that we can handle big situations. Tomorrow night is another massive step for this team.

“We’re a young team, but if we want to keep being one of the best teams and want to win stuff, we need to keep taking these massive steps. Tomorrow night is a big step to take and we’re fully driven by the fact that there’s a final 90 minutes away, so we need to be ready.”

Rice impressed in both legs against Madrid (MB Media/Getty Images)

Rice will come up against one of the best midfields in Europe in Joao Neves, Vitinha and Fabian Ruiz but he has taken confidence from how Arsenal were able to regain control of the game after their fast start last week.

“You felt that in the first leg, there was a lot of movement in midfield,“ said Rice. “They run around so much and create a lot of space for each other. The way they move between the lines was really, really smart.

“But once we worked out how we could beat them, obviously we missed a few chances, but in terms of how we were driving with the ball, giving our winners one-v-one opportunities, chances started to open up. I think tomorrow night we need to do the same. We need to have big balls and we need to go out there on the biggest stage and show that we’re ready to play at this level.

“We’re not going to change the way we play for anyone. We have a way of playing the way the manager wants to set up and go. If he says that’s the way we want to play, we’re not going to go out there and do the opposite.

“We’re going to do exactly what he wants us to do. I think tomorrow night, no way we’re just going to go out there and sit back. We’re here to win the game, we’re here to make a statement and we want to get to the final.”

Arsenal beat PSG at home in the league phase in October and that is enough to give him confidence that Arsenal can get the better of them again and seal the club’s second appearance in the Champions League final.

“It was the same team other than Dembele and Kavaratshvili,“ Rice said.

“Everyone else started and we beat them. So there’s no fear. Like I said, I think the goal inside three minutes probably shocked us a little bit, shocked the atmosphere a little bit.

“I think the manager calls them magic moments. He always talks about having someone delivering a magic moment. I think in that game against Madrid, obviously I was able to produce two free kicks, which were incredible. But tomorrow night, a semi-final is set up for someone else to maybe get that magic moment.

“Hopefully it’s me again, but you’re going to need a moment of magic to win a game, and as a team we’re going to need that. So tomorrow night hopefully we can deliver something special.”

Mikel Arteta: ‘We want to start to make history’

Mikel Arteta backed his players to take inspiration from their win at the Bernabeu and deliver the “magic moments” needed to take Arsenal to the Champions League final in Munich.

Arsenal fell at the quarter-final hurdle last season when they could not find the net against Bayern Munich in Germany but he believes a year on he has individuals with the mentality to be the hero on the big stage.

“I think that’s how you have to embrace and take the game, to make something special,” said Arteta.

“To win the final of the Champions League, you have to do something exceptional throughout the tournament. We’ve done a lot of great things, but tomorrow in Paris against this team is the moment to do it. We want to elevate the level of this team and start to make history. That’s the opportunity we have ahead of us to do it.

“You’re going to get remembered for those moments. The biggest stage is when the team needs it, when the club needs it, to deliver those moments. I’m playing with that mindset. This kind of game is, in my opinion, the right one and that’s the work that we’ve done in the last few hours.

“I tell you what I’ve seen and after the game several times I think the result doesn’t reflect what happened on the pitch at all. What happened in the first 15 minutes and what happened afterwards were very different but in the end the result is what controls the feelings and that’s it. Tomorrow we’ll do better, win and then everything will be safe.”

(Franck Fife/AFP via Getty Images)

Arsenal are two games away from winning their first Champions League, having only reached the final once in 2006.

They have finished runners-up to Manchester City in the Premier League two seasons running and were the closest challengers again this season to Liverpool, but the Champions League is their last opportunity to end the trophy drought since the FA Cup triumph in 2020.

“We’re going to try to do it this season,” Arteta said. “Winning trophies is about being in the right moment in the right place. Liverpool have won the title with less points than we have in the last two seasons, but at the point of the last two seasons we have two Premier Leagues, so you have to be in the right moment in the right place.

“Hopefully here we are in the right moment in the right place in Paris tomorrow, to earn the right to be in that final.”

Rice senses that this team are only one trophy away from a glut of them following.

“We were so close the last few years to winning Premier League, we were in the semi-final, now the Champions League,” he said.

“The next step for us is to win trophies. I sense that we’re close, but to get over the line, you have to win that first one. I feel like they’ll start coming in for sure. We have such a good group, but we need to keep believing and being positive.”

(Photo: Franck Fife/AFP via Getty Images)

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