Declan Rice hails ‘unbelievable’ Arteta after Arsenal reach Champions League semi-finals | OneFootball

Declan Rice hailed Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta as “unbelievable” and backed the club to achieve “special things” in the near future after reaching the Champions League semi-finals.

Arsenal beat reigning champions Real Madrid 5-1 on aggregate, winning 2-1 at the Santiago Bernabeu following their 3-0 home win in the first leg.

Bukayo Saka scored having earlier missed a first-half penalty before Gabriel Martinelli grabbed a late winner, following Vinicius Jr’s equaliser on the night.

And Rice says reaching the semi-finals of the competition is an important milestone for this Gunners group.

“It’s massive,” he told TNT Sports after the game.

“I sensed it before I signed for the club that we were on an upward trajectory.

“I felt it, with the players we’ve got and the direction we want to go in.

“It’s been tough in the Premier League because we lost out by a point last season and this year it’s slipped away from us but in this competition we’ve done amazingly well.

“This club is going to do special things over the next few years. We have full trust in this manager, he’s unbelievable and we have players like Myles (Lewis-Skelly) coming through, Ethan (Nwaneri) and other young lads who really want it as well so we’ve got a real good mix.

“Reaching the semi-finals is massive for us and we just want to take tonight in. We just want to take it one step at a time and it’s PSG next, who are an amazing team.”

Rice was again named man of the match, having also been handed the award in the first-leg tie when he scored two free-kicks in the 3-0 win.

After Saka had missed his spot-kick, Rice was adjudged to have fouled Kylian Mbappe in the area before the decision was overturned following a long VAR check.

“I knew it wasn’t a penalty,” he said. “Don’t get me wrong, I had my arm on him but you have to do that in the box. You have to try and stop him, I’m not just going to let him go.

“He just fell to the floor and it wasn’t a pen. I was confident it would get overturned.

“We just had to stay calm. We were a bit naive again at times, we just had to control the game a little bit better, but in the end we got the job done and it’s a historic night for the club.

“Honestly, I’m just lost for words. It’s very special.”