Declan Rice snubbed Zinedine Zidane when naming his favourite Real Madrid player of all time

Arsenal star Declan Rice overlooked Zinedine Zidane when he picked out his favourite Real Madrid player of all time.

Last week, Englishman Rice stunned Spanish La Liga giants Madrid after scoring two incredible freekicks during the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final.

As a result of Rice's goals and a strike by Mikel Merino, the Gunners are protecting a 3-0 advantage when the second leg takes place at the Bernabeu on Wednesday night.

Back in 2022, Rice revealed that former Madrid star David Beckham had been one of his heroes growing up and he also picked out Brazilian legend Ronaldo Nazario as his favourite, snubbing legends such as Zidane, Iker Casillas and Luis Figo.

As reported by the Daily Mail, Rice explained: "This [Beckham, 23] was my favourite shirt as a kid, I remember going on holiday with my brothers and my family and non-stop wearing this shirt.

"It’s iconic, with Becks on the back. Probably my favourite kit of all time. So many good players, obviously Becks was the icon, to have this shirt and to have his name on the back was a dream as a kid."

He continued: "Some of the assists he got for those players was top. So, yeah, I’d put Becks up there but R9 (Ronaldo Nazario) was my favourite."

Declan Rice scored two stunning freekicks against Real Madrid last week. Image: Getty

Rice will now be aiming to make history this season by helping Arsenal win their first ever Champions League trophy.

If the Gunners manage to hold off an expected Madrid charge, they will take on French champions Paris Saint Germain in the last four after they knocked out Aston Villa on Tuesday night.

On the other side of the draw, Barcelona have already secured their place in the semi-final after dispatching German Bundesliga side Borussia Dortmund.

Meanwhile, Bayern Munich and Inter Milan will be battling to complete the semi-final lineup.

Domestically, it has been a disappointing season for Arsenal as their dream of winning the Premier League now looks to be over with Liverpool needing just six more points to clinch the title.

However, Arsenal could still end the season on the highest of highs by winning the big one, the Champions League trophy.