The seven words Bukayo Saka said to Declan Rice before his first free-kick that changed everything

Declan Rice has revealed the seven-word instruction Arsenal teammate Bukayo Saka gave him before he scored his first free-kick of the evening against Real Madrid in the Champions League quarter-final first leg on Tuesday.

Rice, 26, made the difference in what proved to be a convincing win for Arsenal against Real Madrid at the Emirates.

The England international opened the scoring during the 58^th minute with a sumptuous curled free-kick which gave Los Blancos goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois no chance.

But Rice did not stop there. 12 minutes later he scored an equally impressive second free-kick to hand the Gunners a two-goal advantage before Mikel Merino added a third five minutes later with a smart finish.

And despite Arsenal set-piece coach Nicolas Jover being an integral part of Mikel Arteta’s coaching team, Rice revealed that he ignored instructions from Jover.

"I don’t know if it will ever sink in," Rice said when speaking to Prime Video after the game.

"I fancied both (free-kicks) and to have the confidence, I am a bit speechless."

"Martin [Odegaard] was saying to cross, I said it doesn’t make sense to chip it like that," he revealed. "We practice them all the time, (set-piece coach Nicolas) Jover is telling me to cross and it didn’t make sense."

“Bukayo [Saka] said, ‘If you feel it, go for it,’” Rice added. “I looked at the wall and keeper and said I could bend it and that’s what happened."

The former West Ham midfielder also detailed the process before his second goal.

"We were going to touch and set it, but Mbappe was stood too close,” he said.

“He was in the middle and I just went with it. I practice it a lot. I had the confidence after the first, I had nothing to lose."

Madrid will need to overturn a three-goal deficit during next Wednesday's second leg at the Santiago Bernabeu, something even Los Blancos head coach Carlo Ancelotti admitted was unlikely.

"The chances are pretty slim but we have to try, and we'll try and do it any way we can," Ancelotti said in his post-match press conference. "Let's see if we can pull it off. It feels as though there's no chance after tonight, but things always change in football. Nobody expected Arsenal to score two free-kicks, but anything can happen.

"It's very tough, but stranger things have happened at the Bernabéu."