Thierry Henry spotted something he's never seen before from 'possessed' Arsenal player vs Real Madrid

Thierry Henry claimed an Arsenal player did something he had never seen before during the Gunners’ 3-0 win against Real Madrid in the Champions League quarter-final first leg at the Emirates on Tuesday.

Declan Rice’s free-kick brace and Mikel Merino’s smart finish handed Arsenal a healthy advantage ahead of next Wednesday’s second leg against Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu.

After the match, Rice, 26, was interviewed by CBS Sports’ panel of Henry, 47, Micah Richards, Jamie Carragher and Kate Scott – formerly Abdo.

“First and foremost, the game that you had, it was crazy the way you played,” said Henry.

“It looked like you played the game because you wanted to prove a point. I don’t know to who – to your teammates, the fans or some people – I don’t know, but you were possessed tonight.”

"I probably should've had two [goals] in the first half,” said Rice. “I didn't run, I could've had a tap-in and then the header. Obviously, I scored the two goals. I just went out there fearless, and I was ready to prove a point. And yeah, we did that.”

The England midfielder then talked the panel through his thinking during the build-up to his first free kick and credited Bukayo Saka for his decision to shoot rather than cross.

"Before this all was happening, our set piece coach, we was planning to cross the ball to that post," Rice revealed.

"He wanted us to reverse cross it to the back post and I stood with Bukayo and I said, 'It doesn't feel right to cross the ball here. And I looked at the wall, then I looked at Courtois, and I see that space for the right foot around the outside of the wall, and Bukayo said, 'If you feel it, take it,' and I said, 'You know what, I'm going for it.' And if you don't take the risk, you don't score. As soon as it left my foot, I knew it had a chance, and it's one of them historic moments."

Arsenal return to Premier League action on Saturday when they face Brentford at the Emirates before they turn their attention to the second leg. As for Madrid, they will travel to face Alaves on Sunday.