Declan Rice named UCL Player of the Week for stunning free-kicks vs Real Madrid

London, April 11 (IANS) Declan Rice has been named the UEFA Champions League Player of the Week following his two stunning free-kicks against Real Madrid on Wednesday (IST).

The midfielder put Arsenal ahead in north London when he curled the dead ball past Thibaut Courtois in the 58th minute, before netting his brace with an even more audacious finish from further out.

That means the midfielder became the first player in Champions League history to score two direct free-kick goals in a knockout stage match while it was just the fifth time overall a player had scored more than one in the same game, joining an exclusive club that contains Cristiano Ronaldo, Hakim Ziyech, Neymar and Rivaldo. What makes the feat even more impressive is that it was the first time in Rice's professional career that he had scored a direct free-kick.

He has now scored four goals in Arsenal's last three home Champions League matches, taking his tally up to seven for the campaign, matching last season's output.

Voted by supporters, Declan beat Khvicha Kvaratskhelia of Paris Saint-Germain, Barcelona's Robert Lewandowski and Alessandro Bastoni of Inter Milan to the award.

The accolades don’t stop there for Arsenal though, as Rice, Jurrien Timber and William Saliba were all named in the Champions League Team of the Week after their starring roles against Madrid.

Rice had reflected on his goals after the game and claimed he would spend the entire night watching it on repeat.

“They (his free-kicks) were really good. To be honest with you, I'm not used to all of this praise and media and just people saying how good the free-kicks were! I've seen them back a few times now but I think I'll be up watching it all night. It's an incredible moment, I can't believe it.

"As soon as I hit the first one and it went in, I thought 'That's my first ever free kick!' And then I just had the confidence over the second one. I just thought, 'Why not? What have I got to lose?' I was going to go over the wall and I thought: 'I've got the keeper's side, on a good one'. I've been practising that a lot," said Rice.

--IANS

aaa/ab