In football, there are moments that drift beyond tactics — moments where time folds, legends breathe, and a player becomes something more than his role. On a roaring night at the Emirates, Declan Rice did just that.

Declan Rice channelled his inner David Beckham to score a brace of exquisite free-kicks to give Arsenal a first leg advantage in their Champions League tie.

Declan Rice put Arsenal on the brink of reaching the Champions League semifinals by curling home two free kicks that Real Madrid’s most famous “galacticos” would have been proud of. Rice opened the scoring by bending one free kick around the Madrid wall in the 58th minute and sent another into the top corner in the 70th as Arsenal won the first leg of the quarterfinals 3-0 at the Emirates Stadium.