Arsenal 3-0 Real Madrid - 3 takeaways as Gunners obliterate Spanish giants

Arsenal blew Real Madrid off the park with a 3-0 win at the Emirates, with Declan Rice the man of the moment.

Arsenal has put forth perhaps the best-ever 90 minutes of football under Mikel Arteta as the Gunners curb-stomped Real Madrid 3-0 in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final clash.

Two sublime Declan Rice free kicks and a Mikel Merino goal, all in the space of 17 second-half minutes, saw the Gunners tear apart Madrid in a way not many sides have in recent years.

The Emirates was rocking as Arsenal had winners across every position on a night where they simply had to be at their best...and they were.

It now means the Gunners are in a great position to progress to the semi-finals but make no mistake, this tie is far from over with Real more than capable of slamming home three goals on their own deck.

Still, if Arsenal manages to progress, this night will live long in the memory of fans in a similar way Thierry Henry's goal against Real does from 2006.

What a night, and what a win.

3 takeaways from Arsenal's win over Real Madrid

Rice, Rice baby!

The shackles have well and truly been dropped as Declan was a menace in the middle of the park and in truth, every blade of grass was covered from the England international as he has now been given the green light to roam forward.

His two free-kick goals are done an injustice in word format, but they were simply sublime with Thibaut Courtois powerless to stop either.

It was games like this that Rice was bought for, and on perhaps the biggest night in the club's history in well over a decade, he stepped up to deliver two hammer blows to the Spanish giants.

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