Rice: Kane obviously deserves Ballon d'Or; Bayern and PSG are the strongest at home

Arsenal drew 2-2 with Bayern Munich away in the third round of the Champions League group stage. After the match, Arsenal midfielder Rice, who scored the equalizer, was interviewed by TNT Sports to discuss the team's performance, Madueke's assist, and Arsenal's tactical approach playing away against Bayern. He also highly praised Kane, believing that his England teammate deserved to win the Ballon d'Or.

Reporter: Let's briefly talk about Kane, who just walked past. Another game where he played a crucial role. I know you were playing for different teams tonight, but from the perspective of an England national team teammate, how much do you think he deserves the Ballon d'Or next Monday?

Rice: Yeah, for me, he's obviously got to be the one. His numbers speak for themselves; what he's done this year is just absolutely phenomenal. Obviously, he's up against some world-class players, but when you play with him, you realise how good he is. And when you play against him, you realise how difficult he is to play against. For a striker, to make that pass for the goal and then take the penalty the way he did—it's just unbelievable. He's a fantastic player, and I'm lucky enough to play with him, but not so lucky to play against him.

Reporter: Let's talk about Arsenal's performance tonight. You eventually equalized, and during the match, it almost felt like Arsenal's goal was coming. It was a fantastic team effort, and your first goal of the season. How does it feel to score such a goal at such a time and in such a stadium?

Rice: Yeah, I'm buzzing. I think when you play against a team like Bayern that goes man-for-man all over the pitch, you have to stick to certain tactical principles. When they're following you, I just kept running and eventually broke away from my marker and got into a position facing goal. So I'm really, really happy.

Reporter: That was indeed a very brilliant team goal. I know you're watching your celebration on screen now. How satisfied are you with such a team effort? Also, what do you think of Madueke's performance tonight? He made another important contribution to the team.

Rice: Yeah, he's been having a really positive impact since he came off the bench. He made a couple of great runs tonight and obviously assisted my goal. As I said, when you're playing against a team like Bayern that goes man-for-man all over the pitch, where everywhere you run someone's going to follow you, it's going to be tough for 95 minutes. You have to stick to certain tactical principles and ideas, and you have to constantly think about where you should run to find space.

Speaking of that goal, Noni made a one-touch pass, and the combination play continued with one-touch passes as I kept running forward. In the end, it's these subtle runs and combinations that get you into a position facing goal. So I'm really happy to have scored. Obviously, 2-2 was a great game—both teams put on a very entertaining show—but I feel we could have gotten more. Neuer made some fantastic saves, and so did David.

Reporter: You just mentioned that Arsenal came to Bayern's home ground but felt they had a chance for a better result. In recent years, playing away against Bayern has always been very difficult for Arsenal. I know you beat them at home last year, but what does tonight's performance demonstrate about Arsenal's quality? And how much confidence does it show in what you can achieve this season?

Rice: Yes, it shows the mentality of this team. This is also what the coach has been emphasizing to us for the past two days. We came here not to sit back and wait for counter-attacking opportunities. We wanted to confront them head-on, go man-for-man, and press them all over the pitch. Of course, sometimes it's very difficult to play like this, because you might lose track of the player you're marking. But you have to keep going, keep running, and keep working hard. I think when playing at home, Bayern might be one of the best teams in Europe—arguably them and Paris Saint-Germain are the strongest at home in Europe. So to come here tonight and show ourselves in this way, with this passion and physical intensity, I think the team's performance was really excellent. Now we need to move on to the next game and maintain this momentum.

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