Arsenal news: Rice reveals free-kick secrets as Bellingham fires warning

Arsenal have one foot in the Champions League semi-finals after their incredible 3-0 win over Real Madrid, with the Gunners now preparing for a home game against Brentford before that crucial second leg at the Bernabeu

Arsenal fans are on cloud nine after their incredible 3-0 win over Real Madrid in the Champions League quarter-final first leg. The Gunners have an incredible chance to reach the semi-finals after a thumping victory over the reigning European champions.

Mikel Arteta's men had raced into a 2-0 lead through two magnificent free kicks from Declan Rice - the first two dead balls he had scored in his entire football career - before Mikel Merino added a third. They will now take a superb advantage to the Bernabeu next week.

Arsenal have a home game against Brentford on Saturday, sandwiched in the middle of their crucial away leg, but the Gunners will surely have one eye on their trip to the Spanish capital.

Ahead of Arsenal's next two games, Mirror Football has taken a look at the biggest Arsenal news and gossip.

Rice explains free-kick technique change

Some supporters are scratching their heads over how Rice managed to dispatch two beautifully taken free kicks against such quality opposition when he had never scored one in his entire career.

The England midfielder took both efforts with such confidence and precision - the second one better than the first as it flew into the top right-hand corner beyond Thibaut Courtois' grasp.

Rice was asked about his free kick technique after the game by club legend Thierry Henry and the player said he had decided to keep looking down at the ball, rather than looking up after taking it.

Speaking to Rice, Henry said: "But you know what I like with the technique is you whipped it so hard early and you didn’t let your foot go, if you know what I mean, you held it."

Rice replied: "I feel like when I practice these free-kicks, what I tend to notice is when I make the contact and I look up quick, it’s not the strike I want.

"When I look down on the ball and just focus on the ball and know in the spot I want to put it in, I tend to have more consistency with it and obviously, that’s a one in a, I don’t know what moment. I’ve been practicing it and it’s come off and to score two, it won’t hit me what I’ve done."

How Arsenal stopped Mbappe

The free kicks aside, Arsenal put in a superb defensive shift to keep a clean sheet and shackle Madrid's biggest attacking threats, with the likes of Kylian Mbappe, Vinicius Jr and Jude Bellingham all having a quiet night.

It was even more impressive given that Arsenal had lost their top defender Gabriel Magalhaes to injury before the game, with back-up Jakub Kiwior stepping in superbly to help the team maintain their rigid shape.

Mbappe in particular was virtually non existent in the game as he missed a great chance in the first half before going missing in the second, and Kiwior said Arsenal had done their homework on Madrid's big hitters in the build-up.

"We analyse a lot before the match. We also know these players very well. We know what their strengths are and that they are very fast.

"You can't fully prepare for this during training, only mentally. You have to prepare for the fact that there will be a lot of running, a lot of very fast running. You have to prepare for this before the match and realise it during the match."

He added: "It was an important match for us. We felt it especially today. But when we arrived at the stadium, we didn't put any pressure on ourselves in the locker room. We knew very well who we were playing against, but we kept a cool head and scored a goal. And from that moment on, we controlled the course of the game."

Bellingham's warning

While Arsenal are in an amazing position to knock out the reigning champions and qualify for the semi-finals, Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti has insisted the tie is far from over - insisting "the comeback starts tonight" - and his midfielder Jude Bellingham has echoed that sentiment.

Bellingham was subdued on the night, like many of his team-mates, and admitted that Madrid's performance was not good enough - even claiming Arsenal could have scored more than they did.

However, he fired a warning at Arsenal by pointing out that the Bernebeu is "where crazy things happen", as he said Madrid were still alive".

"We were nowhere near it," Bellingham told Amazon Prime. "That's the fact and Arsenal were really good. I know two of their goals were free-kicks but they could have had way more.

"There is a second leg and that's what we're holding on to. We need something really special, something crazy really but one place where crazy things happen is our house. 90 more minutes at home to pull something out of the bag.

"They're two great pieces of individual quality and if it wasn't for them, they still have other chances. We got punished and that happens at top-level football. In these games, you need to create more.

"Very rarely do you come to a place like this score one goal and take your lead back home. They reacted really well to the transition. We didn't do enough on the ball to threaten. We're still alive, we've got 90 mins of football and anything can happen at the Bernabeu."