Declan Rice said Arsenal "knew we would win at the Santiago Bernabeu" in their Champions League quarter-final second leg against Real Madrid. The Gunners reached their first semi-final since 2009 after another 2:1 win over Real, this time to oust the them 5:1 on aggregate. Rice was named Man of the Match for the second time after scoring two free-kicks in the first leg at Emirates.

"It's such a special night, a historic night for this club. Our aim is to play against the best and win the tournament. We had so much belief and confidence after the first leg and we came here to win. We knew we were going to suffer, but we also knew we were going to win. We were mentally ready and then we delivered on the pitch. What a night. I knew when I signed that this club was on the upswing. Things are tough in the Premier League but we are doing incredibly well in this competition. This club is going to achieve some special things in the next few years - we have confidence in the manager and young players like Miles Lewis-Skelly. It's great. Now we have PSG, who are an exceptional team", the Gunners midfielder said.

Manager Arteta added that the team can be proud of their performance. "One of the best nights of my career. We played against the team with the richest history. A real inspiration for us. The way we won both games - we should be proud of ourselves. It's very difficult - in two or three minutes everything can turn in this stadium. Fortunately, things went in our favor. Overall, we did enough to move on. Our history in this tournament is too short, we are in the semi-finals for the third time. We have to build on that. Without Pep Guardiola I wouldn't be here", he paid tribute to the Manchester City manager, with whom he worked for several years at the Etihad before taking over at Arsenal.

Real coach Carlo Ancelotti was understandably disappointed and acknowledged the superiority of his opponent. "Arsenal were better than us. We tried to give our best. Maybe the penalty that was not given after the intervention of VAR was the turning point. That could have changed things. But Arsenal defended very well. We had difficulty finding empty spaces. We were better than usual in our level of intensity, but it wasn't enough. We have done very well in recent seasons, but this year we had to suffer. Things didn't go as we expected, but that's sport, there are no invincible teams. I don't know if I will continue to lead the team tomorrow", the Italian specialist hinted at parting ways with the club. | BGNES