Declan Rice has said Arsenal ‘fully believe’ the club can win the Champions League this season.
Arsenal progressed into the Champions League semi-finals for the first time since 2008/09 after beating Real Madrid at the Bernabeu on Wednesday evening.
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Goals from Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli secured a 2-1 win in the Spanish capital and an emphatic 5-1 aggregate win.
Arsenal have eliminated the holders in convincing fashion and will now take on Paris Saint-Germain for a place in the final. Rice believes the Gunners are on the verge of something special and said there is a real belief within the squad that the North Londoners can win the Champions League for the first time this season.
“I sensed it when I signed, we were on an upward trajectory for the club,” he reflected to TNT Sports.
“It’s been tough in the Premier League, but in this competition we’ve done exceptionally well. We all fully believe it. We’ve got full trust in this manager, he’s unbelievable. We’ve got young lads who really want it as well. We just want to take tonight in, take it one step at a time. We’ve got PSG next, who are an amazing team.”
Rice scored twice in the first leg and claimed the man-of-the-match award in the Bernabeu. The England midfielder hailed the performance from Arsenal, on a ‘historic night’ for the club.
“Back-to-back [Player of the Match awards]. It’s such a special night for this club, it’s a historic night for this club. We have an objective in this competition, we want to play the best teams. We want to win this competition.
“There was a lot of talk about [Madrid] coming back, because they’ve come back so many times before, but we had a lot of confidence about coming here and winning the game. We knew we were going to suffer, but we knew we were going to win. We did it in real life. What a night for the club.”
Read – Arsenal reach Champions League semi-final after Bernabeu win
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