Gabriel’s Comment to Declan Rice After Arsenal 3-0 Real Madrid Goes Viral

Arsenal enjoyed one of their finest nights in the club’s long and storied history with a resounding 3-0 victory against Real Madrid on Tuesday – and Gabriel’s post-match reaction to Declan Rice’s duo of free-kicks in the changing room has begun to go viral.

Englishman Rice produced two of the best free-kicks in recent memory, while Mikel Merino completed a job well done. But, in truth, the scoreline flattered the Spanish behemoths – who struggled to string anything of note together in north London.

Before beating the imposing Thibaut Courtois on two occasions, Rice had never scored directly from a set-piece in his career. First off, he curled his effort around the Real Madrid wall and left the Belgian with very little in the 58th minute.

It took him just 12 minutes to produce another moment of obscene magic. A collective thought of ‘he couldn’t, could he?’ ran through the minds of fans and pundits alike as he wrapped his second effort into the top right-hand corner.

Both laced with what looked like relative ease, the gifted 26-year-old put in a performance for the ages – and the Spanish media were left stunned by his engine room display, all while lashing out at the reigning champions’ flat performance.

Thus, it’s advantage Arsenal as the two prepare to meet on Spanish soil next week – and that’s despite having to alleviate the loss of Gabriel, who has been ruled out for the rest of the 2024/25 campaign with a hamstring injury from their win over Fulham.

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As Rice – widely regarded as one of the best midfielders in world football – returned to the home side’s dressing room with the Player of the Match going in hand, his injured teammate Gabriel couldn’t help but give him some words of praise.

“Oh my God! Give me your right foot please!” he said on his Instagram live. As Rice began to walk away, the out-of-action central defender could be heard shouting: “No, come here, Dec! Give me, give me, give me! Ohhh, unbelievable brother!”

Footage has also emerged of Gabriel’s live reaction. In utter disbelief over Rice’s combination of technique and power, the Brazilian – as evidenced by the clip below – was at a loss for words, reducing him to a scream and a hand over the mouth.

As Arsenal extended their lead, courtesy of Merino’s well-taken effort just inside the 18-yard box, Gabriel and his family, who were watching from the Emirates stand, were in utter jubilation at the prospect of having one foot in the Champions League semi-finals.

Looking to overturn the three-goal deficit next Wednesday, Jude Bellingham – and his fellow teammates – are also set to visit Deportivo Alaves in La Liga on Sunday afternoon as they attempt to close the gap on arch-rivals Barcelona.