Ally McCoist leads the praise of ‘monumental’ Declan Rice after superb Real Madrid display – as Rio Ferdinand says he ‘ran the show’ over both legs

Declan Rice has been hailed following his man of the match performance against Real Madrid.

Rice put in a brilliant display in the second leg of Arsenal’s Champions League quarter-final tie against Real on Wednesday, with the Gunners winning 2-1 on the night to progress to the final four thanks to a 5-1 aggregate victory.

It came after Rice also picked up man of the match in his side’s 3-0 first leg win last week when he scored two stunning free kicks.

The England international was everywhere at the Bernabeu and helped to ensure that Real never threatened a comeback in the tie as the Gunners cruised through.

His stunning performance generated traction and towards the end of the clash, Rio Ferdinand lauded Rice and the qualities he had shown.

‘You need games like this in your career,’ said Ferdinand, referencing the 26-year-old on commentary during TNT Sports’ coverage.

‘You need to get to places like that to be judged. And Declan Rice has been asked the questions against the holders of this competition. Can you compete at this level?

‘He’s not competing, he’s ran the show over two games… he’s really put himself in a different bracket now.’

Ally McCoist agreed and couldn’t quite get over what he had seen from the midfielder across both legs of the tie.

‘Declan Rice… he was monumental,’ McCoist said. ‘He was the best player over the two games by some stretch. 

‘The two goals he scored last week were nothing short of outrageous, absolutely outrageous set plays, but the level of his performance tonight was quite magnificent.’

The praise continued to fly in from all angles, with Man City star Jack Grealish, an England team-mate and close friend of Rice, also showing his appreciation.

Posting a picture of Rice being interviewed on TV on his Instagram story, Grealish added: ‘What a player man.’

Elsewhere, Gunners boss Mikel Arteta said: ‘I think tonight he was immense. He turned the game around the moment that the game was 50/50. 

‘He got the ball, he turned the game. I think he was immense today. He made a difference in the tie.’ 

Meanwhile, speaking after the game, Rice expressed his delight at what Arsenal had achieved by reaching the Champions League semi-finals. 

He said: ‘It’s just 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 and we want to win the competition. 

‘There was a lot of talk coming here about them coming back because they’ve done it so many times before, but we had so much belief and confidence from that first leg that we had enough to come here and win the game. 

‘We knew we were going to suffer but we knew we were going to win. We had it in our minds and then we did it in real life. What a night for the club.’

Rice also went on to reflect about the current position Arsenal are in and revealed his excitement at what he believes lies ahead for the club.  

‘It’s massive (getting to the semi-finals),’ he added. ‘I sensed it before I signed that we were on an upward trajectory as a club. I felt it, the players we’ve got, the direction we want to go in. 

‘It’s been tough in the Premier League because we lost out last year on a point and this year, it’s slipped away from us. But in this competition, we’ve done amazingly well. 

‘This club’s going to do special things over the next few years. We all fully believe it, we have full trust in this manager. He’s unbelievable. 

‘We have young players coming through like him [Lewis-Skelly], Ethan [Nwaneri] who really want it as well. We’ve got a real mix and like you said, semi-finals, it’s massive for us. 

‘We just want to take tonight in and want to take it one step at a time. PSG next who are an amazing team.’

Arsenal’s final four clash against PSG will take place on April 29/30 and May 6/7, with the final date yet to be confirmed.

The two teams did meet in the group stages when the Gunners ran out comfortable 2-0 winners, although PSG have dramatically improved since then and knocked out both Liverpool and Aston Villa in their run to the semi-finals. 

Arteta’s side return to action on Sunday when they travel to Ipswich, before they host Crystal Palace next Wednesday.