Rice full of emotion on historic UCL night | Interview | News

Declan Rice was almost lost for words after playing his part in our memorable Champions League semi-final victory over Atletico Madrid.

The midfielder put in another tireless midfield showing, helping to guide us through to the final for the first time for 20 years. Afterwards he said it’s the best night he’s ever been involved in at Emirates Stadium, and gave credit to the supporters, who brought the noise even before kick off, when the coach arrived at the stadium pre-match.

“I can’t describe it to be honest with you,” he said at full-time. “It’s been coming, this night at the Emirates in general, I think it’s the best night at the Emirates that I’ve witnessed, even better than the Real Madrid game last year.

“From the moment we drove in today, the coaches stopped and we thought, what’s going on? Because usually we just drive straight in, and the next thing we just see all the flares and the fans and the goosebumps from all the players looking out the window, it was just incredible.

“I’ve not seen the Emirates like that, so a big thank you to the fans because we needed that. And when we came in as well, you could feel the energy from everyone. Even if you’re tired, it just gives you that energy to keep going, and I think they played a massive part tonight in making us win.

“This era of Arsenal fans, I know people who have been there from the start have had a lot of ups and downs, but I’m sure this is really up there for them. So, I’m happy we’ve done it for the club and for this set of players and our manager because everyone deserves it, so, so happy.”

While the supporters certainly played their part off the pitch, the players got the job done in fantastic fashion on it, seeing out a famous 1-0 win with little alarm in the end, to book our place in the final in Budapest at the end of the month.

“It’s a blur to be honest with you because you look up at the clock and you just think, it’s still so long to go. And you’ve got to stay composed because you know what’s at stake. But I feel like we could have had maybe one or two more, but to win the game and get into a final is just so special.”

It means that we are in the showpiece final for the first time since we played Barcelona in Paris back in 2006, with a chance to make history, and become champions of Europe for the first time ever.

“It’s crazy saying that,” Rice said. “Bring it on, bring it on – I’ll be ready. Let’s see what happens. Budapest, I want every Arsenal fan out there. 200,000 of you, come out! Let’s try and do it because we’re going to need all the support, all the energy and let’s make it really special.”