Rice fires brace as Arsenal blank Real, inch towards SF

Declan Rice put Arsenal on the brink of reaching the Champions League semi-finals by curling home two free kicks that Real Madrid's most famous "galacticos" would have been proud of.

- Associated Press [e-mail]

scored from a direct free kick before in his career. "It's been in the locker, but I've hit the wall too many times or it's gone over the bar," Rice told broadcaster Amazon Prime. "Originally we were going to cross it and then I've just seen the wall and the goalkeeper's position. So I thought just go for it."

Mikel Merino added the third in the 75th to put Arsenal on the brink of returning to the semifinals for the first time since 2009.

In the other quarterfinal match Tuesday, Inter Milan won 2-1 at Bayern Munich.