Mikel Arteta singles out 'immense' Arsenal star after historic Real Madrid win

Mikel Arteta hailed Arsenal's stunning European triumph as evidence of their potential to conquer the Champions League as he singled out midfielder Declan Rice for praise. The Gunners secured a staggering 5-1 aggregate win, capped by Gabriel Martinelli's dramatic last-minute goal, to set up a semi-final clash with Paris Saint Germain. Arteta says that the victory over 15-time European champions Real Madrid is merely the beginning, as Arsenal aim to enhance their modest record in a tournament they have yet to win.

The Arsenal manager, who has steered the team to their first semi-final in 16 years, remarked: "We played against a team with the biggest history. It has been an inspiration for all of us, this competition. To be able to win the tie in the manner we have done - I think we have to be very proud of ourselves. Fortunately, a lot of things went for us. Overall, we did what we had to do to win the game. The history we have in this competition is so short. The third time in our history of what we have just done and we have to build on that. All this experience is going to help us, for sure. We had full belief that we could beat this team and the players did it."

Despite Thomas Partey's suspension for the next match, Arteta remains confident in Arsenal's chances and praised the "immense" Rice who was everywhere on the night in Spain.

Arteta added: "I watched the PSG game last night and it was a crazy game. I know the manager [Luis Enrique] really well, but let's enjoy tonight. Tonight, Declan was immense. He turned the game around. He was immense today. He made a difference."

Rice said himself: "It is such a special night for this club, a historic night for this club. We had an objective in this competition - we want to win this competition. We had so much belief and confidence that we had enough to come here and win the game.

"We had it in our mind and we have done it in real life. What a night for the club. It is massive. I sensed it before I turned up to the club that we were on an upward trajectory.

"In this competition, we have done amazingly well. We fully believe it and we have full trust in the manager - he is unbelievable. Semi-final, it is massive for us and we want to take tonight in."

While Real Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois admitted: "I honestly can't remember David Raya having to pull of a really big save. We lost to an Arsenal side which was superior to us and we just have to accept that fact. It's time now to analyse in depth what we can do better."