Real Madrid 1-2 Arsenal (1-5 Agg), UCL: Gunners Desperate For Champions League Glory, Says Declan Rice

Declan Rice declared Arsenal are desperate to win the Champions League after reaching the last four with a 2-1 victory against Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu, sealing an emphatic 5-1 aggregate win. (Match Report | (Match Highlights | More Football News)

Wednesday's impressive away performance saw Arsenal reach the Champions League semi-finals for the third time in their history, after 2005-06 and 2008-09.

Bukayo Saka made amends for his 13th-minute penalty miss with a second-half opener in the Spanish capital, only for Vinicius Junior to pull a goal back after William Saliba's error two minutes later.

Gabriel Martinelli then snatched the win and sealed progression with a stoppage-time finish on the break, and Rice is eager for Arsenal to go all the way in Europe.

"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," said Rice, speaking to TNT Sports.

"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 at 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."

Myles Lewis-Skelly echoed Rice's comments after Arsenal eliminated the Champions League holders from the competition for just the second time, previously doing so against AC Milan in 2007-08.

"It was incredible. When you see it [the Bernabeu] on TV, it is a lot different to what it is live," he told TNT Sports.

"The fans don't make it easy for us. As long as we stuck together and backed each other through the highs and lows, we knew we would be fine."

It was not all routine for Rice on Wednesday, though, after he gave away a first-half penalty when adjudged to have pulled back Kylian Mbappe from a Madrid free-kick.

However, following a VAR review, the penalty and subsequent yellow card for Rice were rescinded.

"I knew it wasn't a penalty. I had my arm on him, but I knew it wasn't a pen. I am an honest guy," said Rice.

"He fell to the floor, and I was fully confident it would get overturned. In the end, we got the job done, and it is a historic night for the club."

Arsenal will face Paris Saint-Germain in the semi-final of the Champions League, having already beaten them 2-0 in the league phase.

"Top team. We played them once already, but they're a different team from what they were back then," said Rice.