Ally McCoist comments on Arsenal star speak volumes after 'monumental' display (2025)

Declan Rice produced another sensational display as Arsenal beat Real Madrid - backing up his stellar first-leg performance as the Gunners advanced in the Champions League

Ally McCoist hailed Declan Rice after a "monumental" performance as Arsenal dumped holders Real Madrid out of the Champions League. The Gunners completed their quarter-final mission by winning at the Bernabeu with a stellar display.

Rice made headlines with two stunning free-kicks in the first-leg as he helped the north Londoners secure a 3-0 victory. The Premier League outfit backed up that performance with a win in the Spanish capital, advancing with a 5-1 aggregate win.

Rice again took centre stage and he was named as the Player of the Match after excelling in the middle of the park, keeping the likes of Jude Bellingham quiet as Arsenal withstood the pressure thrown at them by Real and gave as good as they got - and then some. The former West Ham man further underlined his quality as he stood up on the grandest stage and he was immediately lauded by McCoist, who watched on whilst on commentary.

He said on TNT Sports: “Declan Rice. He was monumental. He was the best player over the two games by some stretch. His performance tonight yes. His two goals he scored last week, nothing short of outrageous. Absolutely outrageous.

"But his level of performance tonight was quite magnificent.”

Rice is only playing in the Champions League for a second season having moved to Arsenal a little under two years ago. 12 months ago and the Gunners saw their European journey ended by Bayern Munich, who knocked them out in the quarter-finals.

Arsenal have now gone one step further with Rice insisting the squad were always confident they would do a job over Los Blancos despite huge talk of an epic comeback in the Spanish capital. The Premier League is beyond the Gunners with the players now eyeing European glory.

He said: “Yeah, back to back. Such a special night for this club. We just want to win this competition. A lot of talk 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 was gonna suffer, but we knew we was going to win.

"We had it in our mind. What a night for the club.”

Arsenal will face PSG in the semi-finals. The English side have already beaten the Ligue 1 champions, downing them 2-0 at the Emirates earlier in the competition. The Parisians have already knocked out Liverpool and Aston Villa and will face English opposition once again.

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