ARSENAL's Declan Rice pulled rank on his captain and the club's set piece coach and it proved an inspired decision as he struck two sublime free kicks to help secure a 3-0 win over Real Madrid in the Champions League quarter-final first leg on Tuesday.

When Arsenal winger Bukayo Saka was fouled in a central position 30 metres from goal just before the hour mark at The Emirates Stadium with the score 0-0, Rice consulted with skipper Martin Odegaard who told him to chip in a cross.

That was also the message coming from coach Nicolas Jover on the touchline and, considering Rice had never scored a direct free kick in well over 300 senior career games, it seemed like good advice in a game of such high stakes.

But the 26-year-old Rice had other ideas and dispatched a right-footed shot that curled around the wall and back inside the post to beat goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois -- an effort that would have done watching Brazilian great Roberto Carlos proud.

Twelve minutes later, from a similar position, Rice was at it again, dipping another unstoppable effort into the top corner to become the first player to score two direct free kicks in the knockout rounds of the Champions League.

"I'm a bit speechless to honest with you. I'm so happy that I've scored those two goals for the club and to beat Real Madrid, such a historic club in this competition, it's such a big night for us," Rice said in a pitch-side interview.

Asked what was being said in the huddle before his first goal, Rice said the original plan was to cross the ball into the danger area as he is so adept at doing. "We lined up with three at the back (post) for a reverse cross but Bukayo said if you feel it, and I thought 'you know what I'm going to take this', and when it went in it was the best feeling in the world.

"It didn't make sense from that angle to cross the ball, it would have had to have been such a delicate pass so I just thought go for it. "(Jover's) claiming it but he's told me to cross it! You have to make the most of these moments in games. I'm happy I took it because it was a magic moment.

"Then after the first one I just had the confidence (for the second one) and had nothing to lose." Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta also looked stunned when Rice's first sizzler struck the net.

"That's the beauty of whoever invented this sport. We hadn't scored a (direct) free kick since September 2021. And tonight, against Real Madrid at home in the Champions League, we scored two in 13 minutes," the Spaniard said.

"If there's a player who can do it, how clean he strikes it, it's Declan. "The third goal by Mikel Merino means Arsenal have one foot in the semi-finals for the first time since 2009 but Rice says nothing is decided yet against the record 15-times winners.

"Even though we're 3-0 up, the individual quality that they have and what they can produce is scary. And also it's the Bernabeu and in the Champions League, special things happen there for them. We're ready to go there and give it everything."

The hosts had the better of the first half as Real began slowly, with Eduardo Camavinga almost conceding a calamitous own goal when he blocked Antonio Rudiger's clearance before Thomas Partey shot straight at goalkeeper Thibault Courtois.

Real, bidding for a record-extending 16th title in the competition, grew into the contest and threatened on the break, though their few opportunities came from Arsenal errors and the visitors looked disjointed throughout the contest.

Courtois was by far the busier keeper and produced a stunning double save, the first from a powerful Rice header, on the stroke of halftime. There was no stopping Rice's opener, though, a fierce curling shot around the wall and beyond Courtois in the 58th minute for his first senior goal from a direct free kick.

"It's been in the locker, but I've hit the wall too many times or it's gone over the bar. Originally I was going to cross it and then I've just have seen the wall with the goalkeeper's position. I thought ... just go for it," Rice said.

Arsenal could have been 2-0 up shortly after but for more heroics from Courtois, who produced a diving stop from Gabriel Martinelli followed by another from makeshift striker Merino in between David Alaba's goal-line block.

Rice's second free kick was even better than the first, curled straight into the top corner in the 70th minute, to leave the 15-times European champions looking stunned. Merino then coolly fired Myles Lewis-Skelly's pull-back into the bottom corner 15 minutes from time, following a pass from substitute Leandro Trossard, to give Arsenal a sizeable lead to take to Madrid next week.

The winners of the tie will face either Aston Villa or Paris St Germain, who meet on Wednesday, in the semi-finals. 'BRILLIANT GAME'

"We've had a brilliant game, we had a lot of motivation, that's why we won," Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta said. "We have a game next week in the Bernabeu, we have to demonstrate we can do that again next week."

Real will have to try and overhaul Arsenal's lead without Camavinga, who was shown a second yellow card in the closing seconds for kicking the ball away. The visitors did have some half-chances, most notably through Kylian Mbappe who scuffed his shot at the end of a fast break with the score at 0-0 in the first half.

But Real were unconvincing in attack and have now conceded 11 goals in their last four games in all competitions, while Arsenal have not lost a European tie when scoring three goals in the first leg.

Unused substitute Lucas Vazquez conceded Real were nowhere near their best but nonetheless, given his side's European pedigree, warned Arsenal his team were far from finished. "The tie is complicated, but if there's one team in the world that can turn it around, it's us, in our stadium and with our fans," he told Movistar Plus.

Real will hope to take heart from the 1975-76 European Cup when they lost 4-1 away to Derby County in the first leg of the second round but won the return 5-1 at home.