Declan Rice

 

Arsenal fans must have breathed a sigh of relief when Kylian Mbappe’s early goal on Wednesday night was chalked off for offside. The Gunners ultimately eased into the semi-finals of the Champions League as they defeated the defending champions 5-1 on aggregate as goals from Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli secured a famous 2-1 win at the Bernabeu in midweek. 

 

The tie as a contest, though, was over last week as Arsenal claimed a 3-0 home win over Los Blancos. Thibaut Courtois did all he could for the La Liga powerhouse in the capital but was powerless to deny Declan Rice from firing Mikel Arteta’s side to a fine first leg advantage. Indeed, Rice, who’d never scored a senior free-kick in his life, bagged two in the space of 12 minutes at the Emirates. 

 

Rice was key as Arsenal progressed to the next round of Europe’s elite club competition as he made more interceptions (6) than any other player in the quarter-finals of the Champions League. A WhoScored rating of 8.34 was enough to make the Champions League Team of the Round, and deservedly so. 

 

Ballon d’Or – Winner Betting Odds

 

 

And his performances across both legs with Real Madrid hasn’t been lost on punters, with Rice going from 250/1 to as short as 40/1 to win the Ballon d’Or with some bookmakers. While he is still some way off the favourite for the individual award, those will only shorten further should the 26-year-old play a key role for Arsenal in their bid to progress beyond PSG in the semi-finals of the Champions League. 

 

Barcelona star Raphinha is presently the 2/1 favourite to win the accolade given his role in the Blaugrana’s domestic and European pursuit of silverware. Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah is now at 5/1, PSG forward Ousmane Dembele at 6/1 and Barcelona prodigy Lamine Yamal at 8/1 win the award, while striker Robert Lewandowski is at 12/1 to land the Ballon d’Or. Real Madrid striker Kylian Mbappe has since drifted to 14/1 with some bookmakers following Wednesday’s Champions League exit. 

 

 

While Rice endured an indifferent start to the season as Arsenal sought to capitalise upon Manchester City’s downturn, the former West Ham man is starting to come in clutch for the Premier League powerhouse as they seek a first major piece of European silverware since 1994.

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