Declan Rice was ‘delighted’ with how Arsenal reached a second Champions League semi-final in as many years despite a goalless draw at the Emirates Stadium against Sporting CP.
The Gunners had lost three of their last four fixtures and were knocked out of both domestic cup competitions and stumbled in the Premier League with a 2-1 defeat to Bournemouth meaning the pressure is mounting on Mikel Arteta’s side.
Arsenal are closing in on winning the Premier League title and will now face Atletico Madrid in the final four of the Champions League as the Gunners chase the two remaining trophies of the season.
Rice, who is being backed to drive Arsenal to silverware, spoke to TNT Sports after Arsenal’s aggregate win and addressed the growing ‘noise’ around the club.
Addressing the next steps of Arsenal’s European campaign, Rice said: “Delighted, so, so happy. It was a really tough test over two games but to go back-to-back semi-finals is an amazing achievement for this group and we want to now go one step further than last year and get to the final.
“We’ve played Atletico already this year, it was a really good game and we know what to expect so bring on these last couple of weeks.”
Rice was then asked if there was any frustration with tonight’s performance as the Gunners weren’t able to break down Sporting and guarantee a win at home.
“Frustrating? Nah, we’ve just got to a semi-final,” he replied. “No frustration, positivity all the way.
“Who cares what people think? All that matters is what this group thinks, what the manager thinks and we’re in another semi-final. I’m delighted.
“You want to be able to score goals. Most teams that come here, we play against 5-4-1 every time so there’s a bit of perspective with that. Every time we’ve played this season changes from a four to a five to defend against us so the spaces aren’t there as much.
“It’s on us to find ways to score and break it down but we’re playing against top players every week. We’ll keep going, keep playing well, keep getting over the line. Bring it on.”
The recent defeats have also raised concerns about Arsenal’s ability to close out the season with silverware and Rice admitted that the noise comes all the time when playing for a club like Arsenal.
“There’s noise with everything, this is Arsenal football club,” he said.
“There’s noise with every game, there’s scrutiny. We don’t play well, we play good, take it with a pinch of salt. It’s a rollercoaster, no-one’s going to hand you anything in this game so we keep going and what will be will be.
“Yeah, of course, you have to win every game. We want to win every game in the Premier League. Our record this year has been amazing, that’s why we play the game. We’ll be ready for it [Sunday’s clash with Man City], we’ll be ready to go so how much do you want it?”