Rice delivered his first stunning set-piece with 58 minutes gone before striking again 12 minutes later. Mikel Merino grabbed a third to send the Emirates into dreamland ahead of next week’s return fixture at the Bernabeu.
The 15-time European Cup winners, who ended the game with 10 men after Eduardo Camavinga was dismissed for a second yellow in stoppage time, had no answer for a rampant Arsenal as Mikel Arteta’s men pulled off a statement win which saw them put one foot in the semi-finals as they bid to win the Champions League for the first time.
Rice looked stunned as he spoke to Amazon Prime after the match, on what must have been the greatest night of his career so far.
Arsenal’s Declan Rice scores their second goal from a free kick past Real Madrid’s Thibaut Courtois
“I don’t know whether it will ever sink in,” said Rice.
“I’ve gone back to my phone then and it’s gone crazy. To score my first free-kick in a game is a special one. And then when I got the second one. I just had the confidence. I’m speechless really.
“To beat Real Madrid in this competition. It’s a big night for us.
“The manager just said that then. Even if we’re 3-0 up the individual quality they have is scary. At the Bernabeu special things happen for them. We want to be in the Champions League semi-finals.”
He also reflected on his two free-kick goals and admitted he was tempted to cross the ball rather than shoot at goal on the first of his long-range efforts.
“We were saying to cross it,” he reflected. “When they were over a little bit we saw the space Bukayo [Saka] said if you feel it, go for it. I thought I’m going to take this.
“When you score a goal it’s the best feeling in the world. It didn’t make sense from that angle to cross the ball. It would have to be a delicate pass.
“And when I saw the wall. It didn’t make sense to cross. You know what, I’m happy I took it because it was magic.
“I don’t think it’s going to hit me what I’ve done tonight. It’s a historical night, and to score two goals against Real Madrid.
“We want to win this competition. But we have to take it one game at a time.
“Even at West Ham and ever since I’ve been here everyone’s been telling me to shoot more. It’s these little things and you’ve got to be in that mindset to score goals. I do have the ability to do it, but it’s a confidence thing.
“I don’t think I’ll sleep tonight. I’m delighted.”
The contrasting emotions in the Real Madrid camp were summed up by Rice’s England team-mate Jude Bellingham, who gave an honest verdict on his team’s display.
“We were nowhere near it. That’s the fact and Arsenal were really good,” admitted Bellingham.
“I know two of their goals were free-kicks but they could have had way more.
“There is a second leg and that’s what we’re holding on to. We need something really special, something crazy really but one place where crazy things happen is our house. 90 more minutes at home to pull something out of the bag.
“They’re two great pieces of individual quality and if it wasn’t for them, they still have other chances. We got punished and that happens at top-level football.
“In these games, you need to create more. Very rarely do you come to a place like this score one goal and take your lead back home. They reacted really well to the transition. We didn’t do enough on the ball to threaten.
“We’re still alive, we’ve got 90 mins of football and anything can happen at the Bernabeu.”