📢 On Purgatory
The Declan Rice free-kicks and the days that followed
On Saturday evening I began to dream. On Saturday evening I realised I was doomed.
The thought arrived fully-formed at a pub in Finsbury Park as I watched Arsenal limp to a draw against Brentford.
What if we do actually win the Champions League?
I looked around at all the red and white shirts around me. What would it be like in here if we do reach the final?
In a post Declan Rice-becoming-Roberto Carlos-world, anything feels possible. And if you don’t become a little delusional after your team beats Real Madrid 3-0, when else do you?
I had suppressed the sentiment in the aftermath of the win but it finally prised its way through. I put the belated arrival down to the strange purgatory I’ve been locked in since last Wednesday.
That first-leg was arguably one of the greatest nights in Arsenal’s history, and easily the most iconic at the Emirates. The free-kicks, not the scoreline, made it transcendental. When Rice scored his second, you realised you were witnessing something special. A moment that will have a legacy of its own. It went beyond the result. A cultural clutch point. Where were you on The Night Declan Rice Took Down Real Madrid?
Side note: That first-leg was an all-timer for the group chat. I’ve found that some of the most iconic moments in sport have been best documented on WhatsApp.
The £100 million signing who had never scored from a free-kick before becoming the first-ever player to score two of them in a Champions League knockout. Madrid having Kylian Mbappe, Madrid being holders, Madrid being Madrid. Arsenal’s injury crisis. Their imposter syndrome struggles with if they are an elite club. A stadium coming of age.
The magnitude of the moment was instantly apparent and yet required distance to understand its scale. Rice himself said post-match that only a few years from now will he be able to look and understand what he has done.
His goals’ place in folklore is confirmed but how they will be remembered remains to be seen. Are Arsenal scripting history or are they there to just serve as a narrative device for another Madrid comeback? The looming threat of a Bernabéu remontada has asterisked the euphoria of Arsenal fans.
Moments like the Rice Free-Kicks tend to arise in finals, knockout games or Game 7s. A first-leg feels anachronistic for it. If Madrid do overturn the deficit, the moment loses its sheen. The free-kicks will be consigned to ‘We will always have’ territory.
For them to escape that fate, Arsenal will need to knock out the 15-time winners. Because sport can’t exist without context.
But it is also why these few days of purgatory between the two legs might actually be paradise. Right now, these Rice free-kicks exist in a vacuum. It gives Arsenal fans like myself the right to dream.
Consumption Corner
What I’m watching: Last weekend, I watched Dear England at the National Theatre. Billed as a play on the role the men’s team play in the national psyche, it is a fascinating yet imperfect look at Gareth Southgate’s tenure as England manager. Seeing a World Cup penalty shoot-out depicted on stage was quite interesting.
What I’m listening to: I just go through Sonic Boom, a nine-part series on how the city of Seattle lost its NBA team. The series is a masterclass in narrative journalism and throws up interesting questions on the role sports and sports teams play in a community.
What I’m reading: Ultra-Processed People. I’ve been telling everyone I meet about this book. Author Chris van Tulleken scientifically backs up his bold hypothesis that food should be judged not by its nutrients but by how processed it is.