Sneijder blasts Courtois over Rice free-kicks

Wesley Sneijder has criticised Thibaut Courtois for his role in Declan Rice’s brace of free-kicks against Real Madrid.

According to the former Dutch international, poor positioning of the wall made both efforts “easy” for the Arsenal midfielder.

Arsenal all but booked their place in the Champions League semi-finals with a commanding 3–0 win over Real Madrid. The first two goals came from Rice, who found the top corner twice from set-pieces, leaving Thibaut Courtois rooted.

While most viewers were quick to praise the brilliance of both strikes, Sneijder was not convinced. Never one to shy away from controversy, the former Real Madrid and Inter playmaker pointed the finger at Courtois for misjudging the wall’s placement and argued that this made Rice’s job significantly easier.

“I don’t think those two free-kicks were anything special,” he said. “It might sound a bit mad, I know. It looks very difficult, but for a right-footed player, that kind of shot is quite easy.” He went on: “Courtois assumed Saka would take it – he’s left-footed – so he shifted the wall slightly to the right.

“A right-footer should never be allowed to shoot from that angle,” the Dutchman added, before breaking down the first goal: “If you can strike the ball well, it’s a very straightforward shot. When you’re on the pitch, you can see that the ball only has to go around the wall on that side – and the wall was far too far to the left.”

As for Rice’s second goal, Sneijder had a similar view: “That one’s from a long way out. If you watch the replay, Courtois takes a step to his right, and that’s why he can’t get back across to save it at his near post. That happened because he was already second-guessing after the first goal. And once you take that little step, it’s game over – you’re done. If he’d stayed on his post and trusted the wall, he would have saved it.”