His goal inside two minutes against Dinamo underlined the quality he has. Gabriel Martinelli skipped past his man and picked out Havertz, who set the ball perfectly for Rice. The midfielder ran onto it and struck a sumptuous half-volley into the net.

The mathematics were still causing a few heads to be scratched after Arsenal's 3-0 victory over Dinamo Zagreb on Wednesday, but Declan Rice gave the new Champions League format a thumbs up.