Lucy Bronze believes Arsenal’s Women’s Champions League final success against Barcelona can help England’s chances of winning more silverware on the international stage, as they prepare to face Spain in Catalonia on Tuesday.
There were five members of the England squad involved inArsenal’s European Cup win in Mayand the Chelsea right-back Bronze – who has won the Champions League five times, for a combination of Lyon and Barcelona – knows how much confidence the north London club’s success will give to their Lionesses for the European Championship this summer.
“It exposes you to that feeling of playing in big finals, and to what it takes to win, and the more players that we [England] have that are used to that winning feeling and the experience, going up against the best players in the world, it’s fantastic for England,” Bronze said, speaking at the RCDE Stadium, the home of Espanyol, where the world champions will host the European champions.
“It’s something that I’ve always said, years and years ago, when I first went to Lyon, that was what I wanted to do: test myself against the best players, win the Champions League, bring that experience to England. And you see as the years go on, and more and more players have done it, and then now we’ve got all the Arsenal girls as well, it’s just fantastic for us as an England team and us as a country, to have so many more players who are doing great things and achieving great things.”
The Arsenal quintet of Leah Williamson, Beth Mead, Alessia Russo, Chloe Kelly and Lotte Wubben-Moy all featured in 1-0 win against Barcelona on 24 May, alongside Arsenal’s Spain midfielder Mariona Caldentey, who was full of praise for Wiegman’s team on Monday: “They have won already the Euros and have played big games already, and of course when you win, you feel stronger and have more confidence. That’s always dangerous.We could see against Portugal[on Friday] how they won that game with six goals and they are one of the best teams in the world. We know and respect that, but we have confidence in ourselves as well.”
England have been without Bronze’s Chelsea teammate Millie Bright in this international camp while the centre-back takes a break for her mental health as well as to allow her body to recover after the domestic season and – speaking for the first team about Bright’s decision – Bronze said: “She’s missed. We’ve all spoken to Millie during the week. We’ve just offered her our support. Both physically and mentally, it’s been a long season for everyone but, having spent every day with Millie, I know she’s someone who’s quite tough and maybe just holds a lot in, so I think it’s been quite brave for her to come out and speak. And just from a friend’s perspective, I just want her to be OK, and give her as much time as she needs to feel OK again.”
Spain, who will be without the Manchester City left-back Leila Ouahabi (ankle), were 5-1 winners in Belgium on Friday to stay at the top of Group A3 of the Women’s Nations League, with England in second spot, before the decider on Tuesday, with only one team progressing to the semi-finals in October. This contest is the final fixture before Wiegman names her 23-player squad for the European Championship on Thursday and the Dutchwoman says she is nearly ready to make her final decisions.
“We’re pretty close,” she said, when asked how many more selections she had to make before Thursday. “Of course you still want to get through the game [against Spain] and then make the final decisions, but we are pretty close.”
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Wiegman – whose side will be without the suspended midfielder Grace Clinton but will welcome back a fit-again Ella Toone – also insisted she will not take any risks on any of her players’ fitness for the European Championship when they face Spain, saying: “We want to win that game and also that’s preparation for the Euros. So, short-term, trying to win that game, and a little longer-term, a bit long-term, it’s preparation for the Euros, which of course is the bigger picture.
“If a player has a little injury and is a risk for the Euros then I wouldn’t play her. That’s one difference. But we’re a good team too and will do everything to win that game.”
The match is also a repeat of the 2023 Women’s World Cup final, won by Spain, although the last time these sides met it was the Lionesses who were victorious at Wembley in February.