Less than 48 hours after Lucy Bronze lifted her fifth Champions League trophy, she was at St George’s Park preparing for two Euro 2025 qualifiers against France.
As Bronze stepped out of a taxi at her training base in England, sunglasses on and a big smile on her face, the 32-year-old star in Barcelona’s 2-0 win over her former club Lyon, her presence was a stark reminder of what she wrote to Fifpro, the international players’ association, two weeks ago.
“After winning the Champions League final with Lyon in 2019, we had 2 days off before heading to the Women’s World Cup. Just 48 hours. That’s it,” she wrote, describing the grueling schedule that will mark their first family vacation in more than a decade this summer.
“We want proper rest periods and a proper schedule to avoid clashes. If the football calendar is organised in such a way that these clashes do not occur, it will take the weight off the players’ minds and we can focus on the games. For me, unfortunately this time the GB team missed out on the Olympics so I have other plans for this summer and, to be honest, I am very excited and hope I don’t have to miss any tournaments to get the rest I need.”
Bronze and her Barcelona teammate Keira Walsh were given a day of rest after their Champions League exploits, missing training on Tuesday. Ideally, Bronze would be rested for England’s match against France, but this game is too important as England are seeking to defend their European crown and need to finish in the top two in a tough group that also includes Sweden and the Republic of Ireland to avoid the play-offs. Then there are the injuries, and with the departures of Niamh Charles and Lotte Wubben-Moy reducing defensive options, Maya Le Tissier has been called up to bolster the backline.
Bronze won’t want to miss a game either; she’s too competitive. It’s hard to count the number of times the right-back has been asked what keeps her hungry. Less than a month after England’s historic Euro 2022 triumph and with her time at Barcelona soon to begin, she told The Guardian: “The moment the final whistle blows it’s like, ‘What next?’ You want to enjoy the moment while you can, but you need to stay focused or you’ll get left behind.”
“The feeling of winning is really addictive, and the feeling of not winning is pretty awful too. I hate losing. I’d finally accomplished something, and for me it was like, ‘Okay, this is how it feels. But how many more times can I do it?'”
A lot has happened for Bronze. She has won almost everything but missed out on the biggest prize of all time, losing 1-0 to Spain in last year’s World Cup final. There’s a strong argument to be made that she is the greatest Lion of all time. She has won the Champions League five times, tying her with Gareth Bale for the most wins of any English player and the most of any English footballer.
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Add in her Champions League triumph, three WSL titles, two FA Cups, two League Cups, three Division 1 Women’s titles, two French Cups, two La Liga F titles, one Copa del Rey, two Supercopa de Espana titles, one World Cup bronze medal, one World Cup silver medal and one European Championship title and you have little room for argument. Bronze may not have the skill of perhaps the most naturally gifted England player of all time, Kelly Smith, the creativity of former “mini-Messi” Fran Kirby or the leadership of long-time captain Steph Houghton, but her drive to be the best, to keep improving and testing herself is unmatched. She combines technique and intelligence with athleticism to devastating effect and it’s no coincidence that she was named UEFA Women’s Player of the Year in 2019, runner-up for the Ballon d’Or and FIFA Women’s Player of the Year in 2020.
The two matches against France should be treated as a bronze-medal celebration: the first at St. James’ Park in Newcastle, less than 65 miles south of her hometown of Berwick-upon-Tweed and a short drive from Sunderland, where she began her career, and the second in Saint-Etienne, less than 40 miles southwest of Lyon, the city where she moved in pursuit of European glory.
Bronze’s future is unclear – Barcelona must balance a new contract with the huge amount of money they reportedly spent on renewing Alexia Putellas’ contract – and even if they wanted to keep her they might not be able to, but she showed great value on Saturday.
