'Not just talent' - Lionesses star Lucy Bronze explains what Chelsea need to win the Champions League and how she and new boss Sonia Bompastor can help

Bronze has plenty of experience of winning Europe's premier club competition, having done so three times with Lyon and twice with Barcelona. Now, she's aiming to do so for the first time with an English team, something she says has "always been my dream".

Arsenal remain the only English side to win the UWCL, doing so back in 2007, but Chelsea have regularly come close in recent years. The Blues have reached at least the semi-finals of the competition in five of the last seven seasons, going one further in 2021 when they made it to the final. However, Barcelona got the better of Emma Hayes' side that day as they won the competition for the first time instead.

Speaking at the Women's Super League's season launch media day, Bronze said new Chelsea boss Sonia Bompastor, who won the Champions League as a player and a manager at Lyon, had spoken to her about the missing ingredients in the Blues' fight for that European title.

“She said to me, ‘What do you think is missing at Chelsea?’ and I was like, ‘Nothing, they’ve got everything,’" Bronze recalled. "Sonia replied, ‘I know, I thought that as well!’ This club has more things at their disposal than a lot of the teams I’ve played for. I always get asked how does it compare to Lyon and Barcelona. I’ve loved my time at both those clubs and the players and talent at those clubs was unbelievable, but they didn’t necessarily have all those resources in place to back the team, whereas Chelsea have all the resources and the talent there.

“Chelsea have got that winning mentality. They’ve got that experience of beating Barcelona and Lyon, and being in a Champions League final. But sometimes it’s not just talent that you need. Those last bits - the knowhow of winning the final, being ready and focused, having clear minds going into that final - Sonia, myself and Camille [Abily, assistant coach] can add that to Chelsea and push this team over the line because the talent’s there. You definitely saw it last year, and even that was with a few injuries at Chelsea. This year could be even better and the Champions League is the main one that we’re missing.”

Also part of Chelsea's battle to win the Champions League is the task of juggling four competitions, with the WSL, FA Cup and League Cup all titles that the club will also be aiming to win. The Blues won a fifth successive league crown last season, though did come up short on other fronts.

As well as boosting European ambitions, Bronze and Bompastor will hope to help the club continue that domestic dominance and the bid for a sixth WSL triumph in a row will begin on September 20, when the reigning champions host Aston Villa.