With her contract running down at Manchester City last season, England right-back Lucy Bronze had her pick of clubs. There was interest from clubs in Europe and America's top flight, the NWSL, but she was very clear with her agent: only the best of the best. For Bronze, that meant Lyon or Barcelona, last season's two Champions League finalists.
Bronze had already played for Lyon earlier in her career, winning three Champions Leagues and FIFA's The Best Women's Player award during her time in France, so this time she opted for Barca. Domestically, Jonatan Giraldez's side, who lost to Lyon in last season's Champions League final, have quite literally been unbeatable. They have won 42 matches in a row in Liga F and have lifted the last three league titles.
Barcelona finished top by 24 points last term and were 30 clear of Real Madrid, although there are signs to suggest that gap may not be so big this season. Madrid's improvement has been rapid -- they have not yet beaten Barca, but they have quickly established themselves just below the top ring of clubs in Europe. They have knocked Man City out of the Champions League two years running to make the group stages and reached the quarterfinals last season, losing to Barca in front of a record crowd at Camp Nou.
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Real Madrid invested again in the summer, and among those brought in has been Scotland international Caroline Weir, Bronze's former City teammate. They have four points from two European games this season, including a goalless draw against heavyweights Paris Saint-Germain, and are unbeaten in Liga F, five points behind Barca with a game in hand.
On Sunday, Real Madrid host the Catalans in the Clasico. With the world's best player Alexia Putellas and Caroline Graham Hansen among the list of injured players at Barca, Madrid may feel this represents their best chance yet to beat Barca for the first time. But, as Bronze explains exclusively to ESPN, Barca's squad runs deep and they have become the best side in Spain for a reason, although they are able to acknowledge the growth which is also occurring in the capital city.
Bronze spoke about adjusting to life in Barcelona, whether Real Madrid have earned the tag of Clasico rivals and her path from Dominos employee to Champions League powerhouse starter.
ESPN: So, can we call it a Clasico now?
Bronze: Yeah, it is!
ESPN: Sandra Panos told us Madrid had to earn that right, have they?
Bronze: They have improved a lot and shown they are a top team in Spain. They compete in Europe consistently now -- they finish high in the table in Spain consistently. And the games against Barca, I have never played in them but I have watched them, they are competitive games and they have got some world-class players.
ESPN: Are Madrid now the big domestic rivals ahead of Atletico Madrid?
Bronze: Yeah, I think there are a couple of teams that are really strong, like Atletico, like Madrid, like Levante who we just played. But there is a rivalry starting now with Barca and Madrid. I have not been part of it previously but I can feel this time everyone is excited and up for the game.
ESPN: Any added motivation with you facing former teammate Caroline Weir?
Bronze: It's nice to have a familiar face. She's a fantastic player. She is doing really well at Madrid, which is nice to see, but I don't want her to be playing too well at the weekend. I know her qualities as a player, but as a team we will hopefully be able to deal with her.
ESPN: Do you speak?
Bronze: I spoke to her quite a while ago. It's different for me than Caroline. I have already played in different countries before and learned different languages. So I knew what to expect, that's the first kind of initial struggle -- not the football, the culture change. Not understanding everything that is going on in training and having to adapt and get used to that before even thinking about going on the pitch. It was the same for Caz [Caroline], from what I know, but she has settled in pretty well, scoring goals. From the outside it looks like she's doing well.
ESPN: Real Madrid didn't try and sign you on a free in the summer?
Bronze: Was there a call? I don't even remember to be honest. There were only two teams, Lyon and Barca were the best teams in Europe, they were the only teams that would catch my attention. Obviously there were teams in America as well. But I just told my agent I only want the best and the best was Barca and Lyon.
ESPN: You wanted to stay in Europe?
Bronze: Obviously a lot of players go to America, it's a different kind of league to what we have in Europe. It did cross my mind. But I have played at Lyon and was so successful there and the chance to play at another world-class team and live in Barcelona, it was once in a lifetime, I was never going to turn it down.
ESPN: Your dad is Portuguese, you played in France, now in Catalonia in the Spanish league. How are the languages coming along?
Bronze: They say Catalan is similar to French, which I am more fluent in than Portuguese. But both languages have helped me a lot. I have picked up the listening quite easily. But when speaking, I tend to put on a Portuguese or French accent because the words are similar! I hope my Spanish will be fluent within a year.
ESPN: Keira Walsh has come in as well and there are lot of English speakers in the dressing room now.
Bronze: All the foreign players speak English apart from Geyse, who's Brazilian. It is nice to have that little bit of home in the dressing room. A few girls speak English together so we feel comfortable. Obviously it's good for Keira and me to have each other, because we know each other so well. It's been a lot easier to settle in.
ESPN: It's Walsh's first time abroad, and her position, at the base of the midfield as a pivot, is very specialised at Barca. How is she doing?
Bronze: She is settling in well but it will take time. The crucial role in the Barca side has always been in midfield. It's always had the best players, the likes of Alexia, Patri [Guijarro], Aitana [Bonmati], there are so many world-class midfielders that play for Barcelona. And Barca are known for tiki taka, keeping the ball, and it's the midfielders that do that. So for Keira to come into that position is a big ask, but there is no player more prepared and good enough to do that than Keira, from what she has showed with City and England. She is our most technical player with England, our most intelligent player with England, so if anyone can do it, it's Keira.
It's just getting the language and being able to talk on the pitch, there is a lot of communication that needs to happen, so it's about getting that up. She is a quick learner and she is such a likeable personality that even if she doesn't speak the language she has already made such good friends with, take [Claudia] Pina for example, doesn't speak English, but they're like best friends. You're like, 'How are they communicating?' But they get on so well off the pitch and link well on it because of that relationship. Keira has that type of personality.
ESPN: Tell us about the nuance of your role as a right-back at Barcelona.
Bronze: It definitely feels like new way to play the position. I get asked to do different things in different games. We adapt our style depending on who's playing. We have so many world-class players, we have so many games, we rotate a lot. Sometimes I am asked to be more defensive, some times more attacking. It depends on who I am playing with, the relationship I need to have with the player next to me, in front of me or in midfield. Every game is learning something new. It is really good because the coaches do loads of clips with you after the game. Every single player gets their feedback after every single game. I never had that anywhere before. All those details.
ESPN: Do you like that side of the game?
Bronze: I don't like watching games back but if it's just me, I like watching my own performances and seeing if I did something well or not. I think that's the best way to improve, not only to just see the good things, but the bad things and vice versa. It's good that they do that for us, clipping the good and the bad and writing as well what they see and think. And for me they write in English, which is helpful.
Obviously we do analysis at every club I have been at, but never that level of individual insight as consistently as I have here. Every single game is analysed on every individual and you get that feedback personally. We do so much team stuff in training, it's nice to have your own stuff that you can watch at home and improve yourself. If you want to improve individually, then everything is given to you to do that here.
ESPN: Everyone says the training here is more intense than their previous clubs. Is it true or do you just say it?
Bronze: Yeah, it is the intensity. Being at Lyon, the technical ability of the players there was just as good as these Spanish girls. I have played with world-class players, the likes of Dzsenifer Marozsan are among the best I have ever played with in terms of intelligence, touch and ability. But the environment we have in training here is really intense, the way they want to press, play, is a really intense, high level. And it's not just like in one small game, it's everything we do.
I think that's why you look at the core of Spanish players, Alexia etc., and their growth in the last five years, it's because Barca changed the way they trained. They upped the intensity and made these players even better, the likes of Aitana, Patri, Mapi [Leon] -- so many of them that maybe five years ago no one was talking about and now they're among the best in the world. I think it is because the intensity of training here has stepped everyone up a level.