Bronze spent two seasons with the Blaugrana before joining Chelsea in July 2024, and won the Women's Champions League during each of those campaigns in Spain.

The Blues number 22 plays in the same role as summer signing Carpenter at right-back, but head coach Sonia Bompastor has found a way for the duo to play alongside each other, having fielded Bronze at centre-back against Barcelona in midweek.

And even when Carpenter missed a chance to put us 2-1 ahead in the second half of the match, she was instantly forgiven.

‘It was an unbelievable goal,’ said the England international afterwards. ‘Someone asked me about the chance that she missed, and I said, ‘Listen, she can miss as many as she wants tonight because the goal she scored was unbelievable!’

‘It was one of those where she just hit it so sweetly. Obviously, she made a really good run in behind, which is one of her huge strengths. She’s just got so much pace, yet to hit the top corner like she did with so much confidence was amazing. I think it was deserved as well at the time to be 1-0 up in the game, so it was really good for us.'

While the whole team contributed to Thursday night’s performance, Bronze was also keen to praise Blues midfielder Erin Cuthbert.

The Scotland international was named as captain for the evening and battled hard against her counterparts in the Barcelona midfield.

‘Erin always gives 100 per cent,’ said Bronze.

‘She's a leader in the way that she plays. You can never ever fault her effort in any game, regardless of her performance or how tired she is or if she's got cramp. If she got an injury, she's one of those players who would just fight on.

‘She's just a real warrior, and she shows that with the way she plays. I think she had a fantastic game. She's had really good games throughout the season already. She's just a stonewall in the Chelsea team. When you think about Chelsea, you think about Erin Cuthbert.’

Bronze knows Barcelona’s quality from personal experience and was impressed with Chelsea’s display against her old side at Stamford Bridge.

The experienced defender now hopes that the performance will spark the Blues to even greater heights as the season progresses.

‘It was a very good point gained,’ she continued. ‘I thought we probably could've won the game on chances in the first half. I thought they got into the game in the second half. It was a very even game, but I think overall we probably were on top more.

‘It’s a very much improved performance from us as a team. I think it gives us a lot of confidence, especially for the young players in the side. There were a lot of 20-year-olds playing today.

'I think for them to play against Alexia (Putellas), Aitana (Bonmati) and all these top players – who they've probably idolised their whole career – they've shown that they can go toe-to-toe with them, play alongside them, and put in a really good performance.

‘That's only going to give us confidence as a team, not only against the individuals, but against the collective of Barca as well. We've still got two games to go to secure that top four, and they are still really big games for us.’