England’s Lucy Bronze faces spell on sidelines following knee surgery

Lucy Bronze has been ruled out of Barcelona’s Champions League semi-final second leg against Chelsea on Thursday after undergoing knee surgery that has made her a potential doubt for England’s World Cup squad.

Bronze limped off the Stamford Bridge pitch during the second half of the first leg on Saturday, which Barcelona won 1-0 thanks to a goal from Caroline Graham Hansen. Barça announced on Wednesday that Bronze will be unavailable for the return fixture at the Camp Nou after undergoing arthroscopy on her right knee.

The 31-year-old posted a tweet shortly afterwards confirming the operation had been successful. “In very good spirits after my knee op,” Bronze wrote. “Thankful for all the kind messages, I couldn’t ask for better support Currently working hard towards a speedy recovery to get back on the pitch with my team.”

Successful knee surgery!