Lyon’s Lucy Bronze makes World Cup pledge to Barcelona’s Toni Duggan

Lucy Bronze has revealed she told her distraught England teammate Toni Duggan they will “win the World Cup together instead” this summer following Lyon’s 4-1 Champions League final dismantling of Barcelona for her second consecutive winners’ medal and her club’s fourth title in a row.

Related: Hegerberg stars as Lyon crush Barcelona to win Women’s Champions League

“She’s upset, she played so hard today, she played really well,” the Lyon defender said afterwards. “She worked her socks off from the first minute and I’m devastated for her, as much as I’m happy that I’ve won. I want my England teammates to do well. I think she played well but obviously it’s unfortunate that we both can’t win. I just grabbed her and said we would just win the World Cup together instead.”

For Barcelona’s tear-stained Duggan, the defeat was hard to take. “It’s disappointing,” she said. “As a footballer I want to come here and win, I don’t want to just be here for the occasion. I’m really sad, that’s understandable right now but I’m sure I’ll look back on it in the future and realise we created history.”

On the 30 minutes of match action that ripped apart Barcelona’s hopes of a dramatic upset, Duggan added: “I’m so sad now because I believed we could win the game. I always believe in myself, I always believe in my team and unfortunately a bad spell cost us the game.”

Ada Hegerberg lifts the trophy for Lyon.Photograph: Matthew Ashton - AMA/Getty Images

While Bronze may feel for her compatriot, there was little sympathy for the Catalan club themselves. “It pushes other teams on,” she said regarding the commanding nature of Lyon’s win. “You look at Barça today, they made history for their club. The way they turned up tonight and what the club did for them this year, it shows that as much as Lyon are pushing on, every single other club is too.”

After defeating last year’s runners-up, Wolfsburg, in the quarters and then Chelsea in the semi-finals, did it seem like Lyon have played three finals? “Precisely,” said Bronze. “Wolfsburg, we really geed ourselves up for, that one that was a really big game, it’s a big rivalry for this club, and then Chelsea was something different. A really different game to what these French players and this Lyon team is used to.

The Fiver: sign up and get our daily football email.

“This Champions League run was amazing for us, we played the best teams around, we performed good and bad, we passed the ball, we got physical and we showed so many different sides of our game throughout every single game. Tonight was everything coming together and it just clicked.”

That sentiment was echoed by the scorer of a 17-minute hat-trick and the player of the match, Ada Hegerberg. “It’s never easy winning year after year,” said the Norwegian, who with 44 Champions League goals is closing on Anja Mittag’s record of 51 in the competition – and she is only 23. “People think it’s easier than it is, but they don’t see behind the scenes. It’s been tough every quarter-final, every semi-final, every final. We just care about being the best.

“A lot of clubs are inspired by what we do but they also want to beat us. Our president has done everything for us, making us the world’s best team. He put everything into the investment. We need more people like that in the women’s game.

Related: Lyon demolish Barcelona to win Women's Champions League – as it happened

“It’s an incredible night for me. Scoring a hat-trick in such an incredible final is something remarkable,” added Hegerberg, the first winner of the women’s Ballon d’Or. “I want the ball in front of goal and the girls know that. Everyone was at their top level today and you could feel that from minute one. It was a great feeling for me to get those crosses.

“I don’t usually talk about myself as there is a team behind me but tonight I am really satisfied as it hasn’t been an easy season and being there in the big moments makes me extremely happy. It makes me hungry for more in the future.”

Does Bronze think there is a better team in any sport anywhere in the world at the moment? “Apparently not,” she grinned in reference to the praise for Lyon’s now treble-winning side in the build-up to the final. “I mean the success speaks for itself and the team are still hungry for more, the president is still hungry for more.

“We’re already thinking about next season and what we’re going to do, how we’re going to add to the team, how we’re going to get even better and what we can improve on to keep this dynasty.”