Alessia Russo

• After earning Player of the Match with three assists against the Netherlands, Russo faced online slurs accusing her of benefiting from media hype (“PRusso”).
• Russo disproved criticism about her goal tally by showcasing her versatility: she holds up play, tracks back aggressively, and creates chances—her trio of assists marked the first three-assist game at any Euros.

Read the full Suzanne Wrack's article on The Guardian.

On Saturday 10 May, the last Women's Super League matches were played and the 2024/25 season came to an end. The announcement of the best players did not have to wait long.

• Player of the year: Mariona Caldentey (Arsenal). The Player of the Year was newcomer in the English league Mariona Caldentey, who joined Arsenal from Barcelona at the beginning of the season. In 21 games she has scored 9 goals and 5 assists and the Gunners will rely on her skills in the UWCL final that is still to come.
• Golden boot: Alessia Russo (Arsenal) and Bunny Shaw (Manchester City) - both 12 goals. The Golden Boot, the award for the top scorer of the season, is divided between Arsenal's Alessia Russo and Manchester City's Bunny Shaw. Russo also recently won the award by the Football Writers' Association (FWA) for the best female football player. Shaw might have improved her stats, unfortunately she hasn't played since March due to a thigh injury.
• Golden glove: Hannah Hampton (Chelsea) and Phallon Tullis - Joyce (Manchester United) - both 13 clean sheets. Despite Chelsea being league champions, the club only won one award - the golden glove for best goalkeeper, which went to number one for both the Blues and Lionesses Hannah Hampton. Red Devils number one Phallon Tullis-Joyce, who joined the English league from the NWSL at the start of the season, has the same number of clean sheets.
• Goal of the season: Vivianne Miedema (Manchester City) - The Dutch cannonballer left Arsenal at the beginning of the season, where she spent 7 seasons and was one of the most productive players of the London team. However, the transfer to the Citizens did not compromise her performance - in 11 matches she scored seven times. Her goal against Aston Villa was awarded the best goal of the season.
• Rising star: Shekiera Martinez (West Ham United). The German player has returned to the Hammers after a year-long loan from Freiburg and it has obviously done her good. In March, she became the first ever West Ham player to be awarded player of the month. In April, she scored four goals in one game against Crystal Palace.

• Alessia Russo is officially the Barclays Women’s Super League top goalscorer for the 2024/25 season.
• Russo netted 12 goals throughout the campaign, beginning with a goal against her former club, Manchester United, in November. She continued her scoring run with five consecutive matches finding the back of the net.
• Her final WSL goal came in April during an away match against Aston Villa.
• With 36 goals in 71 appearances for Arsenal, Russo has become the club's second all-time top scorer at Emirates Stadium, trailing only behind Beth Mead.
• Alessia Russo also won the Football Writers' awards. The award is presented by the Football Writers' Association (FWA) for the best female football player in England this season. She beat last year's winner Bunny Shaw to become only the second Arsenal player to win the award. Her Arsenal teammate Mariona Caldentey finished third, Chelsea's Millie Bright fourth

Big news for all the football fans. Two Lionesses - Ella Toone and Alessia Russo are launching second season of their of their successful podcast Tooney and Russo show. They are not just back, but stronger than ever.

The second series of the inseparable duo of these best friends and amazing footballers will begin on Monday 12 May and will be available to listen to on BBC Sounds and podcast apps as well as YouTube. They will be kept company by presenter Vick Hope.

Tooney and Alessia aren't the only Lionesses with a podcast. Millie Bright and Rachel Daly have also recently launched their own show. In the podcast The Rest is Football: Daly Brightness relaxedly talks about football and everything around it. 

The April national team break caused many injuries. Especially Arsenal, who are waiting for the semi-final clash with Lyon, are currently missing three players. Chloe Kelly left the England before the first match against Belgium due to a foot injury. Goalkeeper Daphne van Domselaar still started Friday's game against Austria, but suffered a knee injury during the game and returned to England early from the international camp.

The star of the match against Real Madrid, Alessia Russo, will also be missing for England in the next match. She has left the England squad and returned to Arsenal for further assessment after picking up an ankle injury.

But there are also unpleasantries for Chelsea, who will face the defending champions Barcelona after the international break. Their striker Lauren James suffered a hamstring injury during the international break and she too will miss England's next game.