England forward Lauren Hemp believes fans are yet to see her best football ahead of the Lionesses' Euro 2022 quarter-final against Spain, as she warned facing La Roja represented a "massive challenge".
Hosts England breezed through the group stages at the Women's Euros, recording the biggest ever win at a European Championship when hammering eight goals past Norway before rounding off Group A with a 5-0 win over Northern Ireland.
In doing so, Sarina Wiegman's team became the first side since Germany (in 2001, 2005 and 2009) to win all three of their group games at back-to-back European Championships, having done likewise in 2017.
The Lionesses have now scored an astonishing 98 goals in just 17 games under Wiegman, remaining unbeaten throughout and only conceding three times.
Hemp started all three of England's group games, scoring in the resounding win over Norway, but is targeting improvements on an individual level as the knockout stages get underway.
"I think it takes time, it's my first major tournament with England, and in front of so many fans it is nerve-wrecking, I'm not going to lie," Hemp said in a news conference on Monday.
"I think being consistent is something I'm striving towards and personally I don't think you've seen the best yet, there's still time, and obviously it's going to take a while and I'm still so young.
"I'm still learning every day and taking it all in my stride really. I've got a great group of players around me who are supporting me and doing amazing.
"It's important that we carry on this run and everyone's taking so much confidence from the recent games, it's important that we carry that on in the quarter-finals."
Wednesday's opponents Spain began the tournament as one of the favourites but finished second in Group B after losing Ballon d'Or-winning winger Alexia Putellas to injury before their opening game.
While Hemp is looking forward to facing Spain at Brighton and Hove Albion's AMEX Stadium, she admits La Roja, ranked seventh in the world by FIFA, will provide a stern test.
"I think the overriding feeling is excitement, we've played them before in the Arnold Clark Cup [a 0-0 draw in February] and that was a massive learning curve for us," she added.
"We've done all the preparation needed and it's important that we stay on track, we've got a lot of confidence from the previous games obviously, [keeping] clean sheets, scoring lots of goals, and we're in a good place as a group, it's really exciting.
"We've got a lot of respect for the teams we have played and also the team we're going to come up against, but it's going to be a massive challenge, we know that.
"Coming into the quarter-finals is never going to be easy, it's two top sides coming up against each other so we're just looking forward to it."
Meanwhile, England's preparations for their last-eight clash have been disrupted by Wiegman testing positive for COVID-19, but Hemp played down the importance of her absence from training.
"It's been different, obviously Covid is still around and it's a frustrating thing, it's unfortunate that she's got it," Hemp said.
"But we've trained for so long for these scenarios, she's still involved in the sessions remotely, but we've still got a fantastic technical staff and it doesn't feel that different, to be honest.
"She's still there and still supporting us, whether that's remotely or in person."
Neymar suffers fresh injury blow
Neymar sustained a new injury as he was forced off during Al-Hilal's AFC Champions League Elite win over Esteghlal.
Aleksandar Mitrovic plundered a hat-trick on Monday to seal a 3-0 win.
But Al-Hilal's victory was soured by an injury to Neymar, who had to make way just 29 minutes after he came on as a second-half substitute.
The Brazilian, who has just returned from over a year out of action following a serious knee injury, was forced off with what appeared to be a thigh issue.
Indeed, Monday's appearance was only the 32-year-old's second for Al-Hilal since his comeback.
He has featured just seven times for the Saudi Pro League champions in all competitions since his big-money move from Paris Saint-Germain in 2023.
Barcelona 3-1 Espanyol: Olmo brace sends Blaugrana nine points clear
Barcelona moved nine points clear at the LaLiga summit following a 3-1 victory over Espanyol in the Catalan derby.
Dani Olmo scored twice while Raphinha was also on target as Hansi Flick's side stretched their advantage over second-place Real Madrid, whose scheduled showdown with Valencia this weekend was postponed.
Barca broke the deadlock after just 12 minutes. Olmo latched onto Lamine Yamal's brilliant throughball with the outside of his boot, before beating Espanyol goalkeeper Joan Garcia with a well-taken first-time finish.
The hosts doubled their lead 11 minutes later with Marc Casado finding Raphinha, who bravely lifted over the advancing Garcia.
It was 3-0 just after the half-hour mark, as Olmo received Alejandro Balde's pass before drilling home from the edge of the penalty area.
Espanyol, who saw two goals disallowed following VAR reviews, pulled one back when Javi Puado turned home Carlos Romero's cross in the 63rd minute.
However, it proved a consolation for the visitors, who suffered their sixth defeat in seven league games.
Data Debrief: Free-scoring Barca maintain derby dominance
Now unbeaten in 27 LaLiga derbies against Espanyol, Barcelona have now scored 40 goals this season; their second-highest tally after the first 12 games of a LaLiga season (42 in 1950-51).
Following Olmo's brace, which took his tally for the campaign to five, the Blaugrana are the only team with four different players to have scored at least five goals in Europe's top five leagues this term.
In setting up Raphinha's goal, Casado is the first Barca player from Spain to provide an assist in three successive games in all competitions since at least the 2014-15 season.
Zverev soars past Humbert to claim Paris Masters crown
Alexander Zverev soared to the Paris Masters title following a commanding 6-2 6-2 victory over home favourite Ugo Humbert in the final.
The German took just 75 minutes to seal his seventh career ATP Masters triumph, and second silverware of the season.
Humbert received a raucous reception as he aimed to become the first Frenchman to win this event since Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in 2008.
However, the crowd were silenced when Zverev broke in the third and fifth games on his way to taking the opening set.
The Italian Open champion also dominated the second set, dropping just five points on serve as he wrapped up a comfortable victory.
"I knew I had to play like this to win today," Zverev said. "Ugo is an incredible player, but here in Paris, he plays even better than he usually does, and I knew that.
"Once the crowd gets involved, it's going to be difficult. So, I had to take that away early, and I did, so I'm happy about that."
Zverev was also delighted to triumph in Paris, and demonstrate the strides he has made since suffering a horrifying ankle injury during his 2022 French Open semi-final against Rafael Nadal.
"It was not 100% guaranteed that I would be back at this level," he added. "So, to win this title here in Paris means the world to me, and I'm sure it means everything to those in my box, because they have done so much for me."
Data Debrief: Zverev surpasses Medvedev and matches Sinner
Runner-up to Daniil Medvedev in 2020, Zverev went one better at the Accor Arena four years later, and will be seeded second at the season-ending Nitto ATP Finals.
The second German to win this event after Boris Becker, he surpassed Medvedev (six) with his seventh ATP Masters crown the outright most of any player born since the format's inception in 1990.
Zverev also matched world number one Jannik Sinner for the joint-most match wins in ATP Masters events this season with 28.
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