Marc Bartra Opens Up On The "Hardest 15 Minutes" Of His Life

Borussia Dortmund defender Marc Barta has published an emotional post to his Instagram account detailing the fear that consumed him after the terror attack on the team bus shortly before their game with AS Monaco was due to kick-off on Tuesday.

Barta was the only passenger that was hospitalised due to injuries sustained from the shattered glass, but the entire squad was rocked by the incident and the fact that they were essentially ordered to play the fixture the next day is something that has seen a lot of criticism thrown at UEFA this week.

As for Bartra, he has been recovering in hospital and after initially providing an update confirming that he would be fine, he has now given a profound take on how he looks to move on.

The Spaniard posted a picture of his family visiting him in the hospital and reflected on what happened on the Dortmund bus.

They are my everything, the reason I struggle to overcome obstacles and this has been the worst of my life, an experience I would not want anyone in this world [to have]. The pain, the panic and the uncertainty of not knowing what was going on, or how long it would last … were the longest and hardest 15 minutes of my life.

I think the shock is decreasing more and more and, at the same time, it adds to the desire to live, to fight, to work, to laugh, to cry, to feel, to love, to believe, to play, to train, to continue to enjoy my people, loved ones, companions, my passion, to defend, to smell the grass as I do before the game starts and motivate me. The only thing I ask is for everyone to live in peace and to leave behind the wars.

These days when I look at my wrist, swollen and badly wounded, you know what I feel? Pride. I look at it proudly, thinking all the damage they wanted to do to us on Tuesday stayed in this. Thanks to the doctors, nurses, physiotherapists and people who helped me recover.

To the thousands and thousands of people, media, organisations of all kinds, the club and colleagues, who have given me your support and affection – as small as it may be – has filled me with incredible strength to continue on and on. I needed to write and unburden myself and to settle everything so I can just think about getting 100% as soon as possible.

Hoy he vuelto a recibir en el hospital la visita que más feliz me hace. Ellas son mi todo, la razón por la que lucho para superar siempre los obstáculos y este ha sido el peor de mi vida, una experiencia que no desearía a nadie en este mundo. El dolor, el pánico y la incerteza de no saber lo que estaba pasando, ni cuánto tiempo duraría... fueron los 15 minutos más largos y duros de mi vida. A todo esto os quiero decir, que creo que el shock de estos días va disminuyendo cada vez más y a la vez se suman las ganas de vivir, de luchar, de trabajar, de reír, de llorar, de sentir, de querer, de creer, de jugar, de entrenar, de seguir disfrutando de mi gente, seres queridos, compañeros, de mi pasión, de defender, de oler el césped como hago antes de que empiece el partido y motivarme. De ver las gradas llenas de personas que aman nuestra profesión, gente buena que sólo quiere que le hagamos sentir emociones para olvidarse del mundo y sobre todo de este mundo en el que vivimos, cada vez más loco. Lo único que pido, LO ÚNICO, es que vivamos TODOS en paz y dejemos atrás las guerras. Estos días cuando me miro la muñeca, hinchada y malherida, sabéis qué siento? Orgullo. La miro orgulloso pensando en que todo el daño que querían hacernos el martes, se quedó en esto. Gracias a los doctores, enfermeras, fisioterapeutas y personas que me ayudan a recuperar y que la muñeca quede perfecta. A las miles y miles de personas, medios, organizaciones de todo tipo, el BVB y compañeros, que me habéis hecho llegar vuestro apoyo y cariño. Por pequeño que sea, me ha llenado increíblemente de fuerzas para seguir SIEMPRE adelante. Necesitaba escribir y desahogarme y así zanjar todo para ya solo pensar en ponerme al 100% lo más pronto posible! Un saludo muy grande! Marc ?

A post shared by Marc Bartra (@marcbartra) on Apr 14, 2017 at 3:38am PDT

Once again, this just hammers home how ridiculous it was that the match was played the following day. While Roy Keane's point that postponing the fixture is essentially letting whoever is responsible win, it's clear that they simply were not in the right frame of mind for such an important match, and the players have said as much in the days since.

A return date has not yet been marked for Bartra, but seemingly he is eager to get back out on the pitch as soon as possible. Hopefully his recovery is quick and he can return for the business end of the Bundesliga season.

[Translation provided by The Guardian]