Borussia Dortmund's Champions League tie against Monaco went ahead earlier this evening, with Monaco capitalising on Dortmund's slow start to seal a 3-2 victory in a thrilling tie at the Westfalanstadion.
The game was postponed until this afternoon following an attack on Dortmund's team bus yesterday evening, as the squad made their way to the ground to play the tie as originally scheduled. Thankfully, nobody was seriously injured in the attack, with Marc Bartra taken to hospital to repair a fractured wrist.
Police confirmed that three explosive devices were found to have targeted the Dortmund team bus, with a fourth, undetonated device later found on the scene. German newspaper Bild reported that they were placed at a corner on the road leading to the stadium, where the bus would have been slowing down.
At a press conference, police confirmed that the Dortmund team bus was the intended target of an attack.
Police found a letter close to the scene claiming responsibility for the attack close to the scene, and while they confirmed its existence at the press conference, they had yet to authenticate it at that stage, so did not divulge any further details.
Despite the trauma the Dortmund players and staff endured, the game went ahead this evening. Despite the fact that Dortmund managed to keep the tie alive after a slow start, the reaction of the Dortmund players afterward is evidence that they should not have been forced to play the game less than 24 hours after the attack.
Manager Thomas Tuchel criticised the scheduling of the game in his post-game interview, saying that it wasn't treated as seriously as it should have been:
Tuchel: 'it (the scheduling) didn't give us a good feeling. As though a can of beer had been thrown at our window.'
— Derek Rae (@RaeComm) April 12, 2017
Further, hauntingly visceral evidence that the game should not have been played is abundantly clear from the post-game interview given by Nuri Sahin. The midfielder seemed utterly traumatised by yesterday's attack, repeating "I'll never forget the faces" while admitting that he didn't begin thinking about football until the second-half of tonight's game.
Watch it below.
Nuri Sahin interview
Nuri Sahin (@nurisahin): – It's hard to find the right words.@JanAageFjortoft pic.twitter.com/KTMPF3PTNI
— Viasat Fotball (@ViasatFotball) April 12, 2017
