Marc Bartra injury: Dortmund defender undergoes surgery following explosives attack on team bus

A Borussia Dortmund spokesman has announced that Bartra has been taken to hospital for sugery on a broken wrist after an attack on the team's bus ahead of a Champions League match

Luke Brown
Tuesday 11 April 2017 22:50 BST
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A Borussia Dortmund spokesman has announced that Marc Bartra is being operated on for a broken wrist, after “an attack using serious explosives” was launched on the team’s coach ahead of their Champions League match against Monaco.

Dortmund’s match against Monaco had to be postponed until Wednesday evening because of an attack on the team bus, as it made its way to the Westfalenstadion for the first-leg of the quarter-final match.

German police say the bus was then hit by three blasts from devices planted in bushes at the roadside, close to the team’s hotel.

Borussia Dortmund’s official Twitter account later confirmed that debris from the explosion had caused Bartra to break his right wrist, with the 26-year-old undergoing surgery late on Tuesday night.

Dortmund goalkeeper Roman Burki was sat alongside Bartra in the back row of the coach and told reporters that players were “hit by fragments” after the explosion.

Goalkeeper Roman Buerki was sat next to Bartra
Goalkeeper Roman Buerki was sat next to Bartra (Bongarts/Getty)

"The bus turned into the main street, when there was a huge boom, a real explosion," Sky television quoted Dortmund goalkeeper Roman Burki as saying.

"I was sitting in the back row next to Marc Bartra, hit by fragments ... after the bang, we all ducked."

Bartra moved to Dortmund from Barcelona last summer
Bartra moved to Dortmund from Barcelona last summer (Getty)

Buerki explained that Bartra was hit by shards of glass from the broken back window.

He says players ducked for cover, wondering if there would be more explosions and added that police were at the scene quickly.

He told Blick: "We're all shocked. Nobody thought about a football match in the minutes after that."

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