Ahead of the Champions League quarter-final match between Borussia Dortmund and Monaco a bomb exploded next to the Dortmund team coach. Fortunately only one player was injured and now Marc Bartra has spoken about his ordeal.
April 11th was supposed to be an evening that gripped us in terms of the football being played on the pitch between two of the youngest and most exciting teams in the Champions League.
Instead news started to filter through of an explosion on board the Borussia Dortmund bus as it made its way from the team hotel to the match and everyone started fearing the worst.
The seemingly minimal damage to the bus after the incident. Image: PA
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Fans in the ground were told that the match was being suspended and had to leave the ground. Fortunately only one player was injured and even Marc Bartra avoided anything too serious, 'just' breaking his hand.
The former Barcelona defender managed to play again by the end of the season, in quite a remarkable recovery, and was part of the Dortmund squad who won the DFB Cup final at the weekend.
The Spaniard has spoken about his ordeal on Spanish TV network Antena 3 saying, "When I was in the ambulance, I did not care if they cut off my arm, I was just glad to be alive.
"...My hand was hanging, I could not move it. I screamed in pain and fear, we did not know whether to move or not, if more [blasts] would come. The physio came and I wanted to sleep, I did not feel well because of the pain, how bad it was. The physio gave me a few slaps, said 'do not fall asleep Marc'.
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"I spoke and I realized that I could not sleep, that if you fall asleep do not wake up. I started thinking about my daughter, calming myself down, with my eyes open. The ambulance came and it was 10 or 15 minutes that lasted forever.
Fans are told about the postponement of the match on screens at the ground. Image: PA
Bartra continued adding, "...I do not wish it on anyone. My first thoughts were on who was alive, whether I could move or not, and then getting away from there.
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"I was in shock, my ears were pounding, I was dizzy. Then I saw that I could move my legs, but my arm hurt a lot. I was bleeding a lot.
"The physios did not want to get off the bus. They took longer, I was put in a tourniquet with a jacket. I still remember everything and I feel strongly when talking about it."
A truly terrible event that luckily didn't affect anyone else.
Featured Image Credit: PA