Borussia Dortmund claim they were forced into playing their Champions League quarter final against Monaco less than 24 hours after their team bus was the target of a bomb attack.
The German side lost the rescheduled game 3-2. Afterwards several players admitted they had not been mentally prepared for the match while manager Thomas Tuchel said he felt "completely ignored" by Uefa. There were also protests over the rescheduling from fans at the stadium.
An explosion hit the Borussia Dortmund coach on Tuesday night as it made its way to the Signal Iduna Park stadium. Nobody was killed but defender Marc Bartra was hospitalised with a broken wrist after he was hit by broken glass. The game was called off but rescheduled for the following day.
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"We weren't asked at any point. We were told by text message that the decision had been made in Switzerland," said Tuchel after Wednesday's match. "When they told us 'you're up tomorrow', we felt completely ignored.
"We would have liked more time to take stock. This gives you the feeling of impotence, that we have to keep functioning and nothing else matters. I encouraged everyone to take the game seriously but football is not the most important thing in the world."
Turkish midfielder Nuri Sahin delivered what the Daily Telegraph calls a "brave and powerful" interview in which he admitted he was not focused on the game.
Talking about the threat of terrorism, he said: "We saw it a lot of times on TV and it was far, far away from us, even when it was in Istanbul, my country, on New Year’s Eve. It was close but also very far from us and last night we felt how it is like to be in a situation like this and I don't wish anyone a feeling like this."
"I know we earn a lot of money and have a privileged life, but we are human beings. There is so much more than football in this world and last night we felt it."
His sentiments were echoed by Dortmund defender Sokratis. "[Uefa] have to understand that we are not animals," he said. "We are people who have families, who have kids in the house. I am happy that all the players are alive, and all the staff are alive.
"It is very difficult today to think to go and play football. For everybody, it is very difficult to go to work."
However, Uefa denied that Dortmund had been forced to play. "The decision to play the match was made in agreement with clubs and authorities," it said. "We never received any information which suggested any team did not want to play."
It was clear, however, that the incident had affected the German side when the match began. "Dortmund were not at their fluent best, particularly in the first half as Kylian Mbappe and an own goal from Sven Bender put Monaco in charge," reports The Times. "The home side rallied in the second half with goals from winger Ousmane Dembele and Shinji Kagawa. But Mbappe broke clear to score a third away goal."
