BORUSSIA DORTMUND COACH Thomas Tuchel slammed the decision to play the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final against Monaco just a day after a bomb attack on the German team’s bus.
Teenager Kylian Mbappé struck twice as Monaco claimed a thrilling 3-2 win at Signal Iduna Park, but Tuchel was furious at the way the incident was handled by governing body Uefa.
The fixture was postponed 24 hours after three explosions rocked the Dortmund team coach and left Spain international Marc Bartra with a broken wrist as the Germans made their way to the ground ahead of Tuesday’s scheduled kick-off.
“We felt completely passed over. It came down to, ‘Tomorrow, you’re playing,’” said Tuchel.
“Ultimately, it was decided in Nyon in Switzerland whether or not to play the next day. It was a somewhat powerless feeling.
“Each player had the right to start with a somewhat queasy feeling.”
Police ramped up security in the city as German investigators detained an Islamist suspect following the roadside blast, but Tuchel criticised the call to go ahead with the game.
“We would have liked to have had more time to work through it,” he added.
“There are players who easily brushed it off, but there are also players who really took it to heart. They are more thoughtful.”
Dortmund defiantly vowed not to “give in to terror” after Tuesday’s harrowing events, but the home side struggled early and fell behind on 19 minutes — although only after Fabinho missed a rare penalty.
Mbappé bundled in the opening goal before Sven Bender, filling in for Bartra in defence, headed into his own net to compound Dortmund’s problems.
Ousmane Dembele pulled one back for Dortmund on 57 minutes, but Mbappé fired in his second of the game to leave Monaco as favourites to reach the last four despite Shinji Kagawa’s late strike.
Extra forces were deployed around team hotels and their buses took designated safe routes to the stadium.
Dortmund players wore t-shirts bearing a message of support for Bartra prior to kick-off, while goalkeeper Roman Burki warmed up in the defender’s number five jersey.
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