Explosion near Borussia Dortmund bus: game postponed, Bartra injured

Borussia Dortmund’s Champions League quarter-final with Monaco has been postponed and Marc Bartra has been taken to hospital after an explosion near the team’s bus.

Local police have confirmed that there were up to three explosions near the Dortmund bus as it left its hotel for the stadium at just after 19.00h local time. 

One person was taken to hospital, with it later confirmed that person was former Barcelona defender Marc Bartra. 

People close to Bartra have confirmed to SPORT that he is OK, but in a state of shock, while his mum has confirmed he’s just suffered light injuries on his arm. 

The explosion smashed the windows on the Dortmund bus, but a decision to postpone the game was not taken until 20.30h, with just 15 minutes to go until kick off. 

It’s already been confirmed that it will now be played on Wednesday at 18.45h.  

Dortmund tweeted: “A bomb exploded at the team bus next to the hotel. The players are safe. There is no danger at the stadium.”

A police statement then added: “In the run-up to the Champions League match of BVB against AS Monaco, there was an explosion near the BVB team team bus shortly after 19.00h. The location of the event is Wittbräuckerstraße/Schirrmannweg in Dortmund-Höchsten.

“According to current knowledge the wheels of the bus (whole or partial) burst and one person was injured. It is not yet possible to say exactly what the explosion was or exactly where something exploded.”