German soccer team Dortmund said Tuesday that its Champions League match against Monaco was canceled and one player injured after explosions hit team bus.
Police said they were working on the assumption that the blasts were directed at the Dortmund team and caused by "serious explosive devices", which may have been hidden in a hedge near a vehicle park. "The letter claims responsibility for what happened", prosecutor Sandra Luecke told journalists.
Former Barcelona defender Bartra most recently appeared for Spain in November 2016 and the country's football federation showed support for the 26-year-old in a statement.
Dortmund said defender and Spain worldwide Marc Bartra had been taken to hospital. His condition is unknown.
"We are doing everything possible to ensure that the game is played safely", Dortmund's police chief said.
Bartra was taken to hospital after reportedly suffering minor injuries to his arm after being struck by shards from the broken back window.
German authorities do not at this stage have evidence that the attack was linked to terrorism, German media cited sources close to the security services as saying.
Ancelotti: Bayern can´t lose sleep worrying about Madrid
Ancelotti will certainly be desperate to unleash the prolific 28-year-old against Zinedine Zidane's defensive ranks. Dortmund have class strikers to rely on of its own, led by Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang's 32 goals overall.
Dortmund Chief Executive Officer Hans-Joachim Watzke said in a video on the team's website that the team "is totally shocked" by the explosions that damaged the bus and injured defender Marc Bartra.
"You can't get pictures like that out of your head". The match was called off and rescheduled for tomorrow. Stunned fans were only told around 15 minutes before the game's start time.
Three explosives that shattered windows and injured a player on the Borussia Dortmund team bus Tuesday as the German football squad was en route to its home Champions League match were part of a targeted attack, police said.
"I was deeply disturbed by the explosions which occurred in Dortmund", he said in a statement.
Germany has been on a high alert since last December's attack in Berlin, when a Tunisian national hijacked a truck and rammed it into a crowd, killing 12 people.
The German team spent the night at the stadium, which was one of the targets of the Islamist suicide bombers. The club thanked supporters of opponent Monaco for their "patience and understanding" and for chanting "Dortmund!"
Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy also wished Bartra "a speedy recovery", on his Twitter account.




Comments