Tuchel fumes at UEFA
Dortmund were ‘completely ignored’ by UEFA after bus attack, says coach
Borussia Dortmund coach Thomas Tuchel slammed the decision to play the first leg of their Champions League quarterfinal against Monaco just a day after a bomb attack on the German team’s bus.
Teenager Kylian Mbappe struck twice as Monaco claimed a thrilling 3-2 win at Signal Iduna Park on Wednesday, 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 kickoff.
“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 criticized the call to go ahead with the game.
“We would have liked to have had more time to work through it,” he said.
“There are players who easily brushed it off, but there are also players who really took it to heart. They are more thoughtful.”
Support for Bartra
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.
Mbappe bundled in the opening goal before Sven Bender, filling in for Bartra in defense, headed into his own net to compound Dortmund’s problems.
Ousmane Dembele pulled one back for Dortmund on 57 minutes, but Mbappe fired in his second of the game to leave Monaco as favorites 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 kickoff, while goalkeeper Roman Burki warmed up in the defender’s No.5 jersey.
The 26-year-old was replaced in the lineup by Bender, while Monaco were without midfielder Tiemoue Bakayoko due to suspension, as well as fullbacks Djibril Sidibe (appendicitis) and Benjamin Mendy (groin).
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang rifled a snap shot just over as the hosts fired an early warning. But Monaco were awarded a penalty when Mbappe was impeded by Sokratis Papastathopoulos, only for Brazilian Fabinho – who had converted all 16 previous career spot kicks – to drag wide of the post. Their anguish lasted just two minutes, although there was a huge element of fortune involved as Monaco took the lead through Mbappe. Bernardo Silva found Thomas Lemar on the edge of the area, with the Frenchman’s miscued effort forced in by Mbappe at the far post despite the forward straying offside.
Bender blunder
Kagawa then scuffed wide from an inviting low cross from Matthias Ginter, and that miss proved increasingly costly when Bender headed Andrea Raggi’s delivery into his own net on 35 minutes.
Tuchel rolled the dice at halftime by introducing Christian Pulisic and Nuri Sahin in place of the hapless Bender and Schmelzer, and the changes immediately reaped rewards.
Pulisic tormented Raggi on the right wing, but it was a cross from Raphael Guerreiro on the left that led to Dembele reviving Dortmund’s hopes.
Aubameyang acrobatically flicked the ball into the path of Kagawa who squared for Dembele to slide into an empty net just before the hour.
Radamel Falcao nearly landed a sucker punch as Dortmund pressed for an equalizer, blazing over on the stretch after rounding Burki following a superb pass from Lemar.
But Mbappe was less forgiving, intercepting a risky pass from Lukasz Piszczek and sprinting toward the Dortmund goal before finishing coolly past Burki.
Kagawa grabbed a lifeline for Dortmund with six minutes left, expertly controlling a Sahin cross and wriggling past Jemerson to slot beyond Monaco goalkeeper Danijel Subasic.
But after ending Dortmund’s 32-game unbeaten run at home, Leonardo Jardim’s side will be confident of advancing to the semifinals next week, although they will be without the suspended Fabinho.