DORTMUND FACE STIFF CHALLENGE TONIGHT

Tough match ahead after bus bombing, loss against Monaco

MARC Bartra gave blood, other Borussia Dortmund players have nightmares about the bomb attack on their bus and now the German team may need the sweat of Marco Reus to pull off a fairytale place in the Champions League last four.

The scars left by three bombs that scorched the side of the bus and fired metal shards inside before the quarterfinal against Monaco have gone much further than Bartra’s fractured wrist.

The game was postponed but Dortmund were forced to play 24 hours later. The shock was apparent in the 3-2 defeat that has left the German side facing a stiff challenge in today’s return leg.

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“I wake up every night,” Dortmund’s Swiss goalkeeper Roman Burki said. “Without any reason, I am jolted awake in terror. Then I can’t get back to sleep.”

Burki recalled the horror of the huge bang in an interview with Swiss newspaper Der Bund.

“The pressure made all our heads turn to one side. Then there was a long silence and then a cry -- it was Bartra.”

Burki said he could not understand why a football team would be the target of a terror attack.

Dortmund are getting help from psychologists.

“We have very good counsellors we can ask for help,” the goalkeeper said.

The team bounced back with a 3-1 Bundesliga win over Eintracht Frankfurt on Saturday. But getting over the attack will be a slow process.

Dortmund coach Thomas Tuchel believes the first game against Monaco should not have gone ahead so soon. But he has had to concentrate on today’s return.

“It’s easier when they play, than after the whistle when they feel they have to talk” about their ordeal, he said.

The problem was how to focus on the Monaco game, the German coach said. But Saturday’s display indicated they could be in the mood for an upset in Monaco.

Defender Sokratis Papastathopoulos scored from a screaming 23m shot that he labelled “the most beautiful goal of my career” and dedicated it to Bartra.

And then there was Reus, who scored just 122 seconds into his comeback from six weeks on the sidelines with a hamstring injury.

Reus at his best can be a matchwinner. The forward has the experience, the playmaking skills and above all, he was not on the ill-fated team bus last Tuesday – and that could make all the difference.

Barcelona striker Neymar, meanwhile, is confident the Catalans can launch another remarkable Champions League comeback as they look to overturn a 3-0 quarterfinal deficit against Juventus last Wednesday.

Just as they had done in the previous round, when Barcelona overcame a 4-0 first-leg deficit to eliminate Paris St Germain, the Spanish giants will be relying on Neymar to produce another magic performance if they are to reach the semifinals.

The Brazilian scored Barcelona’s fourth and fifth goals in the last 16 second leg, setting up the sixth too, as they won 6-1 to progress 6-5 on aggregate.

If Barcelona are to do the impossible in the quarterfinal as well, after losing 3-0 in Turin, they will need the winger to be at his electric best.

Neymar should be well rested after missing Barcelona’s 3-2 win over Real Sociedad on Saturday, the first of three matches he is suspended for in La Liga, including next Sunday’s Clasico.

Having been sent off in the team’s 2-0 defeat at Malaga and hit with a longer ban after sarcastically applauding the fourth official, he has a point to prove in the Champions League. “We have to believe we can do it,” Neymar said.

“We did it once and we can do it a second time. We have to give our absolute maximum.

“If everything goes well, there will be another comeback.”

Although Neymar will return for the clash, Barcelona are likely to be without Javier Mascherano, who did not train on Monday due to a calf injury, as well as long-term absentees Aleix Vidal and Rafinha.

Juventus forward Paulo Dybala, who scored twice in the first leg, was taken off with an ankle injury as they won 2-0 at Pescara on Saturday, but should be fit to play.