Player hurt after team bus hit by ‘explosions’

German police are working on the assumption that explosions which rocked the Borussia Dortmund football team’s bus were caused by “serious explosive devices”.

Police in Dortmund said the devices which went off near the bus as the Bundesliga side were leaving their hotel for a Champions League match last night “may have been hidden in a hedge near a parking area”.

Dortmund defender Marc Bartra suffered injuries to his arm and hand in the incident.

The Champions League quarterfinal first leg match between Dortmund and Monaco was called off and rescheduled for Wednesday.

Police said there were three explosions near the Dortmund team bus as it left a hotel on the outskirts of the western city for the stadium, around six miles away, at around 7pm local time (6pm BST).

A window on the bus was damaged and Spanish defender Marc Bartra was hurt.

Dortmund said Bartra has been taken to hospital, although the club’s chief executive Hans-Joachim Watzke said the defender’s injuries are “nothing life-threatening”.

Dortmund goalkeeper Roman Buerki said the team bus had just pulled out of the hotel driveway when an explosion sent glass flying.

The Switzerland international told reporters he was sitting in the last row of the bus, next to Bartra.

Bartra was hit by shards from the broken back window, he added. Players ducked for cover, wondering whether there would be more explosions.

“We’re all shocked - nobody thought about a football match in the minutes after that,” he said.

Inside the packed stadium, supporters of Monaco, which plays in the French league, chanted “Dortmund, Dortmund” in sympathy for the German side.

Dortmund residents, for their part, used social media to offer accommodation to stranded Monaco supporters ahead of their rescheduled match in Europe’s premier soccer club competition.

Mr Watzke said: “The team is totally shocked, that’s clear. It’s our task now to digest this somehow because it’s only 24 hours before we have to play. That’s our job.”

He added that there was “no alternative” to rescheduling the match for Wednesday, as Monaco also has to play at the weekend and the return Champions League match is scheduled for next week.

“It’s a very unfortunate situation but there was no other way,” he said.

Stadium spokesman Norbert Dickel informed fans of the cancellation, saying “there is no reason for panic here at the stadium”.