Borussia Dortmund game is delayed after police stop team bus on way to match just after they were hit by three explosions
- Borussia Dortmund’s bus was held by police at their hotel for 20 minutes
- German side, who face Monaco, were the victims of a bomb attack last week
- Dortmund have had heavy police presence in Monaco with riot vans by hotel
Borussia Dortmund’s clash against Monaco was delayed after police stopped its team bus a week after the players were targeted in a terrorist attack.
Dortmund players were delayed for 20 minutes en route to their Champions League quarter-final in the Principality this evening.
The squad were kept waiting outside of the team hotel by officers and no reason for the hold-up was given to club officials. Kick-off was subsequently delayed by five minutes.
The interception by police comes just days after Dortmund’s bus was hit by three pipe bomb explosions prior to the quarter-final’s first leg in Germany.
Borussia Dortmund’s bus was held by police outside their hotel for 20 minutes on Wednesday
It is thought that the bus was stopped before it had reached Stade Louis II Stadium with officers intercepting the vehicle outside Dortmund’s hotel.
Manager Thomas Tuchel described the delay as ‘very unfortunate.’
There has been a heavy police presence outside of the team’s accommodation since they arrived in Monaco with nine riot vans parked nearby earlier today.
During the shocking incident last week, terrified stars dived for cover as three blasts sent shards of glass flying through their coach – while defender Marc Bartra broke a bone in his right wrist and later needed surgery to remove ‘foreign objects’ from his body.
The coach had just left the club hotel ahead of their match when the bombs were detonated in what is believed to have been a targeted attack.
A policeman escorting the coach to the match on a motorcycle was also injured when the bombs went off in bushes nearby, having apparently been detonated with a mobile phone or garage door opener.
The Borussia Dortmund team bus was hit by three explosions while carrying the squad to their Champions League quarter-final against Monaco, with defender Marc Bartra taken to hospital with a broken bone in his wrist
Dortmund did not want to play the clash last week, but the match was rescheduled for just 24 hours after the shocking attack.
After a series of raids, German police later found three letters claiming responsibility for the attack, all of them saying that it was carried out in the name of Islam.
At least one of the notes made reference to the Berlin Christmas market attack, in which an ISIS fanatic drove a stolen truck into shoppers, killing 12.
But detectives are still searching for a car with foreign registration plates, possibly used by those responsible.