‘Dortmund had ‘Awkward mindset’ after bus was delayed before Champions League clash against Monaco’- Manager

 Borussia Dortmund were in an “awkward mindset” after their team bus was delayed before Wednesday’s Champions League quarter-final second leg defeat at Monaco, said coach Thomas Tuchel.

Dortmund said the bus was stopped by police for 20 minutes, with kick-off then delayed by five minutes.
The incident happened a week after three bombs exploded close to their bus before the first leg in Dortmund.

“Everyone went quiet and it felt not so good,” said Tuchel, 43.

Uefa said the kick-off had been moved back because of “late team arrival” at Stade Louis II, where Monaco went on to win 3-1 and progressed to the semi-finals 6-3 on aggregate.

Tuchel said the German club’s bus was scheduled to leave 90 minutes before kick-off and “everyone was there ready to go”.

“The police did not drive, police were everywhere around the bus, the street was free. We did not move one centimetre,” he added.

“If you don’t want to have a situation like last week you don’t want this situation – the same team in the bus. We stood there for 16, 17 minutes.

“I had the feeling we were focused and full of joy and happiness to play this game. Then suddenly there were awkward mindsets going around.”

The German said the delay did not have an impact on him throughout the game, but that he was “not sure” how it affected the players.

Defender Marc Bartra was injured in last week’s attack and was taken to hospital after breaking a bone in his wrist. The game was played 24 hours later.