Dortmund coach claims team was 'ignored' and forced to play after bus attack

Borussia Dortmund coach Thomas Tuchel said his side was ignored by European football's governing body, Uefa, as the club was forced to play less than 24 hours after an attack on the team bus transporting its players.

Three blasts rocked the German team's coach as they made their way to their Champions League quarter-final first leg against AS Monaco on Tuesday (11 April), injuring Spanish defender Marc Bartra.

Following the attack, the game was immediately rescheduled for the next night in a decision that made Dortmund feel "powerless", Tuchel said.

"We weren't asked at any point," he told reporters on Wednesday (12 April) night, after his team lost 3-2. "We were told by text message that the decision had been made in Switzerland [where UEFA is based].

"When they told us, 'You're up tomorrow', we felt completely ignored.

"They treated it as if a beer can had been thrown at the bus."

Tuchel's claims came after Dortmund chief executive Hans-Joachim Watzke released a statement earlier in the day which said the team would not "bend before terror".

However, Tuchel said: "We would have liked more time to take stock. This gives you the feeling of impotence, that we have to keep functioning and nothing else matters.

"I encouraged everyone to take the game seriously but football is not the most important thing in the world."

'I didn't think about football'

Dortmund midfielder Nuri Sahin, who came on as a second-half substitute, echoed his coach's message and said the attack put everything into perspective.

"We love football, we suffer with football and I know we earn a lot of money, and we have a privileged life, but we are human beings and there is so much more than football in this world ... and last night we felt it," he said, according to Reuters.

"I don't know if the people can understand this but, until I was on the pitch in the second half, I didn't think about football," he said.

Uefa issued a statement denying it forced the players to play in the immediate aftermath of the attack.

"The decision to play the match today at 18.45 [local time] was made last night at BVB stadium in cooperation and complete agreement with clubs and authorities," Uefa communications director Pedro Pinto told the Associated Press (AP).

"We were in touch with all parties today and never received any information which suggested that any of the teams did not want to play."