Borussia Dortmund's Champions League fixture with AS Monaco has been postponed after three explosions went off near the German club's team hotel.
Less than a hour before kickoff, it was reported that a bomb had gone off as the team coach left for the Westfalenstadion, with it being claimed that defender Marc Bartra had been injured.
It was later revealed that the Spanish defender had suffered "superficial" injuries to his arm, with UEFA making the decision to cancel the game.
The rearranged contest is scheduled to take place at 5.45pm, BST, on Wednesday.
Hello, and welcome to Sports Mole's live coverage of first leg of the Champions League quarter-final between Borussia Dortmund and AS Monaco.
In years gone by, a Champions League quarter-final not involving either Real Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern Munich or any of the big teams from England or Italy would be disregarded as the poorest tie of the round, but that most certainly isn't the case here. This evening, the Westfalenstadion stages a game between two of the most exciting sides in Europe and it's a battle which could easily outshine the other three ties at this stage of the competition.
Some will argue that Dortmund are not the force they once was under Jurgen Klopp but while that is true to an extent, it's the improvements to Bayern Munich which has left the chase for the Bundesliga title a one-horse race and Thomas Tuchel's team still possess the quality and style which can cause problems for anyone. The same can be said of Monaco - the leaders of Ligue 1. There was every expectancy that Paris Saint-Germain would continue to dominate French football but the emergence of Leonardo Jardim's wonderkids and talented prospects has really mixed things up. With Monaco already having contributed to the exits of both Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester City, don't be surprised if they get past another high-profile team over the next eight days.
Anyway, without further ado, let's get cracking with the team news...
Well, no. There isn't going to be any team news for a while. Unfortunately, there are reports of an explosion in close proximity to the Dortmund bus when it arrived at the stadium. It has been claimed that Marc Barta has been wounded. That's all the news I have for you right now. I will try to keep you posted.
The details are still a bit sketchy but the incident has been confirmed by both Dortmund and German police. There may be a bigger story here than a football match, which I would imagine is very much in doubt.
A tweet from Borussia Dortmund's Twitter account can be translated as follow...
"Bomb explosion on the team bus at the team hotel. Player in security. No danger in the and at the stadium. More information to follow"
As of right now, that is all we are getting from all of the various outlets in Germany, and the club itself. What we do know is that Borussia Dortmund defender Marc Bartra has been caught up in the explosion, but there has been no word regarding the severity of his injuries. It goes without saying that we all wish him well and hope that it isn't as serious as it sounds.
A tweet from German police says...
"In the area of #Dortmund #Hochsten, an #Explosion has taken place. We have strong forces on the ground. The situation is still unclear."
It is yet to be confirmed by the club, but it is being claimed by Sky in Germany that Bartra's injuries are "superficial". It has also been reported elsewhere that he has only suffered minor injuries to his arm. Let's hope that is the case. The rest of the Dortmund squad and staff have been confirmed as being safe.
A decision will be made on tonight's game at 7.30pm, BST. It should be noted that Germany are an hour of English time, so that decision will be made at 8.30pm German time.
It is worth us reiterating that this incident has taken place away from the stadium. The Monaco squad and staff remain unaffected and like everyone else, they are waiting to see if this fixture can take place this evening.
There should only be a few minutes until we get a decision on the match itself. I shouldn't make assumptions but I am going to anyway. I would imagine that this fixture will be delayed by 24 hours, but we will await the official call.
AP are reporting that a police official has said that three explosions went off near the Borussia Dortmund. Again, that's not confirmed.
It's now been confirmed that the match has been postponed. The plan is to stage the game tomorrow night with a 5.45pm kickoff, BST.
It's open to debate whether it is the correct call to stage the match less than 24 hours after this incident. I'm sure that will be debated over the next few hours.
We are going to bring a halt to our coverage at this stage. It's unclear when more information will be made available, but we encourage you to remain checking our homepage to catch up with the latest updates. A remainder that as it stands, this game is going to be staged tomorrow but I imagine that decision may be contested by Dortmund. Goodbye for now.
