Arsenal midfielder Mikel Merino has revealed how a spontaneous change of seat on Borussia Dortmund’s team bus may have saved his life when three bombs exploded beside the vehicle in April 2017.
Merino, then 20, was travelling with his Dortmund teammates to a Champions League quarter-final against Monaco on April 11 when the explosives detonated. The attack injured Dortmund defender Marc Bartra and a police officer, while the Spanish midfielder escaped unharmed.
In a personal account published by The Players’ Tribune, Merino described the terrifying moments after the explosions, recalling a deafening noise, the bus nearly tipping over, blood on the floor, smoke and screams.
“I think I have an angel on my shoulder. I’m actually fortunate to be alive at all,” he wrote.
Merino said he later went to hospital and waited for Bartra, who had suffered a serious wrist injury. The following day, he learned that a large piece of shrapnel had lodged in the headrest of the seat beside Bartra — the place Merino would normally have occupied.
However, his legs had felt tight that day, prompting him to move to the front of the bus, where the seats reclined.
“The seats in the front reclined. So I sat up there instead, and it may have saved my life,” he recalled.
The midfielder said the incident left a deep mark on those who experienced it, describing an ordeal that remains a defining moment in his life.
The attack forced UEFA to postpone Dortmund’s Champions League quarter-final first leg against Monaco until the following day.
Merino’s account offers a fresh perspective on the incident, highlighting how a seemingly minor decision made moments before the explosions may have spared him a potentially fatal injury.
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