By Adegboyega Adeleye
Arsenal midfielder Mikel Merino says a last-minute change of seat on Borussia Dortmund’s team bus may have saved his life when it was attacked with explosives in 2017.
Merino was 20 years old when three bombs, packed with metal pins and concealed in a hedge, exploded as Dortmund travelled to face Monaco in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final.
A large piece of shrapnel struck the headrest of the seat he usually occupied. But Merino had moved to the front of the bus because his “legs were feeling a bit tight”.
“The seats in the front reclined, so I sat up there instead, and it may have saved my life,” the Spaniard said in an interview with The Players’ Tribune.
“I think I have an angel on my shoulder. I’m actually fortunate to be alive at all.”
Merino recalled a deafening blast, the bus nearly tipping over, and seeing blood on the floor as smoke and screams filled the vehicle. He later went to hospital to wait for teammate Marc Bartra, who underwent surgery for a broken wrist.
The match was postponed until the following day. German national Thomas Wenergold was jailed in 2018 after admitting to carrying out the attack.
Merino also spoke about his recovery from a stress fracture in his right foot, suffered in February, and his determination to make Spain’s World Cup squad.
Doctors initially told him he could be out for six months, with the tournament only four months away.
“I was too shocked to even feel sad. I just did the math in my head,” he said. “When I told my wife, Lola, that’s when I broke down. My brain already understood, but my heart needed me to say it out loud.”
Merino said his escape from the Dortmund attack helped motivate him during rehabilitation. He underwent surgery, returned to action late in the season and played for Arsenal against Crystal Palace before Spain announced its squad the next day.
“I have to play. I will be at the World Cup, no matter what,” he said.
Merino was eventually named in Spain’s squad and went on to lift the 2026 World Cup, completing a remarkable comeback from injury.
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