Borussia Dortmund defender Marc Bartra, who was the lone player injured in the Dortmund bus bombing on Tuesday, will be out for four weeks, according to head coach Thomas Tuchel.
The former Barcelona defender seemed to be in good spirits after the scary attack, judging by his positive posts on social media, but the reality is he suffered a broken wrist thanks to the explosion. Accounts from other players seemed to suggest that Bartra not only dealt with the broken wrist, but also had shrapnel from the bomb and the shattered window that complicated the injury.
It had been made public that Bartra was having surgery on his injury, which was successful, but until now there was no recovery time announced. “It looks like Marc Bartra will return to the team in four weeks,” Tuchel said. “He’d like to play now already.”
Bartra’s absence has already had an impact on the Dortmund on-field product. His replacement against AS Monaco, Sven Bender, scored a beautiful header painful own-goal that proved the difference in the match. Bender, attempting to clear a cross, headed it into his own net.
With a four-week timetable, Bartra would be out until mid-May. He will obviously miss the away leg next week against Monaco in the Champions League, plus he would miss the DFB-Pokal semifinal against Bayern Munich and important Bundesliga games against Hoffenheim, Koln, and Werder Bremen. Should Dortmund upset Monaco to advance in the Champions League, he would for sure miss the first leg to be played in early May, and then would be a doubt for the second leg on May 9th or 10th.