Thomas Tuchel 'insulted' his Dortmund players after bus attack | OneFootball

Thomas Tuchel 'insulted' his Dortmund players after bus attack | OneFootball

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Dan Burke·27 February 2019

Thomas Tuchel 'insulted' his Dortmund players after bus attack

Article image:Thomas Tuchel 'insulted' his Dortmund players after bus attack

An extraordinary allegation against former Borussia Dortmund coach Thomas Tuchel has emerged in Germany on Wednesday.

On 11 April 2017, Dortmund’s players and staff were travelling to the Westfalenstadion to face Monaco in the Champions League when their bus was attacked by an explosive device.


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Despite the fact former BVB defender Marc Bartra was left with an injured arm and several others players were in a state of shock, Uefa made the decision to postpone the match by just one day.

Article image:Thomas Tuchel 'insulted' his Dortmund players after bus attack

Dortmund were beaten 3-2 the following night (and 6-3 on aggregate) and, at the time, Tuchel expressed his disappointment at the hasty decision made by European football’s governing body.

However, writing in his new book Kabinengeflüster, German sports journalist Pit Gottschalk claims Tuchel had no qualms about playing the match the following day and was actually hoping the incident would bring greater “energy” to the stadium and help his team to victory.

Furthermore, Gottschalk alleges that Tuchel even insulted his players when they expressed concern about their ability to play the match.

The morning after the attack, Marco Reus and Gonzalo Castro are said to have broken down in tears in the coach’s office and when they left, Tuchel is reported to have turned to a member of his backroom staff and said: ‘How am I supposed to beat Bayern with these wimps?’

Gottschalk claims this information was passed to him by a senior Dortmund player and Tuchel’s attitude is said to have incensed the club’s CEO, Hans-Joachim Watzke.

Tuchel left the Bundesliga outfit at the end of that season and his row with Watzke over that fateful April day is, according to Gottschalk, what sparked the beginning of the end of his time in North Rhine-Westphalia.

The Paris Saint-Germain coach is yet to respond to the allegations.