Wednesday 12 April 2017 17:53, UK
Borussia Dortmund will host Monaco in the Champions League quarter-finals on Wednesday evening, just 24 hours after three explosions went off near the Dortmund team bus.
The explosions occurred shortly after 6pm local time on Tuesday while the vehicle was leaving the L'Arrivee Hotel and Spa and heading to the stadium for the first-leg tie, which has been postponed until 5.45pm BST on Wednesday.
Dortmund defender Marc Bartra has been taken to hospital after he was injured in the incident, which police are treating as an "attack with serious explosives". Bartra, a Spanish international defender, is having surgery on a broken bone in his hand.
Dortmund's CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke said: "I hope the team will be in a position to be able to compete tomorrow on the pitch. In a crisis situation like this, Borussia pulls together."
Regarding the postponement of the match, UEFA said: "This decision was made after a meeting held at the Westfalenstadion between UEFA, representatives of the two clubs and local authorities."
Marco Reus could make a return after a month after the German international returned to training on Sunday folllowing a month sidelined by a hamstring injury.
Dortmund cruised into the last eight with a relatively straightforward 4-1 aggregate win over Benfica in the last round, while Monaco sneaked through on away goals in an entertaining 6-6 aggregate win over Manchester City.
The French side currently lead Ligue 1 and are hoping for a first trip to the semi-finals of the Champions League since losing in the final in 2004, while Dortmund reached the final more recently in 2013, when they lost to Bayern Munich at Wembley.
Team news
Aside from Bartra and Reus, Dortmund boss Thomas Tuchel has a mounting injury list and is rushing to get the likes of Japan midfielder Shinji Kagawa, winger Andre Schurrle, midfielder Julian Weigl and defender Lukasz Piszczek fit.
The quartet all sat out Dortmund's 4-1 thumping at Bayern Munich in the Bundesliga on Saturday.
Monaco have problems of their own with right-back Djibril Sidibe set to miss out after being hospitalised with appendicitis over the weekend.
Highly rated defensive midfielder Tiemoue Bakayoko is suspended, meaning Joao Moutinho should start in central midfield.
Match stats
This is the first competitive encounter between Dortmund and Monaco.
Only one French team has beaten Dortmund on their own soil in European competition (D3 L5), it was Marseille in December 2011 (3-2).
Meanwhile, this will be Monaco's third competitive game against a German side this season after facing Bayer Leverkusen in the group stages, drawing 1-1 at home before losing 3-0 away.
Dortmund have lost only one of their eight Champions League games this season (W5 D2), it was away against Benfica in the round of 16 first leg.
However, Dortmund have lost seven of their last 10 games in the Champions League knockout stages (W3).
Dortmund have scored more goals than any other team from the 76th minute onwards in this season's Champions League (7). They've also netted 12 goals in their last two home games (8 v Legia Warsaw, 4 v Benfica).
Monaco have made the quarter-finals of the Champions League for the fourth time. Only Paris have done better among the French teams (five times)
Charlie's prediction
Now is when the competition really begins and looking at most of the ties it feels like a really wide-open Champions League this season.
We know Monaco have been scoring bags of goals while Dortmund have been building a bit of momentum with their young side, with Ousmane Dembele the one I've really been impressed with, while all eyes with be on Kylian Mbappe for the visitors.
All of these talented players will be looking to enhance their reputations again on the big stage and I think this will be another wide open tie, just like we saw against Manchester City.
Charlie predicts: 3-1 and Aubameyang to score first - 25/1 with Sky Bet
Betting
Dortmund are Sky Bet's 8/13 favourites to establish a first-leg lead with Monaco up against odds of 19/5, while the draw is priced at 100/30. The German outfit are also shorter odds in the outright at 15/2 compared to their visitors' price of 16/1, with Leonardo Jardim's men 6/4 outsiders to reach the semi-finals.
