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Post by rugbytoffee on Apr 11, 2017 18:48:12 GMT
The Champions League fixture between Borussia Dortmund and AS Monaco has been postponed after an explosion hit the coach carrying the Dortmund team, injuring one player. The incident occurred around 7pm CET in Dortmund’s Höchstem district, around 10 kilometres from the club’s stadium. Police confirmed there were three separate explosions near the coach, bursting the vehicle’s windscreen and injuring one player, identified as defender Marc Bartra. Bartra, a 12-time Spanish international, had joined last season’s Bundesliga runners up Dortmund last summer. The 26-year-old, who had been due to start in tonight’s match against the French club, has been taken to hospital. The fixture has been cancelled and rescheduled for Wednesday, the club confirmed at 8:30pm CET. Police and Borussia Dortmund officials assured supporters that they were not under threat at the stadium and that they should “stay calm” while leaving the stadium. A tweet from the German club’s official Twitter account an hour before kick-off at the Westfalenstadion had first alerted news of an incident. “At our bus departure, an incident has occurred. One person was injured. More information to follow,” it read. A later tweet read: “A bomb exploded at the team bus next to the hotel. The players are safe. There is no danger at the stadium.” Inside the Westfalenstadion supporters of opponents Monaco reportedly reacted to the news with chants of “Dortmund, Dortmund”.
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Post by Avinalaff on Apr 11, 2017 19:25:59 GMT
Shocking. Why can't people speak around a table and sort out their differences?
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Post by rugbytoffee on Apr 12, 2017 8:28:54 GMT
Juventus3-0 Barcelona
Dybala and Juve leave Barcelona another mountain to climb
Paulo Dybala struck twice inside the opening 22 minutes as Juventus took a firm grip on this UEFA Champions League quarter-final tie.
Barcelona started with a makeshift defence in the absence of the suspended Sergio Busquets, and the unfamiliarity was soon exposed. There were just seven minutes on the clock when Juan Cuadrado fed the ball to Dybala who, with defenders backing off, span and fired into the far corner.
A fantastic reaction save from Gianluigi Buffon to deny Andrés Iniesta kept the lead intact and moments later it was 2-0, Dybala driving in from the edge of the box. Giorgio Chiellini's header ten minutes after half-time – only his second ever goal in the competition – left home fans in dream land.
Key player: Paulo Dybala
It is traditional, in the lead-up to important ties like this, for players to watch their words. Dybala eschewed that approach this week and stated, firmly, that he expected to knock Barcelona out, that Juventus were better than their opponents. Tonight he played with all the impishness and technique which have marked him down as special – and added two wonderful goals for emphasis.
"I don't want to become the new Messi; there is only one Messi and I would like to beat him," Dybala said in a recent interview. This morning the Gazzetta dello Sport mocked up Dybala threatening Messi through a Snow White-style magic mirror with the headline: "Fairy-tale night: will Dybala be the fairest of them all?" Well, in Turin the 23-year-old Argentinian forward was. A repeat performance at the Camp Nou and the mirror's answer might change.
Barcelona: seeds of doubt
Sometimes a team's decisions speak as loudly as their actions: 3-4-3 or 4-3-3? Here the visitors did a half with each system, meaning that for the second game in four days Jérémy Mathieu failed to re-emerge after the interval. With the first formation Barcelona didn't get tight to Dybala for either goal; with the change Chiellini didn't so much out-jump Javier Mascherano as stoop to conquer. Barcelona betrayed a lack of conviction
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Post by rugbytoffee on Apr 12, 2017 8:30:20 GMT
The morning after the Borussia Dortmund bus attack, German police are continuing their investigations into who was behind the event.
So far the police have refrained from using the word ‘terrorism’ in respect of the bomb blasts, however that may soon change.
An update from AFP on Wednesday morning has confirmed that German police after investigating an “Islamist link” to the bomb attack.
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Post by rugbytoffee on Apr 12, 2017 19:33:09 GMT
Borussia Dortmund 2 AS Monaco 3
Kylian Mbappe bagged a brace as Monaco beat Borussia Dortmund 3-2 in their Champions League quarter-final first leg on Wednesday night. The game was originally set to be played on Tuesday evening, but was postponed after three explosions went off near the Borussia Dortmund team bus as the players made their way to the Westfalenstadion. The blasts injured defender Marc Bartra, and the 26-year-old was subsequently taken to hospital with arm and hand injuries - which required surgery. With Bartra ruled out of the rearranged game on Wednesday night and with Dortmund reeling from the attack, it was Monaco who started the game the better of the two sides with Mbappe - who has now scored 18 goals in all competitions for Monaco this season - handing the visitors the lead in the 19th minute. The 18-year-old latched onto Thomas Lemar's pinpoint cross and drove the ball in from close range to open the scoring, although replays showed he had been in an offside position. Yet it proved a huge goal for the visitors especially as it came just minutes after Fabinho had driven his penalty, awarded for Sokratis Papastathopoulos' foul on Mbappe in the area, wide. Monaco then doubled their advantage in the 35th minute when Sven Bender, under pressure from striker Radamel Falcao, headed Andrea Raggi's cross into the back of his own net. Monaco continued to pressurise and indeed dominate the game, which raised questions as to how much the attack on Tuesday had affected the Dortmund players. But the hosts returned from the break with a renewed sense of purpose and got one back through Ousmane Dembele, who tapped in from close range in the 57th minute. Mbappe, however, restored Monaco's two-goal advantage when he capitalised on an error in the Dortmund defence to race clear and coolly drive past goalkeeper Roman Burki. Shinji Kagawa then netted a superb solo goal six minutes from time which keeps Thomas Tuchel's men in the tie, with the second leg set to be played in the south of France on Wednesday 19 April.
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