Merino reveals he was 'fortunate to be alive' after Dortmund bus bombing

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Mikel Merino has opened up on the night he narrowly escaped death during his time at Borussia Dortmund, revealing he was originally meant to sit in the seat where a piece of shrapnel later lodged itself after a bomb attack on the team bus.

The Arsenal midfielder was with Dortmund in April 2017 when their coach was struck by explosives on the way to a Champions League quarter final against Monaco. Three pipe bombs detonated near the bus, shattering windows as it travelled to Signal Iduna Park. Defender Marc Bartra suffered a fractured and badly cut wrist in the attack, one of two people injured that night.

Speaking to The Players' Tribune, Merino explained that he was originally due to sit next to Bartra but moved seats shortly before the explosion.

"I think I have an angel on my shoulder. I'm actually fortunate to be alive at all," Merino said. "I was 20 and playing for Dortmund when three pipe bombs went off right next to our bus on the way to a Champions League match. A lot of young people probably would not even believe that it happened, or how bad it was, but it marked us all."

He described the chaos in vivid detail. "There was a deafening noise, and then I remember the bus nearly tipping over. I looked behind me and saw blood on the floor. Smoke, screams. I remember being at the hospital later that night, waiting for Marc Bartra, who had his wrist badly cut up."

The full scale of how close he came to serious harm only became clear the following day. "Someone told me that a huge piece of shrapnel was lodged in the headrest of the seat next to Marc. My usual seat. That day, the seat was empty. My legs were feeling a bit tight, and the seats in the front reclined. So I sat up there instead, and it may have saved my life. So yeah, I just have this belief that things happen for a reason."

Merino draws on the experience after injury setback

The now 30 year old midfielder said that mindset helped him through a difficult injury spell last season at Arsenal, when he fractured his foot in January and required two screws inserted into his left foot.

"The specialist who did the scan had never seen a stress fracture in that part of the foot," Merino explained. "He'd been doing this for 30 years. He had called five of the best specialists in the world, and none of them had seen it either. Nobody knew how my foot would recover, or if it would recover at all. Part of me feared that I would never play football again."

Describing his decision to go through with the surgery, he added: "I put all the meat on the barbecue, as we say in Spain. They told me they could drill two screws into my foot to give it support. I was like, vamos, put 'em in."

Merino has since returned to full fitness and remains part of Mikel Arteta's midfield options at Arsenal, with his reflections offering a rare insight into the perspective he carries both on and off the pitch.