Merino reveals seat change on Dortmund bus 'may have saved my life'

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Mikel Merino has revealed that a last minute decision to swap seats on Borussia Dortmund's team coach in 2017 may have saved his life, after the vehicle was targeted in a bomb attack ahead of a Champions League semi final against Monaco.

Merino was 20 years old and on loan at Dortmund when three explosive devices packed with metal pins, hidden in a hedge, detonated as the bus passed on its way to the first leg of the tie. The midfielder, now at Arsenal, said his usual seat was struck by a large piece of shrapnel that lodged in the headrest, but he had chosen to sit elsewhere that day because his legs felt tight.

"The seats in the front reclined so I sat up there instead, and it may have saved my life," Merino said in an interview with The Players' Tribune. "I think I have an angel on my shoulder. I'm actually fortunate to be alive at all."

He described the chaos in the aftermath, recalling blood on the floor, the smell of smoke and screams from inside the bus, which nearly tipped over from the force of the blast. Merino later went to hospital to wait for team mate Marc Bartra, who underwent surgery on a broken wrist sustained in the attack.

The match against Monaco was postponed by a day, a decision criticised at the time by Dortmund's then manager, now England boss, Thomas Tuchel. Sergei Wenergold, a German national of Russian origin, was sent to prison in 2018 after admitting responsibility for the attack.

From stress fracture to World Cup glory

Merino's recollections came as part of a wider interview detailing his remarkable recovery from a stress fracture in his right foot suffered in February, which doctors initially said would keep him out for six months, to lifting the World Cup with Spain just five months later.

"The doctor said, 'six months,'" Merino said. "I was too shocked to even feel sad. I just did the math in my head. The World Cup was four months away." He opted to have two screws inserted into his foot to speed up the process, telling medical staff "Vamos, put 'em in."

Merino watched from the sidelines as Arsenal secured their first Premier League title in 22 years, but his focus quickly turned to Spain boss Luis de la Fuente's World Cup squad announcement, which came the day after Arsenal's final league match of the season at Crystal Palace on 24 May.

"I spent all week arguing with the boss and the physios," Merino explained, referring to discussions with Mikel Arteta. "The plan was for me to return for the Champions League final against Paris St-Germain, and even that was risky. But I had to show Luis that I was ready. Finally, they agreed to give me half an hour against Palace."

The gamble paid off. Merino was named in Spain's World Cup squad the following day, a moment he described watching unfold live on Spanish television before celebrating with his wife Lola and son Marco.

Merino's journey from surviving a terror attack as a teenager to lifting football's biggest prize with his country stands as one of the more remarkable individual stories to emerge from Arsenal's squad in recent seasons.