Mikel Merino Swapped Seats Before Shrapnel Lodged in His Usual Dortmund Spot

• Arsenal midfielder Mikel Merino believes a last-minute change of seats on Borussia Dortmund’s team bus in 2017 saved his life.
• A huge piece of shrapnel ended up lodged in the headrest of the seat he usually took after three bombs filled with metal pins exploded as the coach passed.
• Merino returned from a stress fracture in his right foot, suffered in February, to win the World Cup with Spain five months later.

Merino on the Bus Attack: “I Think I Have an Angel on My Shoulder”

Mikel Merino chose a different seat on the Borussia Dortmund team bus in 2017, and a huge piece of shrapnel ended up lodged in the headrest of the one he normally took. The Arsenal midfielder, now a Premier League and World Cup winner, has told The Players’ Tribune he believes the move saved his life.

Merino was 20 when explosives hit Dortmund’s bus on its way to the home leg of their Champions League tie against Monaco. Three bombs filled with metal pins had been hidden in a hedge and went off as the coach passed. His usual seat was not right that day, he explained, as his “legs were feeling a bit tight”.

“The seats in the front reclined so I sat up there instead,” Merino said. “I think I have an angel on my shoulder,” he said. “I’m actually fortunate to be alive at all.”

He remembers the blood on the floor, the smell of smoke and the sound of screams. “A lot of young people probably would not even believe that it happened, or how bad it was, but it marked us all,” Merino said. “There was a deafening noise, and then I remember the bus nearly tipping over.”

Afterwards he went to the hospital to wait for his teammate Marc Bartra, who had an operation on a broken wrist. The tie against Monaco was postponed until the following day, a decision criticised by Dortmund’s manager at the time, Thomas Tuchel, who now coaches England. Sergei Wenergold, a German of Russian origin, was sent to prison in 2018 after he admitted to the attack.

Four Months Out, Zero Minutes Played, One Shot at the World Cup

The bus attack was one part of a wider interview that also covered Merino’s return from a stress fracture in his right foot. The doctor’s verdict was “six months”.

“I was too shocked to even feel sad,” Merino said. “I just did the math in my head. The World Cup was four months away.” He broke down only when he told his wife, Lola. “My brain already understood, but my heart needed me to say it out loud,” he said.

When “the fog had cleared a little”, Merino leaned on the memory of the Dortmund bus, telling himself that “things happen for a reason”. He had played in the qualifiers for the 2022 World Cup but missed the final squad, and he did not want to face that again. “I have to play. I will be at the World Cup, no matter what,” he said.

There was an option to speed things up. “I put all the meat on the barbecue, as we say in Spain,” Merino said. “They told me they could drill two screws into my foot to give it support. I was like, Vamos, put ’em in.”

Half an Hour at Crystal Palace to Win Over Luis de la Fuente

Merino watched his Arsenal teammates secure a first Premier League title in 22 years and celebrated with them, but his focus was on the final game of the season at Crystal Palace. Spain boss Luis de la Fuente would name his World Cup squad the following day.

“Zero minutes in four months. How do you call up a player like that?” Merino reasoned. The plan had been for him to return for the Champions League final against Paris St-Germain, and he said even that was risky. “I spent all week arguing with the [Arsenal] boss [Mikel Arteta] and the physios,” he said. “But I had to show Luis that I was ready.” Finally, they agreed to give him half an hour against Palace.

“That day, I was playing for the World Cup, 100%,” Merino said. “And after that, I thought I had a good chance.”

The Squad Announcement on Spanish TV

The next day he switched on Spanish TV. “I was sitting on the sofa going, please, please please,” Merino said. “At some point, the screen showed a woman in a vineyard… Mikel Merino!”

“I hugged Lola. I kissed [my son] Marco. My phone blew up with messages,” he said. “I was going to the World Cup.”

Merino signed for Arsenal from Real Sociedad in 2024. In the space of one season he went from a six-month prognosis to a Premier League title celebration and a World Cup trophy, with the near miss on a Dortmund bus in 2017 as the memory that spurred him on.