Arsenal midfielder Mikel Merino has revealed that a last-minute decision to switch seats on the team coach likely saved his life during the 2017 Borussia Dortmund bus bombing. The Spanish international was 20 years old when Dortmund's bus was targeted by three explosive devices packed with metal pins and hidden inside a hedge en route to their Champions League semi-final home clash against Monaco. A large piece of shrapnel lodged directly into the headrest of Merino's usual seat, but he had relocated to the front because his legs felt tight and those seats offered reclining space.
Reflecting on the traumatic event in an interview with The Players' Tribune, the Premier League and World Cup winner stated he believes he has an "angel on my shoulder" and considers himself fortunate to be alive. Merino vividly recalled a deafening noise, the bus nearly tipping over, smoke, screaming, and blood on the floor. Following the incident, he waited at the hospital for team-mate Marc Bartra, who required surgery on a fractured wrist. The match was delayed until the next day—a call criticized by then-Dortmund manager and current England boss Thomas Tuchel—before perpetrator Sergei Wenergold was jailed in 2018 after confessing to the attack.
Merino explained that surviving the brush with death gave him profound perspective when overcoming a significant injury setback in February, when a stress fracture in his right foot threatened to derail his international ambitions. Doctors initially projected a six-month recovery timeline with the World Cup just four months away. Having previously featured in qualifiers for the 2022 World Cup but missing out on the final tournament squad, Merino was devastated when breaking the news to his wife, Lola, before resolving to push through his rehabilitation by having two screws surgically inserted into his foot for support.
After celebrating with his Arsenal team-mates as the club secured their first Premier League title in 22 years, Merino pushed manager Mikel Arteta and the medical staff to grant him 30 minutes off the bench against Crystal Palace on 24 May. Though the initial strategy was to target the Champions League final against Paris St-Germain on 30 May, Merino was determined to prove his fitness to Spain manager Luis de la Fuente before the World Cup squad announcement. The gamble paid off the following day when Merino, watching Spanish television alongside his wife and son Marco, saw his selection confirmed before going on to lift the World Cup five months after his initial diagnosis.