Sahin emotional, Sokratis scolds UEFA as Dortmund players describe bus attack

"Until I was on the pitch in the second half I didn't think about football."

A day after three explosions shattered windows on Borussia Dortmund's team bus and sent defender Marc Bartra to the hospital for surgery on a broken wrist, midfielder Nuri Sahin was understandably emotional addressing the incident.

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Speaking in the bowels of the Westfalenstadion moments after his side fell 3-2 to Monaco in a Champions League quarter-final first leg, the Turkish international was eloquent in prioritising safety over football.

"It is hard to talk about it and hard to find the right words. We saw a lot of times on TV and it was far away from us, even when it was in Istanbul which is in my country," Sahin told Jan Aage Fjortoft, referencing a December terrorist attack outside Besiktas' stadium that killed 48 people and injured 166 others.

"Last evening we felt how it is to be in this situation. I don't wish a feeling like this on anyone. I don't know if people can understand this but until I was on the pitch in the second half I did not think about football to be honest," Sahin added.

"When I was on the bus last night, I can't forget the faces, I will never forget those faces. I sit next to (Marcel) Schmelzer and I will never forget his face. It was unbelievable."

Sahin was one of several Dortmund members to speak candidly about the explosions and UEFA's subsequent decision to move the match to Wednesday.

"I am happy first that I am alive," centre-back Sokratis Papastathopoulos told ESPN FC in the mixed zone. "It was the most difficult day that I have lived in my life and I hope that nobody else has to live this day. After yesterday I don't have any more space to think about the game."

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Like his manager, Thomas Tuchel, Sokratis took umbrage with UEFA's handling of the incident.

"They (UEFA) have to understand that we are not animals. We are people who have families, who have kids in the house. And we are not animals. I am happy that all the players are alive, and all the staff are alive.

"It is very difficult today to think to go and play football. For everybody, it is very difficult to go to work after yesterday. I hope that what happened to us, never happens to anyone else. I hope that was the last time," the Greek international added.

Sokratis added, "I feel like an animal and not like a person. Who doesn't live this can't understand how big it was for us."

For Sokratis and the rest of the Dortmund players, it's understandably difficult to talk about football a day after an act of violence put their lives in danger.

Perhaps an articulate and ardent Sahin put it best when he said, "Last night I didn't realise what happened and when I got home my wife and son were waiting in front of the door I felt how lucky we were.

"I know football is very important, we love football, we suffer with football and I know we earn a lot of money and have a privileged life but we are human beings, there is so much more than football in this world, last night we felt it."

(Photo courtesy: Action Images)