Tuchel: I'd still be Borussia Dortmund manager if not for bus attack

Thomas Tuchel is convinced he would still be in charge of Borussia Dortmund had the team's bus not been attacked in the hours before a crucial Champions League match last April.

Speaking as a witness in the ongoing trial Monday, Tuchel said the bombing led to a breakdown in his relationship with club CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke and, ultimately, to his dismissal. He had had a contract with the Westfalenstadion outfit until 2018.

When asked by the prosecutor whether the attack contributed to his firing, Tuchel replied, according to DW Sport: "I would assume so."

The German added: "Aki (Watzke) has already said publicly that there was a major discrepancy. This is true. The essence of the discrepancy is that I was sitting on the bus and Aki wasn't."

The quarter-final against Monaco was played the following day, but Tuchel claimed neither he nor his players were consulted by UEFA before the decision was made.

"There was so much to deal with," the 44-year-old coach said.

Tuchel is now without a job, although many in the German media have pegged the former BVB handler as a potential successor to Bayern Munich boss Jupp Heynckes.

He's adamant his players weren't ready to play football so soon after the incident, which left defender Marc Bartra with a fractured wrist. Monaco won the rescheduled fixture 3-2 and eventually took the tie 6-3 on aggregate.

A Russian-born German citizen named only as Sergej W. admitted to causing the explosion in the hopes of lowering Dortmund's stock prices. He has been charged with 28 counts of attempted murder.