Thomas Tuchel has admitted he felt sorry for the Dortmund bus bomber when facing him in court.
The now Chelsea boss, who is preparing his side for the Champions League final with Manchester City on Saturday, was in charge of Borussia Dortmund when their bus was attacked by nail bombs in April of 2017.
Tuchel has admitted the trauma of the events of that day in April left him “a little bit like a robot,” but could still feel sympathy for bomber Sergej Wenergold.
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“It did not catch me like it caught others, I have to say,” Tuchel told the Telegraph. “Still until today, I do not feel the danger that we’ve been in. I can still see the nails sticking in the bus.
“Hopefully, it will not come some day, but it’s not that I’m thinking about it when I go into buses, when I go through a crowd. Somehow not. I’m not waiting for it, actually. I don’t want it to come. But it was absolutely surreal. It was totally surreal and it still is today.”
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Tuchel testified at the trial of Wenergold, who was found guilty and sentenced to 14 years in prison, and felt sympathy rather than anger.
“Once I was in court later to meet the guy who admitted to doing it,” Tuchel said. “I was even feeling sorry for him a little bit, I could not even feel anger, like, ‘wow, what could you have done?’”
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'A little bit like a robot'
Tuchel has revealed how he did not immediately go home following the incident, and caused alarm to his family with how he responded to the trauma.
“My wife constantly tells the story that I went home late, of course," he said. "I drove home. I had written a message to her that [said], ‘everything is OK, don’t worry’. She was in the stadium, then I went home and my manager was there, my wife was there.
“They were quite freaked out and I came home a little bit like a robot, not talking too much about it. I was in front of the TV watching Barcelona against Juventus because it was a Champions League night. She was like, ‘that’s a bit weird.’”
