How last-minute seat change saved my life in 2017 bus bombing– Merino

Arsenal midfielder Mikel Merino recounted how a last-minute seat change on Dortmund's team bus potentially saved his life during a 2017 bomb attack in Germany. Merino and his teammates were traveling to the Champions League quarter-final against Monaco when a bomb, packed with metal pins, detonated as the bus passed a hedge. Miraculously, Merino had moved to another seat due to discomfort in his legs.

The seat he occupied had reclining seats, which could have protected him from the shrapnel that lodged in the headrest of his usual seat. In an interview with The Players' Tribune, Merino said, "The seats in the front reclined, so I sat up there instead, and it may have saved my life." The attack left Merino with a stress fracture in his right foot, which threatened to keep him out of Spain's World Cup squad.

Despite the setback, Merino pushed for a return to the final Premier League match of the season and ultimately made Spain's World Cup squad.