Borussia Dortmund defender Sokratis Papastathopoulos dedicated his goal against Eintracht Frankfurt on Saturday to injured teammate Marc Bartra.
Bartra was hit by shrapnel as three explosions hit Dortmund's team bus on Tuesday when it left the team hotel for the Champions League quarterfinal match against Monaco. The Spaniard was taken to hospital and had surgery on a broken bone in his wrist, which will sideline him for four weeks.
"This goal is for Marc [Bartra] and his family," Sokratis said in the mixed zone after Dortmund's 3-1 win, which keeps them one point behind third-placed Hoffenheim.
Marco Reus scored Dortmund's opener after two minutes. The 1-0 lead lasted until the 29th minute when Marco Fabian's strike from outside the box put both teams level.
Greek international Sokratis scored a stunner from distance in the 34th minute after moving the ball down the field, restoring BVB's lead, before Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang sealed the win for BVB with four minutes left to make it 3-1.
"Today was also one very difficult moment for us after what we went through this week," Sokratis said. "But it was easier than on Wednesday because by now we understood what had happened. We said before the game that we have to be concentrated, that we have to live for two hours and go down on the pitch and try to give 100 percent. I think we did well. This was an important win for us.
"It was very difficult to put everything that we lived through aside but we have to go on. Life is moving forward. The football gives us the chance to relax our mind."
The Dortmund players held up Bartra's number five shirt to the fans in front of BVB's Sudtribune after the match and team captain Marcel Schmelzer said the scenes were emotional.
"It was a 90-minute-long distraction for me in comparison to Wednesday but afterwards [the feelings] that were suppressed for 90 minutes came back up," he said. "Especially, in front of this Yellow Wall with Marc's jersey on display and fans chanting Marc's name. It was definitely a moment where we felt goosebumps. I think this will bring us closer together as a team."
Asked whether football is still enjoyable after the bus incident, the 29-year-old also said: "Football is rather fun than hard work for us at the moment. I think you could see the joy of playing today in the first half because we're happy to be [alive] and we're happy to play football here.
Reus played the first half in his first appearance in more than a month following an injury, and Schmelzer said he was a welcome addition.
"We're also happy that Marco is back," Schmelzer said. "He's an absolute leader and an important player of our team. It's tremendous fun for me personally to play with him. A lot of automatism grew between us over the years and we need very few words to understand each other. Especially with Nuri [Sahin] and Sven [Bender] on the [left] side we had six, seven years of experience in playing together."
Dortmund coach Thomas Tuchel said his players deserve the utmost praise after seeing them end a harrowing week with victory.
"My players have shown incredible character," he said. "They already showed that on Wednesday and did so again today. They deserve the greatest praise possible.
"The gesture with the shirt in front of the stands was fantastic on behalf of the team. Marc is simply part of the team. You can see how the team works, the fantastic characters that we have. It was a lovely gesture together with our fans."
