Shakhtar Donetsk to play Champions League home games at Stamford Bridge

Summarised from 3 outlets · Updated 14 Oct, 08:08 · Archive

Shakhtar Donetsk will play their Champions League home games at Chelsea's Stamford Bridge this season.

Shakhtar Donetsk will play their Champions League home matches at Chelsea's Stamford Bridge this season, as the Ukrainian club continues to be unable to use their traditional home ground. The Donbass Arena in Donetsk, which opened in 2009 and hosted matches during Euro 2012, has not held a football match since 2014, when Russian military action in the Donbass region forced the club to relocate.

The situation worsened after Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Shakhtar have since played their European fixtures in various locations including Poland, Germany and Slovenia. This season marks their move to Stamford Bridge for Champions League fixtures, with their first 'home' game scheduled against AEK Athens on Wednesday.

For Ukraine's diaspora community in the UK, the arrangement provides an unexpected opportunity. Artem Genne, a Shakhtar supporter who fled Donetsk and now lives in the West Midlands, plans to attend all four Stamford Bridge matches. He described watching the team as a way of connecting with home and others from his region, saying it gives 'a bit of a soft tear' as it represents something he cannot return to. Genne expressed gratitude to the UK for hosting Ukrainian people during the conflict.

How it is being reported

• Joining Shakhtar as they make base in London: ‘We’re here to show the world that we are alive’With no ‘home’ games in Ukraine, Arda Turan’s side hit the road again, with Chelsea’s Stamford Bridge hosting their Champions League campaign The morning has thinned out into low, wispy cloud. Beneath it, Shakhtar Donetsk’s players are going through their paces. It is a light session for those who did not start against Veres Rivne the previous day; that means Arda Turan observes from the side, watching with the director of football, Darijo Srna. A stray ball zips towards them and Srna, after juggling it up, bends it into the goal with a familiar right-footed arc. “Modric!” exclaims Turan.…The Guardian · 14 Oct, 08:00
• The shocking bombed-out abandoned state of Ukrainian football giants' Shakhtar Donetsk home is revealed in new photos as they move to London to play in the Champions League tonightShakhtar moved into the Donbass Arena in 2009, with the ground one of the main venues at Euro 2012, but it hasn't hosted a football match since 2014.Daily Mail Sport · 14 Oct, 07:49
• How Ukrainians are uniting behind Shakhtar in LondonShakhtar Donetsk will be playing Champions League home games at Stamford Bridge this season. It is a scenario nobody wants ideally, but the UK's Ukrainian community is making the best of a difficult situation.BBC Sport · 14 Oct, 07:37

In this story: Shakhtar Donetsk · Chelsea · Stamford Bridge · Donetsk · Ukraine · Artem Genne · AEK Athens

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