Shakhtar Donetsk, the team against which Real Madrid plays this Tuesday night in Warsaw, has not played in its stadium since 2014, when the Donbas conflict broke out after a pro-Western revolution in Ukraine and the annexation of Crimea by Russia.
The Donbass Arena, opened on August 29, 2009 and located in the center of the city, in the Lenin Comsomol park, was once an elite field classified by UEFA, with a capacity for just over 52,000 spectators. It was one of the venues for Euro 2012, which ended up being won by the Spanish team coached by Vicente Del Bosque.
The Donbass Arena cost around 400 million dollars and was designed by ArupSport Company, a company that had already been in charge of building stadiums such as the Etihad Stadium, for Manchester City, or the Allianz Arena, for Bayern Munich.
Since he cannot play in the Donbass Arena, Shaktar has played European competition in three stadiums, the first two in his country: the Lviv Arena, in the city of Lviv (Léopolis), also built for the 2012 European Championship, and the Olympic kyiv, the usual home of the Ukrainian national team and the historic Dynamo kyiv.
Since Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022, Shakhtar has played its Champions League matches at home in Poland, at the municipal stadium of Legia Warsaw, the most popular club in Poland.
Shakhtar Donetsk also cannot play their home matches in the Ukrainian league at home, a competition that this season is being held with many restrictions and in only four cities: kyiv, Lviv (Lviv), Rivne and Zakarpattia. Shakhtar have played in the first two cities. Matches are played behind closed doors and each stadium must have anti-aircraft sirens and bunkers to ensure safety.
