Homeless team – this is YB’s opponent today

Shakhtar Donetsk have not played a match in their own city for more than a decade. In the Champions League, Gelsenkirchen is the venue for today's opponent YB. It tells the story of a team torn by war and without a true home.

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YB's fourth Champions League match of the season will kick off this Wednesday evening (6:45pm). However, in Gelsenkirchen they will not face Schalke 04, who are actually located there, but Ukrainian representatives Shakhtar Donetsk.

Due to the ongoing war in Ukraine, the club plays its Champions League matches in the Ruhr area of ​​Germany. Last season, home games in the top flight were played at Shakhtar in Germany. It was at the Volkspark Stadium in Hamburg.

Last year, Shakhtar Donetsk defeated Barcelona at the People's Park Stadium.Image: trapezoid

A win-win situation for both clubs

The 15-time Ukrainian champions play their home league games in Lviv in the west of the country. Before the outbreak of the national war, the competition was still held in Kyiv. For security reasons this is no longer possible.

UEFA has banned European competitions from being held in Ukraine since the war broke out. This forced Shakhtar Donetsk to look for other locations. It was now decided to head to the Veltins Arena in Gelsenkirchen. Schalke CEO Matthias Thillmann is delighted with the partnership:

Shakhtar Donetsk general manager Sergey Palkin is also happy to be able to host games in Germany again:

Shared mining history with Schalke

The mining industry in the Donetsk and Gelsenkirchen regions has a long history. Shakhtar coach Marino Pusik also mentioned this on the eve of the first home game against Atalanta Bergamo: “This is a great stadium, a club with a great history. We have a lot in common, like Mining history. We’re happy to be here.”

There were more than 21,000 spectators at the first game in Gelsenkirchen.Picture: www.imago-images.de

Fan numbers in Hamburg are not expected to be as large as last year's this year, but bosses from both teams are hoping for a full house, especially for the game against Bayern Munich in December. It's still a good story for the players of the Ukrainian national team to play their home games not in an empty stadium but against Atalanta in front of more than 21,000 spectators.

Shared mining history with Schalke

Since the outbreak of war in 2022, players from Russia and Ukraine have been able to transfer to another country for free. Sergei Palkin publicly expressed his anger at the regulation, which was also extended until 2025, although football operations in the Ukrainian league continue. In this case, the biggest problem facing Palkin is financial:

According to Palkin, the Ukrainian team was treated exactly like the Russian team in the transfer dispute. Another problem was that when FIFA contacted Shakhtar, transfer payments to other teams were still outstanding. Palikin then responded: “Guys, if you let our players go for free and we don't make any money, how am I going to pay for it?”

Ten years of homelessness

Shakhtar haven't played in their own stadium for a decade. The Donbass Arena was opened in 2009 and hosted five matches at Euro 2012, including the semi-final between Spain and Portugal.

In September 2014, the stadium was severely damaged after two bomb explosions nearby and was never fully repaired. Since then, the Miners have played home games in more than a dozen different locations.

Donbas Arena opened in 2009.Picture: www.imago-images.de

The actual home in Donetsk has been used for years to distribute relief supplies. The stadium can accommodate more than 50,000 spectators. The then ultra-modern stadium received a five-star rating from UEFA, putting it in the highest stadium category and would therefore be approved to host the UEFA Champions League final.

In 2022, a coach died in the war

When the Russians launched an attack on Ukraine in February 2022, the chances of Shakhtar returning to Donetsk plummeted, with no end in sight for the homeless team. The next shock to the team occurred when the War of Aggression began. A young coach died after being hit by a Russian grenade.

Despite the war, the league's operations in Ukraine resumed in August 2022. Time and time again, matches had to be interrupted due to bomb scares, with players and staff having to head to the dugouts until the danger passed. Every stadium currently approved must have a sand pit nearby.

billionaire president

Ukrainian billionaire Rinat Akhmetov has been Shakhtar's chairman for nearly three decades. Akhmetov is considered the richest man in Ukraine. In January 2023, when Ukrainian superstar Mychajlo Mudryk transferred from Donetsk to Chelsea Football Club in London for $70 million, the president announced that $25 million of that amount would be donated to Ukrainian soldiers and his family. Akhmetov said on the club's website at the time:

One point has been accumulated so far

So far, Shakhtar Donetsk have only scored one point in the Champions League. Ukraine is fighting for one point against Bologna. The next two games were losses to Atalanta Bergamo and Arsenal. Now they face Young Boys Bern today. A win is almost a must if both teams want to continue dreaming of the knockout stages.

Shakhtar had no chance against Atalanta Bergamo.Picture: www.imago-images.de

However, Shakhtar Donetsk's biggest dream remains to return home at some point and stop wandering from one stadium to another.