Shakhtar's New London Home in War-Torn Champions League

The grass at Stamford Bridge is green and waiting, a forty-thousand-seat bowl of silence under a heavy, grey sky. For Shakhtar Donetsk, this stadium is no longer a destination for visiting teams; it is their adopted home. The irony is sharp and physical. The journey for the Ukrainian side to reach this pitch in London is four times longer than the trip for their opponents from Greece or the Netherlands. It is a logistical paradox that defines their current existence in the Champions League.

They opened their eight-game campaign with a 1-1 draw at PSV Eindhoven. That trip to the Netherlands was shorter than the upcoming four "home" fixtures they will host at Chelsea’s stadium. Real Madrid will be the prize visitor in January, arriving at a venue that was, for two decades, the realm of Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich. He was forced to sell the club in 2022 under pressure from British government sanctions following the invasion of Ukraine. Now, Shakhtar steps into that space, a symbol of resilience in a landscape scarred by conflict.

Brazilian Talent in a War Zone

The lineup at PSV carried the trademark Brazilian flavor that is Shakhtar’s identity. Sporting director Darijo Srna, who captained the team to the 2009 UEFA Cup final, now oversees a new generation. Isaque, Kauã Elias, and Alisson Santana started, while Lucas Ferreira and Luca Meirelles sat on the bench. None of them are yet 21. They arrived from Brazilian clubs for transfer fees ranging from 10 to 17 million euros.

“They are future stars,” Srna said. “Because of that, also for us it’s important to play in London to show them.” The club’s business model of buying young talent and selling them for profit is back in full force after losing a generation of players when the war began. The ideal deal is exemplified by Kevin, bought from Palmeiras for less than 15 million euros and sold to Fulham for 40 million euros a year later. Shakhtar knows how to work with these players, even now, living in a country at war, 12 years after being exiled from Donetsk.

The Exhausting Journey to London

Shakhtar is based in Lviv, near the western border with Poland. Their next Champions League week begins with a domestic league game at Veres Rivne. Games in mostly empty stadiums are often disrupted by alerts of possible incoming Russian missiles. “It’s exhausting, it’s not easy to play the games,” Srna said. The journey to London involves a bus, then a train, a plane, and another bus. It can take 14 hours just to reach Warsaw after security checks at the border.

Turan's Calm in the Storm

The team has an inspirational coach in Arda Turan. He played 100 times for Turkey, won the Spanish league with Barcelona, and helped Atletico Madrid reach the 2014 Champions League final. “He doesn’t care about the war, he adapted himself better than anyone,” Srna said about the 39-year-old coach now in his second season. “He is an amazing guy, a little bit crazy,” Srna said with a smile, noting his similar reputation as a player in a positive way. “He is a child of Galatasaray.”