Shakhtar Donetsk finished third in their Champions League group last season (JANEK SKARZYNSKI)
Ukrainian team Shakhtar Donetsk will play their 2023-24 home Champions League group stage games at Hamburg’s Volksparkstadion, the club announced on Friday.
Shakhtar have been unable to play at their Donbass Arena home in the east of the country since 2014.
Last season, the side played European fixtures in Warsaw after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
The club said “several options were considered” before “we decided to host it in Hamburg”.
“We are sure that the matches in the Volksparkstadion will be played at the highest level and will gather in the stands both local football fans and thousands of Ukrainians who are currently temporarily living in Germany and other European countries.”
Shakhtar hosted Real Madrid, RB Leipzig and Celtic in Warsaw last season, averaging more than 25,000 spectators for each match.
The Volksparkstadion is the home ground of Hamburg who currently play in the German second tier.
Hamburg board member Eric Huwer acknowledged the “difficult circumstances” faced by the Ukrainian club, saying: “We can offer Shakhtar the necessary knowledge and experience for the Champions League.”
The Volksparkstadion has a capacity of 57,000, which is reduced to 51,500 for European fixtures. The stadium will host matches at the upcoming men’s European Championship, to be held in Germany next year.
Hamburg are one of just three German teams to have won the Champions League and the club last played in the competition in 2006-07.
They held a benefit match for Ukraine at the Volksparkstadion in May 2022 which raised over 200,000 euros ($220,000).
The draw for the Champions League group stage will take place on August 31.
dwi/jc
