HAMBURG, Germany (AP) — Just playing is a small victory for Shakhtar Donetsk, though the Ukrainian champions won't stop there.
The Ukrainian league restarted a year ago despite the war but all games are played in empty stadiums — and sometimes interrupted by air-raid sirens.
For the second straight season, Shakhtar is playing its Champions League games outside of Ukraine because of the Russian invasion.
“When we drew with England (in a national team game on Sept. 9), I really got a lot of messages from the soldiers.
Despite the wealth behind Shakhtar, the club won't give up hope of returning to play in Donetsk some day, Chygrynskyy said.
Persons:
—, Taras Stepanenko, ”, Stepanenko, “, Patrick van Leeuwen, “ It’s, Velyka, Dmytro Chygrynskyy, it’s, ” Chygrynskyy, hasn't, Rinat Akhmetov, Mykhailo Mudryk, Chygrynskyy, “ That’s
Organizations:
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Locations:
HAMBURG, Germany, Ukrainian, Ukraine, Hamburg, Poland, Lviv, It's, Portugal, Zaporizhzhia, Novosilka, Barcelona, Greece, Russia, Donetsk, Kyiv, Chelsea