Shakhtar vs Crystal Palace won’t be in Donetsk - The story behind the 1,000-mile move

Shakhtar Donetsk will have to do things the hard way in the first leg of their Conference League semifinal against Crystal Palace. Then again, the Ukrainian league leaders are more than used to it by now.

A “home” game far from home

Thursday’s fixture, officially a home game for Shakhtar, will take place at Henryk Reyman Municipal Stadium in Krakow, Poland, around 1,000 miles from Donetsk. It is a familiar disadvantage for the “hosts,” who have still managed to reach the last four of Europe’s third-tier club competition.

The 16-time Ukrainian champions, regular participants in the Champions League over the years, have not played at their home stadium, Donbas Arena, since May 2, 2014. That, of course, is due to the war in Donbas, which began in April 2014 and formed part of the early stages of the ongoing Russo-Ukrainian war following Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022.

Life on the road since 2014

Initially, Shakhtar played their home fixtures across different parts of Ukraine, which remains the case for domestic matches. Since 2022, however, European games have been off-limits in their home country, forcing matches to be staged in Germany and Poland.

This season, Shakhtar, now managed by former Atlético Madrid and Barcelona midfielder Arda Turan, have played all of their European home fixtures in Krakow. Even so, that is not expected to dilute the atmosphere when Crystal Palace arrive on Thursday.

“We will have around 26,000 supporters, almost 90% Ukrainian people,” club CEO Sergei Palkin told the BBC.

“I am sure that they arrive not just from Poland, but from other countries. They spread over the world, everywhere. For those who stayed abroad, it’s like a connection.”

Another exhausting journey awaits

An 18-hour bus journey awaits the team ahead of Sunday’s league game away to Dynamo Kyiv. After that, they will return to Krakow to catch a flight to London for the second leg against Palace, which takes place next Thursday, May 7.

Hardly ideal preparation for a European semifinal. But Shakhtar, and their supporters, have become accustomed to taking the long road in pursuit of their goals, both domestically and in Europe.

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