Celtic wont travel to Ukraine to face Shakhtar Donetsk in European clash

Celtic won't have to travel to Ukraine for their Champions League clash with Shakhtar Donetsk.

The Hoops were drawn in Group F alongside the Ukrainian champions, defending champions Real Madrid, and German side RB Leipzig. And with Ukraine still at war with Russia following Vladimir Putin's invasion in February, Shakhtar won't play in Ukraine.

Instead, the Ukrainian side will hop across the border in Poland, and fulfil their fixtures at Legia Warsaw's Stadion Wojska Polskiego. The stadium is almost 1,000 miles away from Donetsk, but Shakhtar haven't called the city home since 2014.

READ MORE: English sides avoid 'the Group of Death' in Champions League group stage draw

Shakhtar were forced to flee their home in 2014 when Russia first launched its invasion of Ukraine – missiles hit the Donbass Arena, which had hosted Euro 2012.

The Ukrainian champions travelled west: first to Lviv, in the far west of the country, and then east, to Kharkiv, before finding their new home in the capital, Kyiv. That's where they remained until earlier this year, when Russian bombs fell again.

In an empty Olympic Stadium on Tuesday, Shakhtar welcomed back football to Ukraine, with the country still at war.

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However, as Shakhtar fly the Ukrainian flag on the continent, their home continues to be reduced to rubble.

The stadium has seen action since Shakhtar's 3-1 win over Illichivets Mariupol that secured a fifth straight league title in 2014 – but barely 18,000 people turned up as the city braced for war. Two days later, the team, and inhabitants of the city, had fled.

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