A STADIUM which once hosted Champions League matches now lies abandoned – with smashed turnstiles and overgrown grounds.
The 52,000-seater Donbass Arena in the Ukrainian city of Donetsk used to be one of the top stadiums in Europe before war left it in ruins.
Once home to national giants and reigning champions Shakhtar Donetsk, the Donbass Arena played host to a number of Champions League games.
The likes of Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester United and Manchester City all failed to come away with three points from the £320million arena this century.
The stadium also hosted five games at the European Championships in 2012, including two of England’s group stage fixtures.
The Three Lions drew 1-1 with France in their opener in Donetsk, before defeating co-hosts Ukraine 1-0 thanks to a Wayne Rooney goal.
Read more in Football
One of the semi-finals between Portugal and eventual winners Spain also took place at the Donbass Arena.
During this game alone, superstars such as Cristiano Ronaldo, Andres Iniesta and Xavi Hernandez all took to the hallowed turf.
Lionel Messi and Robert Lewandowski are two other footballing giants who have competed – and scored – for their clubs inside the stadium,
But since 2014, the Donbass Arena has been out of use due to the Russo-Ukrainian War in the Donbass region.
Most read in Champions League
As a result, it has become abandoned by all at the club and now resembles a derelict building rather than a state-of-the-art arena.
In August 2014, the stadium was damaged by artillery shelling from Russian troops as they went to war with Ukraine in the local town.
Two months later, more artillery shelling damaged the stadium but this time it was to a much worse extent.
Both the east and west sides were caught up in the cross fire, causing at least one large glass panel to fall and almost hit a young girl.
And there was to be further damage years later when the stadium’s infrastructure was hit once more in March 2022.
Due to years of neglect, the venue has entered a state of pitiful decline both inside and out.
The grass on the pitch became so overgrown that it was not even close to resembling a playable surface, while parts of it had turned yellow.
The floodlights have been out of power for years and the club shop possesses not a single item after being deserted.
The park in which it is situated has turned into a grassy wasteland with a clogged lake.
A video posted on social media shows the sorry state of the stadium as the person filming walks up to the Donbass Arena.
Either side of them is overgrown vegetation which shockingly reaches head height due to its lack of maintenance.
An eery and soulless atmosphere welcomes the individual as they approach what was once a booming arena full of passionate fans.
But the stadium, which once held so many memories, is now becoming a memory itself.
Unfortunately, the Donbass Arena is just one of many abandoned stadiums in Ukraine.
The Tsentralnyi Stadion in Mykolaiv has been left abandoned since 2021 and had a Russian missile blow a huge chunk out of it last year.
Read More on The Sun
Another blast from the past is the 5,000-seater Avanhard Stadium in Chernobyl, which was abandoned after the power plant disaster in 1986.
The ground is now covered in a forest of trees and is barely recognisable after more than 30 years of neglect.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
