The historic ground now lies in ruin.
A stadium once used to host the Champions League and the Euros now lies completely abandoned.
The historic Donbas Arena, former home of Ukrainian giants Shakhtar Donetsk, now lies deserted despite hosting some of Europe’s top competitions.
The 52,000 capacity stadium, which is bigger than both Villa Park and Stamford Bridge, once hosted the European Championships and the Champions League but hasn’t held a game for a decade.
This is due to conflicts in Ukraine that have forced the Shakhtar Donetsk team to move stadiums four times in the past ten years.
And recent pictures gathered by The Sun have shown the severity of the damage caused to the stadium as the conflicts in Ukraine continued to escalate.
The new images of the stadium are almost unrecognisable as debris, shattered glass and overgrown vegetation have taken over the giant arena.
Work to build the stadium began in 2006 and finished in 2009, costing the club an estimated £313.4million.
Popular American singer Beyonce performed a show for the opening of the new stadium, which went on the host five seasons of home games for Shakhtar.
During this team, the Ukrainian side won the league five times in a row and went as far as quarter-finals of the Champions League in 2010/11.
The Ukrainian ground once hosted top Premier League sides Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester United and Manchester City, with all four sides failing to come away from the stadium with three points.
The Donbas Arena also held five matches at Euro 2012, including the semi-final between Portugal and Spain.
England also played in the arena on two occasions, a 1-1 draw with France and a 1-0 victory over hosts Ukraine following a goal from Wayne Rooney.
But, in May 2014 the stadium was abandoned following a “Peace March” against the pro-Russian unrest in the country and the self-proclamation of the Donetsk People’s Republic.
Just three months later, the stadium was damaged in reported artillery shelling as Ukrainian forces clashed with pro-Russian forces for control of the city.
The stadium sustained further damage in October as it was hit in more reported artillery attacks.
Donbas Arena has been empty since 2014 after Shakhtar Donetsk were forced to abandon it. (Image: Getty)
This damage has only been exacerbated by the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine, and Shakhtar Donetsk have instead played their matches across several other stadiums in the country and abroad, with the Veltins-Arena in Gelsenkirchen, Germany their home for 2024/25.
However, while the stadium may never be used again by the football club, it will forever be immortalised in the popular multiplayer video game Call of Duty: Warzone, which used the stadium as inspiration for a part of their map.
UEFA make decision over Declan Rice ban as investigation launched into Jude Bellingham gesture (an)
UEFA have reached a decision on Declan Rice.
UEFA have made a decision about a potential ban for Declan Rice after an incident that followed England’s victory against Slovakia.
England put in another woeful performance in their Euro 2024 round-of-16 clash with Slovakia on Sunday.
Gareth Southgate’s sides were less than two minutes from elimination, but Jude Bellingham produced a spectacular bicycle kick to level the score in the fifth minute of injury-time.
Harry Kane scored early in extra-time and England went on to win 2-1, but there were some bad-tempered scenes at full-time.
Declan Rice clashed with Slovakia manager Francesco Calzona and had to be held back by teammates Ivan Toney, Ezri Konsa and Aaron Ramsdale.
The Italian coach approached the match officials to complain about England’s time-wasting, before pushing Rice away when the Arsenal star confronted him. Another member of the Slovakia coaching staff also shoved Rice.
Rice reacted furiously with a stream of abuse. Expert lipreader Jeremy Freeman told Mail Sport that Rice shouted at Calzona: “Shut up, p***y, oi, shut up, you bald c***.”
There were fears that Rice could face a suspension following the incident, potentially ruling him out of England’s quarter-final clash with Switzerland on Saturday.
Fortunately, according to Mail Sport, UEFA have no plans to charge Rice.
However, Jude Bellingham might not be so lucky.
Rice was involved in a heated moment after England’s win over Slovakia (Image: Getty)
On Monday UEFA confirmed that they have opened an investigation into the midfielder’s celebration following his late equaliser against Slovakia.
Bellingham made a crotch-grabbing gesture, which he claimed was “an inside-joke gesture towards some close friends who were at the game.”
If found guilty the 21-year-old could face a suspension, fine or both.
In 2019, UEFA investigated Cristiano Ronaldo and Diego Simeone after both made similar gestures during a Champions League last-16 tie between Juventus and Atletico Madrid.
Both were fined but avoided bans, which could indicate how UEFA decide to punish Bellingham.
One man who will miss England’s quarter-final is defender Marc Guehi, who will serve a one-match ban after picking up his second booking of Euro 2024.
Roy Keane’s X-rated text messages to Ian Wright revealed ahead of England and Slovakia clash (an)
Keane made his feelings known ahead of England vs Slovakia.
Roy Keane sent several X-rated text messages to Ian Wright about England ahead of their Euro 2024 last 16 clash against Slovakia.
Gareth Southgate’s side have so far flattered to deceive across their three performances in Germany, but still managed to top Group C.
They only scored two goals across their three games, however, with a 0-0 draw against Slovenia causing anger amongst England fans.
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The draw does mean that the Three Lions have avoided some of the tournament’s big hitters, although their route to the final could still see them having to overcome Switzerland and the Netherlands.
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What is for sure is that Southgate’s side are four knockout games away from glory – and one game away from elimination at every stage.
Some pundits have claimed that England players are ‘afraid to fail’ at Euro 2024 – which prompted Keane to begin an angry rant on WhatsApp.
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The Irishman appeared on the latest episode of The Overlap’s Stick to Football in Berlin, with co-host Gary Neville reading out the details of Keane’s text argument with Wright in their group chat.
Although Neville said the messages ‘doesn’t have to make the edit’, he read out: “You brought the Euros final up, you f***ing egg [from Keane to Wright].
“All bulls**t about being afraid to fail. What bulls**t that is. England are the best at it, so they should be f**ing used to it!
“All ex-England players thinking they know about the game, when they know f**k all, and then too lazy themselves to get their coaching badges, but preach about tactics and systems and playing between the f***ing lines. It turns my f***ing stomach.”
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Explaining the reason behind his furious messages, Keane fired back: “You said something at the start… go back to what he said, he said something, ‘What’s that got to do with it at the Euros?’ But you brought it up!”
You can watch the full exchange below – including Wright’s comeback.
“You brought up the Euro Final, you f****** egg.”
Ever wondered what goes down in the Stick to Football group chat? 😂💬 pic.twitter.com/TkstB4txdh
— The Overlap (@WeAreTheOverlap) June 29, 2024
Neville, Wright and Keane have all been working on ITV throughout Euro 2024, and will be the punditry trio for the England versus Slovakia clash on Sunday evening.
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Roy Keane and Gary Neville were speaking on The Overlap’s Stick To Football, brought to you by Sky Bet.
