Next season, Ukrainian club "Shakhtar" will play home games in Lviv - a city located about 600 kilometers from Donetsk.
Due to the unrest in the country, the Donetsk team will train in the capital city of Kiev, and their opponents will be hosted at the Lviv city stadium, which can accommodate 35 thousand spectators. This was confirmed by the club's strategist Mircea Lucescu after the Super Cup final match, in which "Shakhtar" defeated Kiev's "Dynamo" with a score of 2-0.
"We will play home games at the 'Arena Lviv' stadium. A green light has been given to us, so we will be able to play matches in this city. We will train and stay in Kiev, while Lviv will be our home. The team liked this city and the atmosphere in the stadium," said the team's head coach.
When asked when the team will return to the "Donbass Arena," the Donetsk team's home since 2009, M. Lucescu replied: "We do not know that yet."
The situation in Ukraine has raised concerns for several football players. Alex Teixeira, Fred, Dentinho, Douglas Costa, Facundo Ferreyra, and Ismaily have not yet returned to Ukraine after a friendly match with the "Lyon" team.
Club owner Rinat Akhmedov threatens sanctions for these players, as he believes they want to take advantage of the situation and move to another team.
However, D. Costa denied these rumors and wrote on his Instagram account: "I like the people, the club, the city, but I am afraid. We want to stay in the team, but we need a safe environment."
