Stadium used for Euros and Champions League that is bigger than most Premier League grounds is now completely unrecognisable

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.