For Artem Genne, nothing compares to the memory of standing on the pitch at the Donbas Arena, clutching a Champions League flag as Shakhtar Donetsk prepared to face Chelsea in 2012. More than a decade later, that world no longer exists — at least not in the way he once knew it.

Russia-backed forces seized Donetsk in 2014, forcing thousands of residents, including Genne, to flee. Shakhtar themselves have been displaced ever since, moving from Kyiv to Lviv to Kharkiv inside Ukraine, and across Europe for continental fixtures. This season, they will play their UEFA Champions League home games at Chelsea's Stamford Bridge — a London venue that carries deep symbolism for a club in exile.

A home away from home

Genne, who now lives in the West Midlands, plans to attend all four home group-stage matches, beginning with the visit of AEK Athens. For him, and thousands like him, the occasion is about far more than football.